Hot Times in Miami

We kind of knew what we were getting into. We'd talked about it and conjectured what it would be like and thought about life running from air conditioner to air conditioner but the reality is you just have to experience it to know what it means. It's been in the mid 90's for the past couple of weeks. The humidity has been in the mid 80%'s and as high as 95% (well, higher when it rains) and it does indeed 'hit' you when you step out of the house, workplace, or car and realize that the heat index is pushing 110 degrees.
The first thing you notice is that your glasses, having been cooled to the ambient temperature of the room or vehicle, will fog up nearly instantly and within a few seconds you are totally IFR. The next phase is that the heat seems to 'surround' you. It's hard to explain, but coming from Denver, you could know that the sun was hot and could identify where the heat was coming from. It seems that it's not so when the air is pretty close to a wet sauna state. It slowly but inexorably drains your strength and any ambition you had toward outdoor projects. The sweat begins slowy enough, but the wet air does not allow evaporative cooling to happen so suddenly you're dripping and blotting at your forehead so you can keep seeing. Physical labor generates more sweat compounding the overall problem.
All of this happens between the time you open the car door and the time you reach the cool safety of Starbucks. Ahhh... I'll have a Frappuccino please, then I can revel in the brain freeze :)

And now, the update:
Robin and I have been diligently pursuing the elusive Certification as supervisors here in Miami and I am happy to say that it is now very near. Within a few more days both of us will become actively engaged in the the day to day activities that we were hired to do and we will be able to constructively contribute to the safe operation of the Center. It has been quite a ride and we are thankful to be nearing the end of this long and extensive training program. We've attended some very good classes both here in Miami and in Robin's case out of town and out of state. All of this leading toward being able to positively influence the folks that are working with and for us.
It has been very cool to be sharing the same time off and same shifts at work. The commuting situation has been relatively easy to manage when we can both come to work together and we hope that we can soon be assigned to days off and crews that will allow some of the same conveniences. We will know that soon; likely before the first of October and definintely before the end of October. The bidding for crews and vacation time will soon commence and that will set our schedules for the upcoming year.

The S/V Robin has been receiving some attention, although the amount of time we have been able to devote to projects and sailing has been limited by a pretty long run of severe weather. I am told that it is unusual to have as many thunderstorms as we have been happening, but that the same 'big picture' weather influence that is causing these seemingly perpetual thunderstorms may well serve to ward off tropical storms of hurricanse that may form up and be pointed our way. So far so good.
We've been keeping a very close watch on tropical weather because this is the first time we have ever had to consider it as a true threat. Both of us receive Tropical weather updated on our cell phones and we rely on the National Hurricane Center ( http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ ) to keep us up to date on what is where.
The projects on the boat have included replacing the bimini (the shade) and it is almost finished. What we find is that everything is pretty custom, and to try to run to the store and buy something that'll just drop in and fit is almost never going to work...but we did anyway. We are pretty close to having the installation complete and all that is remaining is to drill a few holes in the deck (gasp) and relocate the mounting hardware. This will ultimately involve epoxy, and sandpaper so we will again add to our list of things that will take a full day instead of an hour to complete. We want it strong and watertight so it is well worth any additional effort to make it good the first time.
The other project is the paint job. This has been a doozy of an attempt, starting with the concept that boat paint is probably on par with airplane paint as far as expense goes and it requires a lot of surface preparation and about 16 hours between coats for the epoxy-based paint to cure. A very different project from painting a house of touching up a barbeque. I am probably about 25% done with the topside and it looks pretty good for a pure amateur. I'll post a couple of pictures next time.
On the inside we've been doing jobs like sanding and polishing the stainless steel sinks and removing long lines of adhesive which had previously been strips of velcro for mosquito netting attachment. We'll deal with that particular problem when faced with it after we set out on more than day sails.

So far all is well. And we intend to keep it that way :)