Summer Sweat Suffering

In the heart of summer, as the unforgiving Australian sun-scorched Canberra, I found myself questioning my life decisions. Namely, choosing to study Astrophysics while living in a share house with no air conditioning. It felt like an ironic twist of fate, studying the very star responsible for our current misery.

Our house, fondly called the “Sweat Shack” by its six inhabitants, was a veritable oven. The thermometer often shot past 35 degrees, turning our home into a furnace. Frantic for respite from the sweltering heat, we got creative. Attempted DIY solutions included an ‘ice throne’ (which quickly turned into a puddle, much to the chagrin of our leather couch), homemade fans from scrap paper (which resulted in a minor paper cut epidemic), and my personal favourite, converting our lounge into a beach scene, complete with a blow-up pool filled with ice. Spoiler alert: electrical appliances and water do not mix.

Eventually, it was the unexpected death of our makeshift ‘air conditioner’, a motley arrangement of frozen water bottles in front of a fan, that drove us to desperation. We pooled our meagre student budgets and started searching for companies for air conditioning repairs based in Canberra. Each of us dedicated hours to researching online, comparing rates and customer reviews, trying to find the best solution within our tight budget. Our search led us to a local company that also offered air conditioning installation for Canberra homes. We called them up, and within a few days, we had our brand-new cooling saviour.

The change was almost unbelievable. The Sweat Shack was transformed into a Cool Castle, a refreshing oasis in the middle of the heatwave. Our days of frantic fanning and melting ice cubes were over. Studying, once a literal trial by fire, was now a breeze (pun intended). As I now sit under the cool draft of the air conditioning, Astrophysics textbook in hand, I can’t help but laugh at our past follies. I guess it takes living in an oven to truly appreciate the comfort of air conditioning.

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