Winter Won’t Come
When we decided to buy the Surry Hills apartment, we were delighted by the air conditioning installed throughout the unit (although appalled at the multiple condensers sitting out on the balcony, a situation we’ve remedied by installing a box over them, which will look pretty nice once we’ve painted it). After the long, hot summer – and we had two in a row, having moved at the end of one to the beginning of another – we knew cool would be hard to live without. These machines are reverse-cycle, which means they run both hot and cold. They’re way up on the ceiling, however, so I’m not entirely sure how effective they are, even though we’ve had them running for the past couple of days. It’s a characteristic of Sydney housing that no one has yet been able to admit to themselves or others that the weather isn’t perfect all year ‘round. In fact, it’s damn hot in summer and gets a bit chilly in winter. Since no one admits this, no one builds for it either, and the result is that it can be hotter or colder inside than out. We think the apartment will be much cooler in summer than apartments usually are, but we’re already finding out it’s colder than we thought it would be, so maybe we’re delusional. It’s a fairly modern building, and having discovered the existence of insulation (purely by accident, but no harm done, even if it was the result of a power tool incident), we thought we were one up on winter. Judging by the behavior of some in the household, notably the cat (which creatures are known for seeking comfort), we’re not. I, however, am still waiting, nevertheless, for anything much more than rain. I know it won’t snow, more’s the pity, but it isn’t even cold, although you’d never know it listening to the natives.