so you guys are facing down yet another global warming summer and as an american i feel entitled to barge over and give you a lot of advice about how to live your life. also i’m used to surviving 90-110 degree summers (32—43 celsius) with no ac. so here we go.
you need to drink a lot of water. on average you should be drinking about two liters. on hot days, double that.
fill plastic water bottles halfway up and stick them in your freezer. take them out once they’ve frozen and fill the rest up with water, drink the water, fill it up again, and carry it around with you until it’s time to get the next ice bottle. also you can put the icy end against your throat or over your chest for maximum refreshment.
consider making a lot of sun tea. get big glass jars or a pitcher. put a bunch of your preferred teabags in it with some sugar. if you want to be an american southerner, your tea should be green or black and your sugar amount should be enough to kill a child. if you want to be sane, put in as little sugar as you can get away with so it’s not dehydrating, and stick with herbal teas because the last thing you want during the heat of the day is a caffeine boost. leave your tea on a windowsill. after a few hours it’s steeped and you can put it in the fridge. tadaaa.
fruit juice, soda pop, beer, and a lot of sports drinks like gatorade all dehydrate you, and in really hot weather they’re dangerous because people will drink them instead of water. drink an equal amount of water as anything with sugar. see prior point about sun tea.
when you sweat you lose salt. so don’t feel bad about eating some junk food.
freeze grapes. eat the grapes. repeat.
get a hat with a brim. baseball caps are ok but wide brimmed hats are better because they shadow the back of your neck and that’s one less thing to have to worry about.
don’t wear knit caps. just… no.
you don’t get more sunburned because it’s hot, you get more sunburned because when it’s hot you wear less clothes. so don’t freak out.
if you don’t have AC you can put a bowl of ice behind a fan. this creates a swamp cooler, by pulling the air over the ice. also, put on a wet t-shirt and sit in front of it, and you’ll cool further by evaporation.
speaking of evaporation, watch out if it’s humid. you don’t cool down from sweating as much when the air’s already saturated. drink more water, have more salt, and change your shirt a lot.
heatstroke is serious shit, and kids and the elderly are prone to it. but whatever your age, if you feel nauseous, headachy, or short of breath, the heat’s getting to you. pour your water bottle over your head and go sit in the shade. keep an eye on friends and family as well.
if someone stops sweating when they’re still out in the heat, that’s serious business and get them medical treatment as soon as possible. it’s a case of dehydration and/or heatstroke.
Other things that freeze really well, a short list:
Orange juice! Other fruit juices too, but I tend to have best results with oj or cider. Pour some into an empty ice-cube tray, let them freeze, and the result is slightly-flaky frozen goodness. This is also an easy way to make homemade popsicles–put a sheet of aluminum foil over top of the tray and stick toothpick/popsicle sticks in so the juice freezes around them.
Grapes were mentioned. Grapes are TRUE.
NOT SODAS. Do not freeze sodas! They explode.
Strawberries! These can be hard to find cheap, especially outside of strawberry season, and I don’t know about their availability outside of my part of the US, but if you can get them they’re great frozen in your water. Freeze-dry strawberries by laying them out on a tray or sth in the freezer, and then when they’re frozen just put them in a bag to conserve space.
Other general tips:
Fruit in water is amazing when you’re someone like me who doesn’t like water’s lack of taste. Strawberries and mint leaves are fairly traditional, but basically anything you like will work. there are lots of combos online.
If you have a blender or a food processor, smoothies are a good way to eat something when you’re too hot to function. Fruit+ice+milk+yogurt is pretty traditional.
Have sunscreen. Make sure you don’t have any skin reactions to the sunscreen. If your sunscreen has fragrance, make sure you can deal with the fragrance when it’s constantly on your face in heat.
Speaking off: sunscreen is not just for arms/shoulders. Put sunscreen on your face, especially nose/cheekbones/forehead. Put sunscreen on the tops of your ears! If your hair has a tight part, try to put sunscreen there if you don’t wear a hat (scalp burns are PAINFUL). Put sunscreen on your legs, especially the backs of your calves. Put sunscreen on any visible parts of your feet.
Wear loose clothing if you can, especially if you’re wearing long sleeves. Any constrictions on your breathing feel much worse in the heat.
If you need to cool down quick, run cold water over your wrists (or put ice cubes on them maybe?). This is a trick they taught us in gymnastics class but it works just as well on hot days.
When you start getting that feeling like you’ve adapted to the heat, like it’s not bad, like you could just stay where you are for hours and hours, even get a blanket, and maybe you feel like you’re zoning out a little, it’s time to reconsider, move around, have something cool to drink.
And it can be hard to remember to eat when it’s so hot, for some reason. Cold food in small portions is generally easiest to manage. But remember to eat food with a lot of salt, a lot of potassium, a lot of vitamins. I can’t believe bananas aren’t on this post. My god, get your potassium, you’ll feel SO much better. If you’re eating something salty and it tastes unusually, amazingly good, it’s because you’re running low on salt, so keep eating it.
and seriously yeah keep an eye on people like kids and the elderly and anyone who’s under your care. ask them how they’re feeling if they’re able to tell you, and if not, try to see if they’re looking unusually unfocused, breathing too hard, haven’t had anything to drink in a while, etc.
If you bind, be even more careful about how long you bind and pay even more attention to your binder’s effects on your body.
sometimes there’s nothing else for it but to just fill a bathtub with cool water and get in. Seriously, it can be so helpful. Also, showers. Showers are good.
also take care of your dogs I don’t know anything about dogs but be careful for them! maybe look up some tips.
also could anyone who even thinks about reblogging this from me to make fun of brits, pls stop?? when it gets hot here it’s kind of awful bc A/C is rare and they’re really not used to this kind of heat. if you add any sort of teasing if u reblog this for me i will find u and push you
Seriously, air conditioning is basically not a think here. And most of our houses are designed to trap heat. Our old people’s homes are not air conditioned. Our hospitals are not air conditioned. When we have unusual heat waves people die.
If you find yourself shaking, feeling dizzy, or feeling cold in the middle of a heat wave, sit yourself down in the shade and sip water (don’t chug, you’ll make yourself throw up) until you feel normal again. These are some of the first warning signs of heat exhaustion and ignoring them is dumb. If you’re at a sports practice or being otherwise active in the heat and you recognize these or other symptoms of heat exhaustion/heat stroke, don’t let yourself be pressured into playing through it. Listen to your body and take care of it.
I have so many British buddies, you guys, pay serious attention to the tips up above. For those who don’t know, I live in Australia, one of the driest and hottest places on earth, and we get those same temperatures that the first poster quoted, hotter in the centre of Australia. I didn’t know half of those tips, and I’ll likely utilise them next summer myself.
Please, take care in the heat, I’ll make sure to reblog this later on when it gets closer to you guys’ summer, but please, take this seriously. Even with us being used to the heat the way we are, we still have fatalities because people do not properly look after themselves.
also, since everyone always forgets – if you’re wearing sandals or flipflops, PUT SUNSCREEN ON YOUR TOES. Those little piggies are not used to being grilled, and sunburnt feet isn’t fun. Actually, suncreen everywhere (nape of neck, all over your ears, right down to your figures. Put your sunscreen on before getting dressed, and let it soak in, so you don’t get burn lines along the hems, and re-apply FREQUENTLY. In fact, if you don’t regularly use sunscreen, read this helpful FAQ
As someone with skin cancer, let me tell you, DON’T LET YOURSELF GET BURNED!
/psa
another point to cool off is behind the ears, press an ice cube there when your head feels hot
lie down on the floor to refresh, if your house is all wooden floors and carpets, the floors won’t be fresh but where there are tiles (like the bathroom) would work
and yo, if u have towels, u should soak ‘em in cold water or a tub of ice if one is accessible, and just wear it around your neck
also, the sunscreen thing is rly important even if you don’t think you need it, you can still get sunburnt and have ur skin peeling, and that’s no fun.
If you have access to multiple floors, it can be a good idea to set up an air mattress or even just pile up some blankets on the floor and to sleep on the lowest floor you can. Heat rises, and even with a/c we used to sleep on the ground floor when we were in an old farmhouse. It’s also not a bad idea to wear loose, light colored clothing that’s a little more covering, since this helps keep the sun off of you and makes it easier for sweat to evaporate, which both help keep you cool. Idk if anyone’s mentioned this, but you can tie up loose hair in a bun or braid to keep it from sticking to your neck. It’s a small but quick thing that can make you feel a bit better, just make sure to keep the back of your neck in the shade and sunscreen.
If you plan on lying on your stomach in the sun SUNSCREEN THE BOTTOMS OF YOUR FEET. Really sunscreen every 1-2 hours and make sure you apply at least 15 min before going outside.
I like sticking my top sheet and pillowcase in the freezer about 30 min or more before going to bed. And cold wet hair is a blessing for a while if you have longer hair
About clothing: If you can wear loose clothes made of 100% cotton or linen, wear them! A lot of synthetic fibers (I’m looking at you, polyester) will stick to your skin like plastic wrap.
Also, FROZEN BANANAS. Frozen bananas are excellent. And having something salty to snack on, because it will make you thirsty and remind you to drink water, as well as replacing any salt you lose by sweating. Just keep a bag of chips (er, American-style chips, I mean) or pretzels handy and munch on them.
I get super dizzy in the heat- not related to dehydration or heat stroke or dangerous things, it’s just a thing with my body. If you’ve figured out that you do the same (and aren’t suffering heat stroke) it can be a pain. Best thing I’ve found to counter that is rest my head between my knees or on a table or whatever, face down, and put something frozen on the back of my neck. A frozen towel or ice pack or whatever. Like all the other cool down points people mention are good but I’ve found that to be the best one to counteract dizziness is the back of the neck at the base of the skull.
Reblogging because this information is helpful for everyone around the world. I’m heat-sensitive so I’ll be trying some of these this summer myself.
Also, when you’re hydrating — you ARE hydrating, right? Per the above recommendations? — don’t chug down an entire liter of water at once. Your body can only absorb so much so fast, no matter how thirsty you are, and you’ll just pee out the extra. Drink slowly and throughout the day.
Put a little fruitjuice in your water, not just because it tastes better, but because when your body thinks that you’re eating food, it absorbs the water better. I use a slice of lemon, it does the trick.
I don’t live somewhere ridiculously hot, but for one week in the summer, we get temps up in the 100º F, and the only way I survive is going into the basement and laying down on the floor. If you have a basement it should be significantly cooler down there! ((Idk if basements are as common a thing in the uk though so this might not be much help))
another lifesaver is frozen washcloths, take a few washcloths, soak them in water, fold them up, stick them in ziploc bags, and put them in the freezer. take them out when you want to use them, and unfold them as they thaw to expose more ice. use it on your neck, chest, face, wherever – they’re AWESOME.
Hey guys! I wanna apologize for not being active and such lately. I’ve been really busy and just having troubles in general being in the mood to write. I’m extremely sorry for those who are still waiting on their asks, I’m working on them but I’m having a difficult time finishing them.
I wasn’t going to post this story at first but I thought you guys deserve something until. I hope you enjoy ❤
You’re stalling.
You can’t help it. You know it’s almost midnight. You know
he’s probably tired. You know you both have work tomorrow.
But you’re stalling.
You don’t want to leave his side yet. You want to continue
listening to his horrible puns and jokes, to hear his laugh, to watch the way
his cheek lightly flush a soft orange when he does. You want to continue this peaceful
walk with him. You want to stay with your crush forever.
Of course, forever doesn’t last and he’s very perceptive. He
could tell you’re delaying the trip to your house.
“Do ya not want me to take ya home? If yer uncomfortable
with me walkin’ ya home then I don’t care to
leave ya be,” Papyrus says while slowly bringing your walk to a stop. He doesn’t
look upset by the thought, and he most
likely wouldn’t be if that was the case. He wouldn’t blame you if you told him
you would rather him not know where you live yet, even though you’ve been
friends and coworkers for a couple of years. That’s not why you’re stalling
though.
You frantically shake your head at his concern. “No, I don’t
mind you walking me to my house at all. It makes me feel safer knowing you’re
with me while it’s so late.”
He hums in the back of his throat, remaining silent while he
resumes walking again. You make sure to match his pace, and the peaceful
silence between him and you continues.
After a few minutes of silence, he speaks up again. “Then
why are ya delayin’ the trip home? Do ya not wanna go home?”
You feel your cheeks begin to heat. How are you suppose to
answer that? ‘No, I want to continue this
serene walk with you forever because I love spending time with you’?
“What?”
You feel dread crawl up your spine whenever he stops walking
with that question. Did you say that out loud? Your
entire face feels like it’s on fire. You refuse to look up at his face.
“W-what? I didn’t say anything. You must be hearing
something. We should go, it’s late.” You try to speed walk away, but Papyrus
catches your upper arm and pulls you back to him while simultaneously spinning
you around to face him. The momentum of the pull causes you to stumble into his
chest, and you grip onto the soft orange sweater for balance. He helps you
stand upright again but keeps you from
moving away with both hands lightly gripping your shoulders.
“It sounded like ya said somethin’ to me.”
“Like I said, you must be hearing things.”
“Yeah, I heard ya say somethin’.”
“You doof. I meant things other than what I sa-” you snap your mouth shut. You would smack
yourself in the face right now if Papyrus’s arms weren’t in the way.
“So ya admit ya said somethin’ then?” He looks amused by
your blunder.
You keep quiet this time while avoiding eye contact. You’ve
dug yourself a hole you can’t get out of. If you had kept calm before, you could’ve
played it off as you loved spending time with him like you do with any friend. You
didn’t think about it before because you knew that you didn’t mean it that way,
and your panicked brain assumed he knew it too. He might’ve just been suspicious
before, but he knows what you meant now after how you reacted. He was a
perceptive person.
“If it makes ya feel any better, I feel the same way,” he says
while removing his hands from your shoulder. He stuffs them back into his
hoodie pocket.
You feel your heart skip a beat after what he said. He
couldn’t mean..? You sneak a glance at his face from the corner of your eyes,
and he’s gazing at you with an expression you’ve seen on him before but never understood
what it meant. Or maybe you did, but you were in denial. You chuckle nervously,
pulling a few loose strands of hair back into their rightful place.
“Is that so? It does make me feel better,” you say softly. You
could feel a smile tugging at your lips.
A bright blush overcomes Papyrus cheeks a few moments later after
he realizes he’s been staring at you for a while now. He averts eye contact,
sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck with his hand while simultaneously
clearing his throat.
“Welp, if ya don’t want to end the night with me so soon
then would ya like to grab a bite to eat? Muffets has the best donuts around.
If ya donut
like that, then she has other options.” He offers his hand out for you to take.
His face is still flushed but his expression held an uncommon sight of genuine pure
happiness. How could you tell him no?
“Of course,” you say with a bright smile, taking ahold of
his hand and squeezing it gently. “Nothing would make me happier.”
You could tell your relationship with Papyrus was about to
change for the better tonight.
You also could tell you’re going to exhausted at work
tomorrow, but that’s okay.
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