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Jul. 15th, 2010
Apparently the temperature was 39 degrees Celsius (= 102.2 degrees for the followers of Mr. Fahrenheit) in some places here in the last few days. I couldn't find out how hot it got officially where I live, but the flat was a pretty consistent 34 degrees (=93.2) during the day, for the last... week(?) or so. I assume it was even hotter outside, as we've done our best to protect the windows from direct sunlight.
Needless to say, this isn't exactly helping with my plan to Work A Lot. But it can't be helped, deadlines are deadlines.
My solution so far has been to become even more nocturnal than I usually am. In the early morning (say, four a.m.) the temperature of the flat falls to a balmy 28 degrees (=82.4), which is quite nice.
What's slightly worrying is that apparently the air conditioning in a lot of the trains used by the Deutsche Bahn isn't up to the challenge of these temperatures. (The engineers who built them didn't expect summer temperatures above 35 degrees C.) And, since you can't open a window in the fast trains, the temperature in those can reach heights uncomfortably close to the protein denaturation point. Temperatures of over 50 degrees C. (122 degrees F.) have been reported. Those temperatures are sustained for hours, of course, because you can't cool a train down quickly if the AC doesn't work and you can't open a window. Numerous people collapsed.)
Did I mention I'm going to travel by train a lot, in the next couple of months or so? Joy.
Needless to say, this isn't exactly helping with my plan to Work A Lot. But it can't be helped, deadlines are deadlines.
My solution so far has been to become even more nocturnal than I usually am. In the early morning (say, four a.m.) the temperature of the flat falls to a balmy 28 degrees (=82.4), which is quite nice.
What's slightly worrying is that apparently the air conditioning in a lot of the trains used by the Deutsche Bahn isn't up to the challenge of these temperatures. (The engineers who built them didn't expect summer temperatures above 35 degrees C.) And, since you can't open a window in the fast trains, the temperature in those can reach heights uncomfortably close to the protein denaturation point. Temperatures of over 50 degrees C. (122 degrees F.) have been reported. Those temperatures are sustained for hours, of course, because you can't cool a train down quickly if the AC doesn't work and you can't open a window. Numerous people collapsed.)
Did I mention I'm going to travel by train a lot, in the next couple of months or so? Joy.
Here's an amusing little website: http://iwl.me/ (Yes, I'm procrastinating from finishing up my cover letter, doing the dishes, and making dinner.)
When I copied a bit of "Normal" in the box there, it told me I wrote like Arthur C. Clarke.
When I copied a bit of "Names" in there, it told me I wrote like Ian Fleming.
When I copied a bit of my single real bit of slash in there, "Together", it told me I wrote like J.K. Rowling. Now, *that* caused me to do a bit of a double take, because that piece? *Not* written in anything approaching Rowling's style at all. So I figured it must be reacting to certain bits of the vocabulary ("wizard, Dementor, lycanthropy...")
So I tried to find a part of the story without any of these key terms. Turns out the single sex scene is. So I entered that into the box - and still got J.K. Rowling.
For about five minutes I was mightily amused by the idea that I write gay werewolf sex like J.K. Rowling.
Then I took another look and, alas, there was still a "Padfoot" in there. Drat.
When I removed that, I wrote like David Foster Wallace.
When I copied a bit of "Normal" in the box there, it told me I wrote like Arthur C. Clarke.
When I copied a bit of "Names" in there, it told me I wrote like Ian Fleming.
When I copied a bit of my single real bit of slash in there, "Together", it told me I wrote like J.K. Rowling. Now, *that* caused me to do a bit of a double take, because that piece? *Not* written in anything approaching Rowling's style at all. So I figured it must be reacting to certain bits of the vocabulary ("wizard, Dementor, lycanthropy...")
So I tried to find a part of the story without any of these key terms. Turns out the single sex scene is. So I entered that into the box - and still got J.K. Rowling.
For about five minutes I was mightily amused by the idea that I write gay werewolf sex like J.K. Rowling.
Then I took another look and, alas, there was still a "Padfoot" in there. Drat.
When I removed that, I wrote like David Foster Wallace.
