Extremes

We're in the middle of a heat wave. At just after 5pm, it's 32 degrees, with a "feels like" index of 39. Earlier today, that latter figure was over 40. They give us a "feels like" index to account for humidity in the summer and wind chill in the winter. I think I'd agree with their assessment - it doesn't feel like 40 degree dry heat out which is more like being in an oven, but it is as unpleasant in terms of constant sweating.

It has been hot since Thursday. On the radio on the way home from work, they said they're expecting Ontario to use a record power wattage in the next hour (5pm to 6pm), breaking last year's record set also in July. Air-conditioners. I've got ours on now - a clunky old window-unit that came with the flat. We're not that happy about using it in power-wastage terms (increased occurrences of heat waves being statistically linked to global warming and all), but you do what you have to in this sort of heat.

So, we're here in Ontario. In summer, it is as hot and humid as some places in the tropics - and yet there are no decent beaches (unless you like swimming in steel-mill runoff). In winter, it gets cold enough to snow for weeks - and yet there are no decent places to ski (actually we haven't really tested this, it's probably as good as skiing in Aus). I've forgotten why we came here...

...although it's pretty good compared to being in Lebanon at the moment. Apparently there are as many as 50,000 Canadian citizens in Lebanon (16,000 registered with the embassy), and the government is scrambling to evacuate them amidst Israeli shelling. About 5,000 are Canadian residents there on holidays. Most are probably Lebanese migrants who have spent some decades and/or generations in Canada. I'm a bit surprised we haven't heard of a similar situation with Australian citizens in Lebanon - doesn't Australia have a lot of Lebanese migrants? Aha, I just found it on the ABC News website - Australia has about 4,500 people registered with the embassy in Lebanon. And they're also being shipped out, albeit by the hundreds rather than thousands. A report I heard from a refugee from Lebanon said a lot of people may not even be able to get to the ships because some arterial roads have been destroyed.

And there's more bombing going on in Iraq. And Indonesia just got hit by another tsunami. And China and India are having floods.

Perhaps we should all move to Vanuatu. Apparently, they're ranked number one by a new "happiness" index:
http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1684800.htm
Zimbabwe was last.