Foiled again

It has been hot in central Illinois.  Not just regular, it's summer hot, but like, heat index of 110 severe drought close up shop early if you work outside hot.  I am not a fan.  I like a slow transition.  I kinda think we should be working our way through the eighties and nineties, getting ourselves acclimated before mother nature slaps our AC units into submission.

It has not been the case.  

My poor trailer is HOT.  The air conditioning can't keep up, not a bit.  Generally speaking, I don't mind hot.  Used to be that I liked 75, 76 in the house.  Pregnant Abbie, not so much.  I could live in a cellar, with a fan on, surrounded by images of snow capped mountains and be sad that I forgot my frosty cold beverage.  Welcome to my new normal!  It's for this reason Zac has learned to keep his mouth shut when he comes home to me in mesh shorts and a sports bra with my Cliff belly just kickin it in the wind.  He commented the first time.  I think it was, "so, uh, just letting it all hang out there huh?"  I think I may have told him to shove it.  Hard to say.  My point is, the man slept without a shirt on for the first time in nearly 5 years the other day, so he is melting too, and for good reason.  

By afternoon, our AC has been running nonstop for hours and the temp is usually 80+....right now, AC is set at 74...it's 86. 

On Monday I decided there had to be something else I could do.  In surveying the trailer park (not necessarily a wealth of information....well, reliable information)  I decided to go a little crazy and headed up to Family Dollar for a roll of heavy duty foil and some duct tape.  

It seemed like sound logic that if I covered my windows in the hottest part of the trailer, so the sun was reflected, the house would not be as hot.  So that's what I set to work doing.  

This is my west facing window at 7:30.  

The hall, at closer to 9am.  You can see, quite bright.  

My finished window. 

And the window in the kitchen.  

I did this on Monday.  The immediate results were surprising.  I effectively went from enjoying life among the living, to a cave so dark I thought I might go mole-blind.  (Random fact, moles are basically blind.)  

For a day, I basked in my highly reflective hovel.  I took a comatose nap in the middle of the afternoon and was scared awake by Zac, who entered the house looking like an angelic Viking, filling the doorway, surrounded by light so bright it almost hurt.  

The next day I got up around 7, and promptly walked back into 10pm in the living room.  I had to turn on lamps.  I hated it.  

Wednesday was more of the same, but Zac was home and he would live in a cave if I let him, so he was loving it.  Later that day I made the mistake of touching the foil and nearly seared off a finger.  In a fit of rage I ripped off a chunk of the foil and irritated Zac.  He argued that I "spent time and money to do that."  I told him that I was ok losing $4 and a hour of my time.  His little glowing vampire eyes stopped me from across the room before I unveiled the rest of the window.   

Thursday, I snapped.  I tore off the foil in the hall and the kitchen.  As a compromise, I left up the living room foil.  It is nice not to have a glare on the television, Zac is right about that.      

I am sad to report, the foil does not help at all.  It cuts out light, that is for sure, but as for heat it is hopeless.  I am praying that the heat wave breaks soon.  I am sick of it.  For now, however, I will continue to let my trailer look like I'm growing drugs in the living room.