It’s not uncommon for both homes and apartments in the greater Los Angeles area to not have central air. If you live closer to the shore, you don’t exactly need it; what with those ocean breezes and all the marine layer. If you live inland, or in the valleys in particular, you’re lost without it.

We’re not lucky enough to have central air. We have a window unit in the wall of the living room. Only in the living room. Which means only the living room gets cooled.

So as you can imagine, I have a love/hate relationship with our air conditioner.

Love

• that we have air conditioning
• that while sitting in the living room, it’s nice and chilly

Hate

• that if you’re anywhere beyond the living room, the AC can’t even be felt
• that if you’re in the living room, at the couch, it’s can be dare I say it…too cold
• that even with the AC on all day, the apartment is never less than 5 degrees cooler than outside
• that the AC doesn’t reach any other part of the house BUT the living room
• that the mere act of boiling of water or washing a dish or two can leave you dripping in sweat
• that I can’t because of the above, I can’t cook anything most of the summer
• that once the heatwave hits (100+ days) the bedroom doesn’t that cooler than 80 or so at night and our landlord won’t let us put in a window unit – makes for a miserable night’s sleep
• that each and every summer I spend far too much time complaining about the damn heat

I vow to limit my complaining about the heat and lack of air conditioning. So how’s the summer treating you so far?