hotter than the bowels of hell

there are a large number of things that, to me, recommend the WSU english department and avery hall in particular as a great place to do grad/adjunct work. but there is decidedly one thing that makes me constantly want to run screaming from the building.

i don't do well in warm temperatures. i love summer for the feeling of just about anything being possible, for being out on the road with no destination in mind, and for the ability to sleep on the ground at night with nothing but the clothes on your back if it seems appropriate. overall though, it could be autumn and winter all year and i wouldn't complain. i had a dream last night that it was snowing and was heartbroken this morning to find that it was 65 degrees. anyway, my point is that anything above 60-65 has the potential to annoy the shit out of me.

that said, every year the air conditioning system in avery hall makes me want to kill myself. it's never on at all in august or september, which basically means everyone is constantly roasting and sweating to death in their offices. then, around the beginning of october, the AC mysteriously comes on for about 2 weeks, ironically just when it's starting to get cold out. then, invariably, it switches to heat just about the time indian summer kicks in. and i don't mean just "heat", i mean like fucking dragon's breath heat. last night it was 22 degrees outside, and i was sitting right next to my open window in my office (and this window is about 4 feet across) with just a t-shirt and jeans on and i was sweating. this heat will remain on, way too high, from now until about april...and then once we spend an entire month or so in april having 70 degree temperatures outside and wilting heat blasts inside, it will eventually give way to nothing again, the AC apparently having given its all for those 2 weeks in early october.

this has happened 3 years in a row now, and is especially frustrating if you like, say, occasionally wearing a dress shirt or jacket or sweater to class...because you just can't wear anything but one shirt and a pair of pants with really thin socks in the building. ever. or you die.

i can appreciate having heat in the winter as much as the next guy, but you don't have to make it 75-80 degrees inside to compensate for it being 40 outside. right now, it's almost 70 outside and my heating vents are blowing on me from the ceiling. why? WHY GOD, WHY?!