I am well adjusted to the Fahrenheit scale, at least for high temperatures. 80 is pleasant, 90 is too hot and 100 is way too hot. The air temperature is one factor but there are other dimensions, notably the humidity. The humidity of the South had been punishing so the dry heat of Texas was a relief. However, at some point the numbers become quasi-meaningless as the dial continues to turn.
You see, when I arrived in California it was in Palm Springs, a desert city. My abiding memory of Palm Springs from 2006 was that it was intolerably hot, yet I did not dare mention this. The RV you see had just come from Vegas and had stopped for a couple of days in Needles, CA. The trauma of Needles on the occupants was such that its tale will be told decades into the future. The thermometer only went to 120F and so at some point no one really knew how hot it was or cared about the fact that this was a dry heat. Dry describes Needles - it holds the record for the hottest recorded rain in history - 115F (it evaporated so was only barely detectable).
The occupants of the RV had grown with the arrival of J's sister Cathy and her sons Matthew and Ben. For these residents of Staffordshire, England (high August temperature of 20C/68F) this was to be an almost literal baptism of fire. Cool Palm Springs rarely bothered to reach even 100F.
So they were delighted no doubt to hear me complain about the weather. This is coupled with the fact that I arrived from a very pleasant New York. Incidentally I had a great send-off from New York as the this photo at Kennedy Airport shows.
Another fact that may have counted against me was the way in which I arrived. It was expensive to travel at that time so to save money I used air-miles. Alas the only availability I could get was a First Class ticket to Los Angeles on American Airline's new Transcontinental Service. First Class has five seats on either side of the plane so no need to worry about whether you want an aisle or window seat because it's both.
I will leave you with the view from my seat, which was a little tighter than an international first seat and was more akin to international business class. No sympathy please, I don't like to complain.
