It’s been a little over a week since the air conditioning system in my apartment broke down. We’ve had a much hotter week than usual in this city, and everyone putting so much demand on their A/C systems has caused blackouts! In my apartment complex, there’s about thirteen tenants – myself included – that have a broken A/C system. We’ve been hounding the property manager to work on replacing these units, but he’s repeatedly shot down our requests by saying there’s nothing available to replace our units with. I don’t see how that’s possible – a shortage on air conditioning systems? Maybe it’s more possible than I thought. Either way, I have to find some kind of solution to get me through while these replacements are on backorder. I’ve been looking at this portable air conditioning system, called a cooling tower. Essentially, a cooling tower works like an oscillating fan, but it has a thermostat built into it. This means it can be used to actually lower the temperature in the room, rather than just adding a breeze that makes the room feel cooler. They have models that can be used as an evaporative cooling system too, as they have a compartment that can hold ice to chill and humidify the air. This might be just what I need to keep cool during this brutal heatwave! If this doesn’t do the trick, I might have to just live with a friend for a few days. At this point, I’ll live with a complete stranger if it means having access to air conditioning!