A friend who has a bronze foundry in Cochranville said that because of the heat he's been postponing the hottest part of his job: pouring molten bronze at 2,100 degrees. He's had to run the air conditioning in his shop so that his wax molds don't soften. He keeps slurry, the gray, semi-solid material he uses for casting, in tanks that are constantly churning so that the slurry won't set up. If the shop gets too hot, the water in the slurry starts to evaporate, which makes the material thicker, which creates friction with the churn, which creates more heat, which makes more water evaporate ... you get the picture.
A friend who keeps chickens bemoaned losing three of her best hens to the heat. She let the survivors out of their coop out so they could seek shade under the bushes -- but at the risk of becoming lunch for a hawk.
But most of the outdoor workers I've spoken to much prefer the heat to the cold and snow.
I talked to a PennDOT worker while getting gas at Landhope the other morning, and he said said he's gotten used to the summer heat and just drinks a lot of water. "I used to like snow," he said. "Until I got this job."
Another fellow said he and his building crew members watch each other carefully during the heat. Sweating profusely is OK, he said; when he sees a guy stop sweating, that's when he gets concerned.
And a vet I was chatting with was recalling without pleasure the icy days of winter, when medications she was trying to give would freeze up in their vials.
So what would you do? I asked.
"Take 'em into the barn," she replied.
No comments:
Post a Comment