I got into the office a little after 4:00 AM this morning, and, as soon as I opened the door to the cube farm, I was met by a stifling heat. Our best guess in the early morning team is that the air conditioning has been inoperative since sometime during the long holiday weekend, and the glass-walled building in which we wearily toil has been dutifully retaining all the solar energy sent its way, like a good little greenhouse.

I’ve always disliked the fact that one can’t open windows in contemporary office buildings. I understand the technical requirements behind it, imposed to maximize the efficiency of the HVAC system, but something in the back of my head still tells me that it’s slightly unnatural, a spurning of the ancient relationship between us and the living planet. Once upon a time, even in the urban metropolises, one could still crack open a window and smell the air of the wider world, for good or ill.

A couple of people have already threatened to start disrobing if the temperature increases any further. I propped open a door to a relatively cool hallway in the hopes of forestalling such an event; I should otherwise have to put my own eyes out at the sight of our server techs in the buff. Even my G4 is feeling the heat, though; I can hear its fan spinning away. Normally, it is whisper-quiet, but now it rattles as its rotational speed increases, the little machine struggling to keep cool in the midst of all this ambient heat. I myself am beginning to sweat, ever so slightly, on the back of my neck. A nearby thermostat reads 62°, but unless it’s displaying a temperature on the Celsius scale, as one wag suggested, it’s additional evidence that the life-support system in our steel-and-glass cocoon is broken.

I had an entirely different post in mind this morning, but the only thing I can manage to think about now is this oppressive and stuffy heat. If you’re reading this, send ice water, or at least some reasonably-priced shorts for our server technicians. Either way, you’ll be saving many people from a terrible fate.