Salty Lemons

air conditioner and wine box on casters
Downtown Manhattan, NY from my 2011 archive

June 3, 2011

Cool

Two years ago, The Swede and I sold our air conditioner when we moved into our current apartment. Our old apartment was roughly 350 sq. feet, and the air conditioner we had was not powerful enough to cool our larger new place. This would have been our third summer without one. The summers here are hot, humid, and miserable at times.

At one point this week, I had a mini breakdown. I could not take the heat and humidity anymore. It is a sign when your apartment is hotter than it is outside. The thought of facing another summer without any escape was too much. We have large south and west facing windows which heat up the place. I tried the approach I learned the summer I lived in Italy; close all the windows and blinds in the morning, and do not open them until the evening. It works on mild summer days. But true summer days in New York are not mild. After a few sweaty and sleepless nights, I begged The Swede to consider getting an air conditioner for at least our bedroom. Since he is Swedish, "air conditioner" is not really in his vocabulary. The Swedish climate does not warrant needing one.

The Swede made a few calls to see if any place had the one I found online in stock in their store. He found one in downtown Manhattan that offered him a $15 dollar discount. Sold, but how to get it home? We brainstormed a few ideas, taking a taxi and getting it delivered were out. We are the DIY types. So we opted for the methods of either (1) carrying it (2) placing it on top of our "granny cart" (3) strapping it to one of our bikes, The Swede's idea (4) or making a dolly by using a piece of wood and attaching casters to it, my idea.

As we sat brainstorming over breakfast, I volunteered the wooden wine box I recently acquired. (I collect them to use as planters in Plot95.) This was not any wine box however. I got this wine box for free from a store in Chelsea Market and carried it to The High Line, BookMarc, Magnolia Bakery, UNIQLO, Topshop, Ssäm Bar, Milk Bar, and finally home, some eight hours later.

The Swede was willing to give the wine box on casters method a try and off we went. Once we had the air conditioner out on the street and prepared for the journey home, we were very happy that we did not go with the "carry it" method. The box weighed 56 lbs. Onlookers could not help but be amused by our DIY dolly. We received looks throughout the journey home, and one man who was clearly tired of the heat as well said, "Ugh, plug that in."

We very nearly made it home without incident, but the casters we had on hand were not made for outdoor use. One caster fell off just as we exited the subway for the last leg home. Then another fell off and tore a corner off the box. Oh no! My precious box that I carried all day...but it was a small price to pay for some cool and sleepful nights.

P.S. The Swede carried the air conditioner the rest of the way home and glued my box back together like new.

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