No Cold Water

Saturday 16 June
2000

Well, there is no cold water again. And it’s not because anything is broken. When I got back to Kuwait the temperature had started to climb, and from now until sometime in November or December there won’t be any cold water.

The reason for this is that the sun heats the water in the water tower to the point where you don’t even need to turn on the hot water for a shower – the “cold” water is hot enough. In fact, you *can’t* turn on the hot water beyond a trickle because the “cold” water is too hot to temper it. So the only cold water from now on is bottled water from the fridge.

The day I returned, the temperature was 118 degrees F. It has been pretty consistently between 115 and 119 since then. Yesterday was a milestone for me – at 122 degrees F, the first time I’ve ever been over 120 degrees. (We went through the Mojave Desert on vacation once when I was a child, but I don’t know how hot it got there at that time). In any case, it’s certainly the hottest I can ever remember being. And they say it will get hotter.

The other thing that has been extreme has been the wind. It has hardly stopped blowing since I got back. It blows steadily out of the northwest, and is always hot, like a hair dryer blowing right in your face. Sometimes it is so strong it is hard to walk against it. When it picks up like that, it blows dust constantly. Fortunately my job does not take me outside for extended periods very often, but when it does I want goggles and a face mask.

Today we worked outside almost all day, moving boxes of supplies in and out of conex shipping containers as we reorganized them for more efficiency. It wasn’t so bad out in the open, because the wind evaporates moisture off your body before you can even feel yourself sweating. But inside the conex it was like an oven. About ten minutes inside was enough to be drenched with sweat. We drank water constantly, but I still felt parched all the time. Just breathing takes all the moisture out of you. It actually feels better to be out in the wind. As long as there is a wind blowing I don’t really so much notice the heat per se – it is the dryness and the dust that are annoying.

I worked in a t-shirt and boonie hat. My wrap-around sunglasses kept out much of the dust, but not all of it. I suppose I should have dug out my actual “Goggles, Sun and Sand”, but they are so bulky and ungainly that they get in the way. I have some at home that I’ve had for years, so when they issued me these I never even took them out of the box. I may change my mind about that soon!

I carry eye drops and nasal spray in my shirt pocket, and today I was glad to have them. The nasal spray (“Ayr”) is a simple saline solution that helps to keep some moisture on the membranes. Otherwise they get so dry you almost feel like your body is drying from the inside out. The eye drops I have are “Refresh Plus” eye lubricant, in individual 0.4ml single-use containers - you break off the end of the little syrette to use them. They have about six drops in each one. Three drops per eye is usually enough, although today I needed more than that. My eyes felt gritty even after using one of these. I usually have two in my pocket, but I gave my other one to my NCO when we stopped for an ice coffee at the end of the day. From now on I’ll carry at least three or four at a time.

The other interesting thing was the limited visibility. It wasn’t bad at the start of the day, but as the day went on and the wind kept picking up, it got down to about 400 meters. All around us I could see dust blowing on the ground just like dry snow on a windy winter day at home. From up close to about 400-500 meters away it got progressively harder to see things, until everything just disappeared into a brown haze and you couldn’t see anything at all. It made me appreciate just what a tactical advantage all of our electronic imaging and targeting technology gives us in conventional desert warfare.

People who have been here say that it will stay like this all through July and August, so I guess I’d better get used to it. It makes me doubly glad that I got the AC taken care of before the worst of the hot weather arrives!

Mood: Desiccated
Music: Surf Revival Sampler (Rhapsody)