7 April 2009 - Window cooler closed for the season

[Perhaps "Blinded by the Lights" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band would be appropriate. And yes, I had to look up the band name.]

I have, once again, underestimated the fine German engineering that is embodied in the windows at the office. Recall a posting some time ago about the windows in which I discussed the ability to keep items cool out on the grated ledge between the exterior and interior window panes. Well, if the rising temperatures outdoors didn't already clue me into the fact that the cooling season had ended, I learned that today.

My office is on the eastern side of the building, so on sunny days (I think we have now had eight straight sunny days, which is really confusing to me after all the overcast and rainy days) it is so bright in my office that I can hardly see my computer screen unless I put the blinds down. Putting the blinds down, unfortunately, negates one's ability to open the windows because the blinds automatically retract when the windows are opened.

Correction, the internal blinds. Until today, I didn't realize there was another set. But I was sitting here in the blazing sunlight with windows open this morning when I heard this weird humming sound. Hmmm.... It was a set of horizontal metal blinds descending between the two glass panes (and thus removing any room for cooled -- or heated -- items in that space). They are apparently activated by some sort of light/heat sensor and descend automatically. It was like a dark gray armor locking me in. Kind of like how the Batmobile arms itself in the movies -- except real, without any clear and present danger, we're talking about accountants instead of superheros, and, um, the office isn't mobile (unless that's another feature I have yet to discover). However, when they had fully descended, they then flipped open so you could see a great deal between the horizontal slats. Way cool.

I have, incidentally, confirmed that the office has air conditioning. You might think that is obvious, but it's not. As I may have noted before, my apartment does not have air conditioning despite being new construction. I sense more reasons to hang out at the office during the summer!