Heat Wave

I heard a story that in the recorded history of Melbourne there has never been more than 2 days over 40 degress in a row. Well, we're sure blowing that record out of the water this week! Yesterday it was 43 degrees in the city at 4:35pm. It actually got hotter a couple hours later. It's 1pm now and it's 41 degrees and expected to continue rising. Tomorrow it's supposed to be even hotter. Fortunately, the heat wave is supposed to get a break by tomorrow evening, bringing us down to the mid 30's.

Now, before you go thinking "ooh I wish I was there" let me tell you, no, you don't! Yesterday over 120 trains were cancelled in Melbourne because of the severe heat. It's likely to be the same story today and tomorrow. The sun in Melbourne is not like the sun back in Canada. It is much more intense here, so the risk of sun stroke, heat exhaustion, sun burns, and skin cancer are higher. I went to the market to pick up some lunch today, and on my way over I saw an egg that had been fried on the pavement. I kid you not.

This isn't even the kind of weather that you'd want to have to go to the beach. There's no shade at the beach and the water won't do anything to protect you from the sun. This is the kind of weather where you find a dark, air conditioned room and pass out with as little clothing on as possible.

I was going to start moving some of my things over to my new place yesterday, but even though I'd be rewarded with A/C when I got there, I'd still have to brave the heat to get there. In retrospect, I may have been able to catch a bus from the tram stop instead of walking a kilometer in the heat. Oh well, it'll be cooler this weekend.

In other news, I'm officially not going to the IASSCS conference in Vietnam this year. I'm actually not that disappointed about it though because it would have meant a lot of extra work and money at a time when I've got plenty of work, but not so much with the money. Plus it means I'll have more funds from my student money to advertise my survey, which will make my life easier in the long run.

So now all I have to do is book my trip home. Right now I'm thinking about coming back towards the end of April. I'll know better after the weekend.