Does anyone else feel like a fried egg?

Come on now, weathermen. When I was whining a couple of weeks ago about it raining all the time and asking for something better, this was not what I meant. Nearly 100 degrees for 4 straight days? Really?

I'm going through my first NYC heatwave as a resident (though today it has cooled to a relatively chilly 86 degrees) and it sucks. You can see the smog rising from the buildings a la Denver and it's painful to walk more than a block in any direction. The buildings and sidewalk absorb the heat and radiate it out. The subways, buses and cabs reek of body odor. It's gross.

On Monday I was at Yankee Stadium. I'm so glad our tickets were in the shade. With temps up to 98 degrees during the game we watched as people in the sun slowly dropped like flies, retreating to the relative cool of the stadium's innards. I'm surprised the players made it through the whole game. Then yesterday I was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Museum itself was great but getting there was horrible. We decided to walk and though it was less than 10 blocks we were both drenched by the time we got there. We wanted to go shopping afterwards but were too exhausted.

Out west, the heat isn't too bad because it's dry. But here in NYC it's not really the heat that gets you; it's the humidity. It's why your hair gets curly even though you flat-ironed it. It's why your shirt is soaking wet the minute you walk outside. It's why every breath makes you wonder if you're at sea level or 14,000 feet.

At least I have A/C. I'm lucky in that since I'm on the first floor I can leave it on at the Con-ed recommended level of 75. My friend lives on the top floor of a walk-up and even with it cranking at 70 she was baking. Frying. Whatever.

One thing NYC does have that's nice: fire hydrants. On hot days people crank them open and it is suprisingly refreshing to run through the water. But mostly the whole city seems to be moving at about half speed. Or maybe it's just a mirage...the whole sweltering thing is really messing with me.