MetaChat - Please Kill Me Now

What's a heat index?

posted by veedubya 27 July | 11:13

Just 102 here in Baltimore.

posted by omiewise 27 July | 11:15

The heat index is how hot it really feels once you include humidity. It's the windchill of summer. Because we all know that 91 and 35% feels different from 91 and 70%--now it is reflected.

posted by dame 27 July | 11:16

Also, our stupid cops handcuffed and harassed a bunch of British Sikhs

A few stupid cops notwithstanding, I feel bad for the boys in blue today. Standing in a sweltering subway stop with 20 pounds on your belt has to be the worst duty imaginable. I imagine that they think their time could be better used as well. In times square someone puked on the platform just to add to the fun, so we all stood there breathing through our mouths for 20 minutes.

posted by jonmc 27 July | 11:22

Fortunately, things will improve between six and nine this evening. (Please Jeebus baby please.)

posted by dame 27 July | 11:24

dame: you and me, in a suicide pact if it don't cool down sometime soon.

posted by papercake 27 July | 11:27

*makes plan to steal wallets and jewelry off dame and papercakes bloated, fetid corpses*

posted by jonmc 27 July | 11:29

Richmond:

Partly cloudy with a slight chance of thunderstorms. Hot and humid. Heat index near 115F. High 102F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

On the plus side, less population density than you guys, and really cheap cigarettes. Although it's too hot to smoke.

posted by rainbaby 27 July | 11:31

Dame
Was it the stupid cops who pulled them off the stupid tour bus in stupid midtown the other day or another stupid incident?

'Cause in all fairness to those particular stupid cops there were some stupid people on the bus as well as the stupid driver who got worried and misidentified them in the first place. It's stupid turtles all the way down.

This hot shit is for the birds, if there was ever a bathtub day, it's today.

Whats the over/under on another awesome blackout this summer?

posted by Divine_Wino 27 July | 11:33

Holy hell! The rain yesterday was so worth it! 68 degrees! Granted it's nearly 68% humidity but christ, you take what you can get.

posted by kenko 27 July | 11:37

It's a deal, papercake. Though you still owe me a vodka drink, so we'll have to have that first.

And, jon, you know the only people I have less sympathy for than cops is soldiers. You know, maybe they should actually grow a spine and refuse to violate people's liiberties. Oh, wait, that's right, they don't care. Screw 'em.

D_W: I dunno. I just half-heard a snippet on NPR. They said it was on 58th, so it's probably the same.

posted by dame 27 July | 11:38

Whats the over/under on another awesome blackout this summer?

Don't even think it. Instead of watching naked girls dance in the park, I was dragging my ass across the 59th street bridge and all over the borough till I arrived home looking like something out of lord of the flies.

And, jon, you know the only people I have less sympathy for than cops is soldiers.

And you'd last about 3 seconds in a cop-free New York City. If I though you were doing anything but trying to get my goat, I'd be offended, but it's too hot.

posted by jonmc 27 July | 11:40

I'm not trying to get your goat. I'm being honest. I know you don't agree and I don't care. The cops in New York aren't here to protect me and by willingly violating the Fourth Amendment, they aren't making me any safer.

As far as I'm concerned, someone who wants to be a cop is the last person who should be allowed to be one.

posted by dame 27 July | 11:45

and I stood on the platform at union square this morning, and for the second morning in a row watched three 4 trains go past before a 5 train came. By the time I got on the subway, the back of my tshirt was sopping wet and I had sweat dripping down my legs. too. gross.

posted by gaspode 27 July | 11:49

dame: we'll do shots, and then shoot.

posted by papercake 27 July | 11:50

75 here all day, with lots of Sunshine! What a nice day for a picnic!

posted by Quartermass 27 July | 11:51

I don't like the random searches either, and I'd bet if you polled the cops in the station they'd probably tell you that it's all a dog and pony show, too. But they have a job to do. We'll never see eye to eye on this issue, and that's fine, but I'm still gonna continue speaking my piece on the subject.

As far as I'm concerned, someone who wants to be a cop is the last person who should be allowed to be one.

Present company included?

Actually the reason that we get problem cops has a lot to do with the fact that the starting pay is just over $20k a year. Considering what a low salary that is for the risks involved and the huge downside to the job, we shouldn't be surprised if we get a few yahoos. In fact the recent pay cut is what made me finally decide against joing the force. Their and the city's loss.

posted by jonmc 27 July | 11:52

(You are aware there is a difference between little sympathy and none.)

posted by dame 27 July | 11:57

OK. Still, I woulda looked great in uniform. And my best buddy (on the right) is a cop, so I take it personally sometimes.

posted by jonmc 27 July | 12:00

Dude, he's hot. And I can't like a cop. Now you make me feel dirty. Bad jon. Bad.

(In a half-hour, I get to go hide at my friend's air-conditioned house. Yay!)

posted by dame 27 July | 12:03

Dude, he's hot.

All the ladies say that, and a lot of men. Even my mom said that when she met him. I saw a whole gaggle of little girls (we're talking 6-year-olds) desperately vying for his attention once. He's got star quality, there's no doubt.

That's why even though I love the guy, sometimes I'm glad he's in Hawaii. I spent a decade being Ralph Malph to his Fonzie every time we hung out. But he's got my back, always and vice versa.

posted by jonmc 27 July | 12:08

Ha ha, why is it that despite however much I strain and struggle I always end up in the middle? Cops exist for two reasons, to keep the peace and to protect the status quo. Too often they selectively keep the peace and aggressively enforce the status quo. They are a neccessary evil I find. If only, as Jonmc alludes to, so that I don't have to spend an hour and a half a day in baseball bat duels with every shitbird that wants my lunch money.

...someone who wants to be a cop is the last person who should be allowed to be one.

Mostly agree with that, I wish there was national service in the US, but instead of being in the army you had to choose some job that supports the public infrastructure, be it cop, paramedic, nurse, teacher and what have you. You get two years of that and I bet every single person has about a million times more sympathy for cops and for the cop fearing public at large.

posted by Divine_Wino 27 July | 12:08

d_w: I'm totally with you on the national service idea, and generally speaking I'm antil government intrusion.

posted by jonmc 27 July | 12:11

Last winter I was walking near Union Square when a 50- or 60-ish lady tripped on the curb and fell on the sidewalk in front of me. I went to her aid, taking off my jacket and laying it on the ground for her to sit on. She said she couldn't feel her legs, so another bystander called an ambulance for her.

I was calming her down and holding her hand when a group of police officers arrived. She immediately started making excuses about only having had a couple of drinks, not too much, that everything was okay, and that no fuss should be made over her. As time went on, she copped to having more and more drinks and began flirting with the boys in blue, while sitting on my jacket.

One of the patrolmen asked me what I was doing there. I explained that I was just a passerby who was there to help, and he laughed and said something jaded and snide to his buddy, who laughed as well.

The ambulance arrived and I retrieved my coat, then went up to the cop who laughed at me, and said, "The instinct that led me to helping that woman is the same one that led you to joining the force. Remember that next time you laugh at a sucker like me. Because you're a sucker yourself."

And I walked away without looking back, with my hair standing on end and that skinned feeling you get when you expect someone to tackle you from behind at any moment (or when you walk away from a cop after talking shit).

He and his buddies probably laughed at my naivete. Fuck 'em.

posted by Hugh Janus 27 July | 12:25

Heat: It's even hot here. 105 heat index - this sucks - this is the first time I've ever wished for air conditioning in Asheville. It isn't even cooling off at night. Yuck. And now that I'm unemployed, I don't get to go hang out in a cool office all day. I went to the DMV on Monday just to sit in the nice AC - & finally got around to changing the address on my license, hell, it's only been 4 years.

Cops: One of my best friends in the world just retired after 24 years on the Baltimore city police force. He lived all those years in a scary neighborhood near Druid Hill Park where he fixed all the local kids' bikes. He was on permanent midnight shift in West Baltimore - where the Corner was inspired - and when you walk around downtown with him you hear people shouting "Hey Officer Sky!" because he busted his ass all those years to keep the city safer & help people out. I like the majority of the cops that I've met as people. It's a damn hard job not to get cynical in - but a lot of them are really there to help. For that matter, I've heard meaner, more cynical comments from ER nurses than I've ever heard from cops & firefighters.

posted by mygothlaundry 27 July | 12:34

All this talk about Heat, Fuzz, and Soldiers has got me thinking of The Specials, Too Hot:

Too hot, this town is too hot
Now they're calling for their guns
About to spoil the rude boys' fun
But rude boys never give up their guns
It's too hot

No man, can tell them what to do
Pound for pound, they say they're ruder than you
They are the boss, and no back down
You might have a couple you like
Choose your burial sight
Take insurance, make up your will
Come out and tell them, find them

The soldiers came back to you without them
The police force are afraid, they can't even touch them
They say "You think you're bad? Why don't you come out yourself"
These boys are calling for a fight, fighting tonight they don't lie
It's too hot

Too hot, too hot
Too hot, too hot
Too hot, too hot
Too hot, too hot

Today is the day I carry the extra baggage around the city making me extra unpleasantly hot.

posted by safetyfork 27 July | 13:16

*wheezing and gasping like a fish out of water*

I swear they reduced the electricity to my building last night...the ac, the fan--all blowing much more weakly.

someone do a rain dance, and stop bickering--it's too hot.

posted by amberglow 27 July | 13:21

They did Amberglow, Con Ed had to drop the voltage everywhere, something around 18% I think.

posted by Divine_Wino 27 July | 13:26

ugh--bastards!

this is funny tho--How the Other Half Shvitzes

posted by amberglow 27 July | 13:29

Three cheers for redneck ingenuity. That looks nice.

posted by jonmc 27 July | 13:34

On it.

posted by safetyfork 27 July | 13:38

Why Northeast's hot spell was so draining: Dew point exceeded air-conditioning designs, according to Cornell climate experts

posted by Divine_Wino 27 July | 13:51

But bickering makes me happy, amberglow. Just like cold and dark and all the nice things that good people hate.

posted by dame 27 July | 14:00

Awww, you guys - hang in there! Keep hydrated and eat some gazpacho and melons. Cold showers, hot tea...beer, whatever works for you. Just take of yo'selves! Shee-it, if I could I'd bottle some of this crisp, foggy SF air and mail it to y'all: I've seen my breath almost every night this last week.

posted by Frisbee Girl 27 July | 14:11

But bickering makes me happy, amberglow. Just like cold and dark and all the nice things that good people hate.

That's just a front. Dame actually like to put on adult size pink Dr. Dentons and sing Disney songs while eating Chuckles.

It's true. I read it. I wrote it down and then I read it. I believe everything I read.

posted by jonmc 27 July | 14:15

My mother's coming in today from Florida, and although the humidity is much less, Portland is scorching! The thing that sucks, though, is that my office is air conditioned within an inch of its life, and I'm freezing in here!

I'm also very, very bad tempered today. Just so y'all know, here's what not to say to someone who looks like they might be a wee tichy: "HEY THERE! WOW, YOU LOOK SO SERIOUS! ARE YOU IN A BAD MOOD???" As if I'm supposed to sit at my desk grinning constantly. Fuck off!

posted by Specklet 27 July | 14:18

I love love love that pickup picture. I'm gonna call all my friends with trucks and beg them to come over.

posted by mygothlaundry 27 July | 14:44

For that matter, I've heard meaner, more cynical comments from ER nurses than I've ever heard from cops & firefighters.

mgl: I know your heart is in the right place, but please don't bring firefighters into this.

After all, this is Metachat. Someone is likely to post something about how "stupid" they are or share an anecdote about how uncaring and insensitive they are.

posted by mlis 27 July | 14:51

Hey MLIS, why don't you go start your own board about how noble and wonderful and perfect cops are for protecting everyone everywhere, just out of their immanent goodness and nobility. Or maybe go fuck yourself. Whatever.

posted by dame 27 July | 15:01

Good luck, east coasters. We had the hellish heat last week, and it's finally pleasant again.

posted by goatdog 27 July | 15:07

dame: I am aware of your virulent animus towards police officers but your comments here are indefensible.

If someone posted a variation on some of your comments, substituting a racial or ethnic group for police officers, you would rip into them.

You are a hypocrite.

posted by mlis 27 July | 15:08

Did I wander into a MetaTalk thread by accident?

posted by goatdog 27 July | 15:11

ALL ^^?!?^^ /ALL

Oh, well. I'm totally hot and miserable, blah, blah. Not really sure about how to make this into something more edgy and provocative... but there you go, blame it on the heat.

posted by taz 27 July | 15:13

mlis: dame has some opinions about cops that I strongly disagree with, but I wouldn't call it a "violent animus." And when all is said and done, being a cop is a choice, being a race or ethnic group isn't. And dame is well aware of my previous ambition of becoming a police officer and we've remained friends. So let's keep MeCha a happy place, OK?

Dame: nobody including me is claiming that cops are all perfect, noble and wonderful. There has got to be a middle ground between knee-jerk cop-hater posturing and it's opposite cop-worship.

posted by jonmc 27 July | 15:16

MLIS
That's silly silly silly, cops are not a racial or ethnic group, they self select and retain rights and privileges that other people do not. Come on.

As far as I'm concerned, someone who wants to be a Laotian is the last person who should be allowed to be one.

Your perception of cops depends quite a bit on where you grew up and how. Firemen are just people too, by the way.

Dame this is all you anyway, but sheesh.

posted by Divine_Wino 27 July | 15:17

I have lots of emapthy for all you hot East Coasters. Heat sucks.

Still, I can't help but think that if this was a thread about a Texas winter storm (i.e., 1/2" of sleet and a wind chill of 30!!!), y'all would be laughing your asses of.

* laughing my ass off *

Meanwhile, out here in the sunny central valley of CA, we're set to break the record for most days in July over 100.

Send some of your rain this way when you get it, eh?

Cheers!

posted by mudpuppie 27 July | 15:43

Last night, after dinner, I went out and dug three post-holes, set three 4x4 posts in them, and mixed and poured concrete into the holes.

I waited until after dinner because by then the heat has dropped below 90 degrees, and the humidity is about 50%. Heat index below 100. I live in Houston.

I was drenched with sweat by the time the job was over, but having gotten used to the heat and humidity, I did not get sick or overly tired. As I stepped inside I stripped off all of my clothing, dropped it into a pile that squished, and took a cool shower. It was nice.

posted by sarah connor 27 July | 15:49

MLIS, cops are not a religious or ethnic group, so it's not exactly like saying "I have little sympathy for Jews/Blacks/Buddhists/Whatever", as others have pointed out. cops are the ones who have the power to arrest you, or even shoot at you in cold blood if you're melanin-rich and unlucky. expecting some sort of decency and restraint from them, since they have so much power, is not that wrong

oh, and by the way, two words: Amadou Diallo. I wonder if he has virulent animus toward cops, too.
maybe you can get a shovel and try to ask him.

In times square someone puked on the platform

he's in Gitmo now, for using chemical weapons in the ny subway

posted by matteo 27 July | 15:49

We would be laughing our asses off, mudpuppie. When I lived in New Orleans, one of my favorite things to do was pray for frost or snow in the south and then settle down with a cup of cafe au lait and watch the morning news footage of southerners getting into their V8 pickups and fucking flooring it and just doing accidental donuts all over the place. If there was enough footage you could hum Swan Lake and just pretend it was pickup figure skating.

PS I love the south.

posted by Divine_Wino 27 July | 15:52

I'm wondering if it is all dame. It hardly matters, though, because this (unusual for mecha) bullshit splattered all over my sensitivities as well.

Was my anecdote one that got you bent out of shape, mlis?

It's a true story.

Hey, check it out: there are loads of cops, firefighters, and ER nurses who are total dicks. That's true, too. There are loads of 'em who got into it for the wrong reasons (to carry a gun, to get beefed up and meet chicks, to have access to prescription meds). They're assholes, and that's also the truth. I'll say it again: Fuck 'em.

Lots of cops here in New York joined up for good reasons, and the street beat the good right out of them. That doesn't change the fact that the guys who were jerks to me, were jerks to me.

I'm not going to play your game of preempting others' posts by putting words into their mouths while being vague about exactly whose mouths you're filling. That's pussy bullshit, and if you're doing that to get a rise out of someone, it worked. Fuck you. If you weren't aiming at me, you hit me anyway, with your assumptions and your meffy-style namecalling.

Nobody talks shit here. This is the first time anyone's made me mad, and it's mostly your style, mlis. The race card, the hypocrite card, the "you'll be saying _____ next" card... you've played them all.

It's all bullshit. The worst thing about it is that it brings acrimony to a place that barely knows it. If Haughey likes that kind of shit on his site, do it there, and leave it there.

If I'm barking up the wrong tree, it's due to the opacity of your comments. Toss a bomb in a room, and you get everybody. It ain't fair, and it ain't welcome.

I seem to remember liking your posts, and your style, and having had fun with you from time to time. I hope to do the same in the future.

But if I'm not remembering correctly, and you are always such an asshole, I hope you disappear, because I really dislike myself when I want to reach through my monitor and tear out somebody's fucking throat.

posted by Hugh Janus 27 July | 15:56

I mostly meant, like, Dame is more than capable of defending herself or not, Hugh, as are you. Good points.

To the whole room:

While I agree metachat is better without much beef, sometimes you have to throw hands, no matter what.

posted by Divine_Wino 27 July | 16:04

MLIS: Everyone else has said what I would.

Everyone else: I apologize for being extra intemperate and bringing wickedness down on MetaChat. Yet as Hugh and D_W point out, this case was impossible to resist.

Pray for rain.

posted by dame 27 July | 16:13

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by matteo 27 July | 17:03

Your perception of cops depends quite a bit on where you grew up and how.

Yep. What's funny is that you can't really predict the way the local cops are from either region or city size. And of course they vary individually. Some are bicycle-fixing humanitarians, others are the type to laugh at old, drunk women in the street and to beat up kids for the hell of it. Every time I've ever been arrested (not DUI but, um, other sorts of things) I've been treated very well by the cops. But that's because I'm the sort of person they're going to treat well. You know, I'm white and educated. If you're a young black man, you're presumed guilty until proven innocent. You're coerced, lied to, you get legal counsel that just wants the pile on his desk reduced, you're beaten. Although my experiences with law enforcement and criminal justice have been mostly quite good, they've left me very cynical about how many other people are treated.

I apologize for being extra intemperate and bringing wickedness down on MetaChat.

Your whole schtick is to casually provoke people you disagree with. You see it as a virtue. Why apologize?

posted by kmellis 27 July | 17:35

Stop squabbling you two, and get back to doing something important like basking in my glory!

Also, the rain prayers seem to have worked.

posted by jonmc 27 July | 18:17

she's right, he's wrong, fuck off
and now the weather...
≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by ethylene 27 July | 18:22

"Cloudy with a chance of meatballs"

posted by ethylene 27 July | 18:27

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by mudpuppie 27 July | 18:35

the Mandan rain dance always works, giovanni.

posted by matteo 27 July | 18:38

mudpuppie, are those circles meant as, um, targets?

no, don't bother, I'll do it

*slaps self*

posted by jonmc 27 July | 18:55

the rain didn't help--still really really muggy--it is New Orleans weather (take it back! take it back!)...

thanks for the dances--keep it up--maybe we'll get some real downpours and wash the muggy away?

posted by amberglow 27 July | 19:40

dame, you should switch to wunderground (and mike's weather station)--far more accurate temps and stuff

posted by amberglow 27 July | 20:49

It's so much better. It's not perfect, but thanks to matteo and mudpuppie.

Kmellis, go fuck yourself with a rusty stick, I swear. Though you are casually provoked merely by the thought of me and I don't care enough to be tactful, I don't actually consider it a schtick. Not all of us spend all day thinking about our images--then again, that you think so much about yourself and still can't what a useless pompous fuck you are does blow my mind a little bit.

Not to mention, I was apologizing for telling MLIS to go fuck himself, not for calling cops stupid, which was what he objected to. And I was apologizing to the good people who had to watch it--not to the craven fuck who can't imagine why some people just may not like cops.

There. Now can you see the difference between me typing what's in my head and me trying to be insulting? Or are you too busy winking at the pretty pretty mature being in mirror?

posted by dame 27 July | 22:42

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by mudpuppie 27 July | 22:53

This was a very frustrating thread to read, for a nurse with a brother in the Army. I have, after a day of deliberation, decided to take the high road, but want you to know that for the sake of harmony I have god damned near bitten my tongue clean off. And that is because I think so much of most of you.

posted by puddinghead 28 July | 02:57

I had no electricity for close to 24 hours so my response was delayed.

The cops in New York aren't here to protect me and by willingly violating the Fourth Amendment, they aren't making me any safer.

If they are not there to protect you, why are they there? Please tell us.

If you dial 911 and ask for help, police officers in your pct. will be rushing to help you.

Where is the citation? How are they "willingly violating the Fourth Amendment"?

In NYS the Court of Appeals has established protections with regard to search-and-seizure that exceed those by the Fourth Amenment.

Think of it this way: The Supreme Court establishes a floor below which protections may not sink, not a ceiling above which they may not rise.

The NYS Court of Appeals has established greater protections by ruling that the NYS Constituion guarantees such protections.

Second, your statement about "willingly violating" - how is that so?

The searches in the subway system are being challenged in court. Until there is a ruling that the searches are unconstitutional, there is no willing violation, get it?

not to the craven fuck who can't imagine why some people just may not like cops.

Where did I ever suggest otherwise?

What has been most interesting are your responses. As kmellis pointed out, you were being deliberately provocative.

You launch into profanity laced tirades whenever someone disagrees with you or points out an uncomfortable truth.

Just about everyone else in Metachat would have begun the thread about the weather by writing about the weather.

Not you. YOU have to make sure everyone knows how much you despise police officers, how "stupid" they are.

Thanks for bringing your agenda into a Metachat thread about the weather.

You know, maybe they should actually grow a spine and refuse to violate people's liberties. Oh, wait, that's right, they don't care. Screw 'em.

Again, where is the citation? You are making an accusation against 40,000 police officers in NYC.

It sounds more dramatic your way.

If someone attributed such thoughts ("they don't care") to a racial/ethnic group, you would rip into them.

As far as I'm concerned, someone who wants to be a cop is the last person who should be allowed to be one.

Somone who wants a good paying job, with health insurance (dental & vision)for themself and dependants and/or spouse or domestic partner (including same sex), life insurance, long-term disability, pension and a flexible work schedule (say, for example, midnights with days off during the week so that the officer can spend time with his/her children).

Again, much more dramatic your way.

dame: you are obviously a nasty, angry person.

Hugh Janus: I had no idea you are such a tough guy! See my comments above about bringing an agenda into Metachat.

posted by mlis 30 July | 15:29

that's what you do after getting power back after 24 hours?
i'd probably put stuff back in the fridge

posted by ethylene 30 July | 15:36

27 July 2005