Aircon Blues

With uncanny timing, the air conditioning at work has failed and the welcome respite after a 20 minute wait at the bus stop each morning is sadly missing

This would not be hugely problematic in more temperate latitudes but in the middle of hot spell in Singapore it is most unpleasant.

At least at home we have fans to move the breeze about; a mechanised version of the punka wallah.  Here in the office we are without even this creature comfort.  I am beginning to realise why most offices in Singapore provide a shower cubicle.

Not that opening the windows brings any respite as the air is very still and the humidity around 100%.  An open window simply bring a cacophony of traffic noise from Orchard Road.

Not everyone is enamoured about air conditioning and there are some fairly extreme theories attached to it.

One guru states that "one of the things that can affect your cholesterol levels as well as your blood pressure levels is having to go in and out of an environment that has air conditioning."  Based on his prognosis my blood pressure this morning should be climbing rapidly.  It is, but not for the reason he states - I simply hate being hot and sticky.

At least the bus this morning was in full working order so I managed to cool down en route.  I shall miss my short trip to and from work when I leave Singapore.  It has been an opportunity to observe my fellow passengers as they slumber.

In true Sherlock Holmes fashion I play a little game of trying to ascertain what lifestyle they lead.  Not that I have been very successful in the art of deduction.

Just today I discovered that one of my fellow passengers whom I thought to be simply reserved was in fact profoundly deaf.  I observed her delight as she recognised a friend with a similar affliction and they spent their journey signing to each other.

The temporary loss of air conditioning somehow pales into insignificance when compared to a major disability such as deafness.

As I writ, a bevy of technicians are walking around the building scratching their heads and looking skywards.  I remain confident that will be a temperature drop in the near future.