Day of the High Cities, 47th of the Dog Days, 526 M.E. (Betelgeuse): Man, is it hot! Still 96° F at 6:00 pm, with a heat index value of 104. The high today was 97°, which felt like 106. Needless to say, I didn't get my steps in today. My alternating-day walk can wait until Deneb. 

Yesterday's high was 98, just a few degrees shy of Atlanta's record for that day of 101° set back in 1954. They say it's going to be a little bit cooler tomorrow (92°) with a heat index of 97, so that's a relief. 

The a.c.'s been working overtime, and last month's electric bill was in the triple digits. I happily paid the bill, because if I lose power for any extended period of time, I might roast to death. 

People (well, some people, mostly Yankees) mock Southerners for being "slow," but that slowness was a learned adaptation from the days before Willis Carrier, the patron saint of the South, invented air conditioning. To stay cool and to generate as little caloric heat as possible, people started doing things with an almost exaggerated slowness. You'll be just that little bit less hot if you took 30 seconds to walk to the bedroom than if you made it in 15. People started to do everything in a sort of slo-mo fashion, from placing a folder in a filing cabinet in front of an oscillating desk fan to chopping some Vidalia onions in the kitchen. The adaptation became a sort of cultural affectation, a sign of being a true Southerner, and it's been handed down through the generations even though Carrier's gift to the world now keeps us comfortable. 

But you can't have air conditioning without electricity, and you can't have electricity is areas that rely on hydroelectric power without water. And one of effects of the heat and associated drought in much of the U.S. (and the world) is that major sources of hydroelectric power, like Lake Powell and Lake Mead, are so dangerously low that power may have to be rationed in certain Southwestern cities like Phoenix, which hit an unbelievable high of 113° F today. The drought is so severe in Panama that water may not be available to operate the locks in the canal, and disruption to the canal could limit global trade and impact economies. 

According to data from the AAA, the national average price of gasoline was $4.06/gallon on Monday, $0.05 higher than last week and $1 more than a year ago.  The U.S. gas prices this month are the highest ever recorded for August and have been elevated since last February when the war with Iran began and the Strait of Hormuz closed. Meanwhile, even as peace talks between the the United Snakes and Iran have stalled, the Stable Genius has made new military threats against Oman, because use of military force against Iran worked out so fucking great.

It's not the meat, it's the humanity.