It’s so hot. Yesterday, it was officially the hottest day ever recorded in Germany. Temperatures swelled to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius). Thank God we bought air conditioners in 2015 and 2017, because I bet they’re sold out at the local hardware stores. The vast majority of German homes lack air conditioning because up until recently, it never got that hot here. Unfortunately, that is now changing.

I remember as recently as 2009, it wasn’t that hot in Germany. In fact, I remember ten years ago, it snowed much more often than it does now. We got maybe two or three weeks of warm weather, then we were back in jackets. That’s not so, nowadays. The past few summers have become increasingly brutal. Climate change is a real thing, and it’s scary.

Fortunately, our current house has rolladens on all of the windows. Our upstairs doesn’t actually have windows, except in the bathroom. What we have are glass plated doors that open to large balconies on either side of the house. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to use my air conditioners in this house, but it turns out they’re even easier to use here. There’s no need to use a hot air stopper, because all I have to do is drop the rolladen just to the point at which I can stick the hose outside. Yes, hot air still gets in, but it’s mostly blocked by the rolladen. There’s no need to use adhesive or anything else to hold the hose outside and I don’t have to roast in my own sweat. An added bonus is that I also don’t have full scale sunlight hitting me in the face anymore at my desk, so that I have to drape a towel over the window for the morning hours in the summer. I had to do that in the previous house.

I don’t think it will be much longer before people in Germany start air conditioning their houses. Last fall, we even looked at a house in Wiesbaden that was having it installed. I was tempted to take that house, but there were a few things that prevented us from pulling the trigger. The biggest issues were that I wasn’t sure our bed would fit and I would have had to go outside to access the laundry room. But, I won’t lie… air conditioning for these increasingly brutal summer weeks was a huge draw. I have done my time sweltering in the heat. I don’t want to do it anymore if I don’t have to.

Although the past few months have been an adjustment for us, I definitely like Wiesbaden. It has a different vibe than Stuttgart does, and people seem to be more friendly and peaceful. There’s much less of a social media presence here, so I don’t get caught up in ridiculous online dramas. There’s a smaller military presence here, too, and most everyone seems to be with the Army rather than all branches. The garrison commander is supportive of everyone, including contractors, so that’s a big plus. When we move out of this house, we will have support from the housing office, which we were denied in Stuttgart. I definitely enjoyed our time in Stuttgart and I have many pleasant memories from all six years, but I’m glad we moved… for many reasons.

Hopefully, this heat wave will be finished soon. I’m beginning to feel like we’re back in Texas, although in Texas, we had air conditioning (that cost us a fortune). Supposedly, the temperatures will be pleasant in Scotland when we’re there. Now that I think about it… August seems a strange time to go whisky tasting. Ah well, I’m sure we’ll have fun, anyway.

By the way… today marks my 1200th post on this blog!