The Heat Index

What is hot in Phoenix? Find out right here at The Heat Index, written by me, Heather.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

A Gorgeous Thunderstorm Awaits


I’ll take what I can get in the way of cool, rainy days since we get so few of them here! Here’s the view from North Phoenix today. I took this photo at 6:30 p.m. and it looks as though a storm is moving in from the Northeast… I wish we could have more weather like this! I love days like this. I almost need a jacket. Yes, I’ve lived here so long that when it’s cooler than 80 degrees, I freeze.

A Phoenix Rarity – Clouds and Cool Air!


Oh, how you must savor this moment, this one calendar day. This is the calm before the storm in more ways than one… After all, those 100-degree days are just days away. Whenever you are hot, sweaty, and the kind of tired only desert dwellers can know, remember today. Remember this weather we had today because it may be the last livable weather we see for months.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

How Will Phoenix Respond to the Gas Crisis?

While reading a CNN news story and reader comments (there were 65!) I finally came to realize I am not the only person freaking out this year about higher gas prices. I’m already walking as much as I can, which isn’t much. This is Phoenix, after all. The Valley of the sun is a horribly laid out city when it comes to gas conservation. I can only walk to about two places, so my walking isn’t saving gallons of gas. Ounces, definitely. But the pride I take in using even an ounce less gas in this era of gouging and spectacular oil company profits is priceless.

I am already planning to carpool some days with a coworker. I walk to the grocery store and I walk to lunch from work every day. But I have to drive to work, I have to drive to my boyfriend’s place and to my parents’ house. There are just so many places that are too far to walk.

And have you ever tried walking in Phoenix? It isn’t fun. For starters, it will hit 100 degrees here in the next couple weeks. Second, this city isn’t built for walking. It’s hard to navigate a neighborhood where sidewalks are minimal. Phoenix was built for driving. Public transportation barely exists. The bus system is too slow. I’d have to wake up at 4:00 am to get to work on time. The light rail construction is making traffic worse all over the Valley and I haven’t talked to one person who is confident it will even help once it is finished.

Mesa, on the other hand, is taking sidewalks into account in order to encourage a more pedestrian lifestyle. I wish Phoenix would do the same. We build and build and expand and burp up dust with all our construction. Now, we are left with our fists tightly closed around our few nickels that we need to spend on precious gas and allergy meds because that brown cloud isn’t making breathing any easier.

I think I will simply have to buy a motorcycle this year. Here’s the link to Mesa’s new sidewalk initiative:

http://www.cityofmesa.org/stellent/groups/
public/documents/news/nr_widersidewalksformesa.asp#TopOfPage

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Driving the 101 This Summer Will Be a Challenge



Now that it is Tuesday and I have recovered from weekend driving woes, let me warn you; it’s about to be a long hot summer of unsavory driving. I learned this about two years ago when commuting to Mesa on the weekends for my on-air shift at KDKB. (I work at 98.7 The Peak now in Phoenix). During the summer here, ADOT can only do certain tasks during hot weather so freeways have to be shut down, often in both directions. (Sealing or something to that effect). So be ready for that.

I have found in the past it is helpful to check the ADOT website before leaving the house so I can figure out what my route will be. I am not kidding! This has got to be the only major city in America that CLOSES DOWN freeways on the weekends.

Here’s the ADOT link for you to copy and paste:

http://www.dot.state.az.us/ccpartnerships/news/closures/index.asp

I have also placed a permanent link at right in the links section. You will need this if you plan to drive in Phoenix this summer!

Aside from the fun on the 101 this weekend, as it was shut down for light rail construction between Broadway and University, I witnessed a litany of accidents on McDowell. It was an accident per intersection, four intersections in a row. So I ask the eternal question that everyone asks as they shake their heads, “Why are people such horrible drivers here?”

I will never understand it. I think it has a lot to do with the strange way the roads are laid out. You get the left turn arrow after your lanes of traffic have gone if you’re in Scottsdale, before if you live in Phoenix. And at that, it isn’t like more than 2-4 cars get through a light, much less a left turn arrow.

Drivers just aren’t on the ball here either. It takes them too long to realize their light has turned green or that they have the right of way. My personal favorite aspect of driving in the Valley of the Sun is turning right onto Scottsdale Road from Thunderbird. I wonder every morning why people don’t realize they have a green light! Green light = right of way = you can turn = I don’t have to sit behind you wondering why you are so stupid.

Drive nice, that’s all I ask. Driving nice also means driving with a brain. Drive with your eyes and ears open so you don’t anger the drivers around you. I could get started on the road rage I’ve witnessed, but that is a whole other post!

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Gonzo Auction to Benefit Peoria Police Officer Monday, 4/24

Gonzo made history last week by becoming the 21st player in MLB history to hit 300 home runs and 500 doubles in his career. The bat and gloves he wore to make that 500th double will auctioned Monday night, April 24, at http://www.diamondbacks.com to benefit Peoria Police Officer Bill Weigt. Weigt was injured by a gunshot in the line of duty on December 16, 2005 and became paralyzed from the waist down. As he has been recovering, he has gained a friend in Luis Gonzalez.

Gonzalez says, “I’m truly humbled by the good fortune I’ve had to achieve a milestone such as this, but a person like Officer Weigt, who puts his life on the line, is the true hero. Thanks to the friendship I have with him and his family, it’s an honor for me to be able to provide a package like this to assist his comeback.

The lucky high bidder will get Gonzo’s bat and gloves along with a chance to sit in his family suite to watch an upcoming Arizona Diamondbacks game. The bidding starts at 6:00 p.m. and goes until 11:59 pm.

Accident City

I have now promised myself I will stop on yellow from now on. Last week, I saw two different accidents two days in a row where someone caused an accident because they floored it when the light turned yellow. One was outside my office, where an econo car mixed it up with an Escalade and lost. The second was at Power and McDowell. The Man and I were driving in the Bronco and luckily, he slowed down for the yellow. Not the guy next to us! This speeding bronze Taurus just floored it as we stopped and flipped a small truck in the intersection. This was not a very enjoyable thing to watch. I told The Man if he hadn't stopped, we would have been in it too. I think I learned my lesson.

Driving in this city is insane. Yesterday, we're driving down McDowell and saw an accident at every intersection, four intersections in a row. Not to mention the street was already overflowing with traffic, likely because a good chunk of the 101 was closed down.

If only we had better public transportation, so we didn't have to deal with all the drama on our roads...sigh.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Gas costs $3.09 in the Valley

When I saw on Fox 10 News last night that someone in the Valley of the Sun is selling gas at $3.09/gallon, I couldn't believe it. It is way too early to hike the price so much; the traditional Memorial Day hike that kicks off the summer gas gouging season is over a month away! I am irate about it. The high gas prices are already bringing back bad memories of late last summer, when I commuted daily from North Phoenix to Northeast Mesa before stopping for the evening in South Scottsdale at my boyfriend's place (it was on the way home on the 101) before finally coming back to North Phoenix. I spent hundreds on gas, though I can't remember how much. I think I'm blocking out the dollar amount from my memory to save my sanity.

I don't want to get into another phase like that where I can hardly afford my life because we're paying $3+per gallon in a city (Phoenix) where 30K a year is making good money for the majority. And you have to drive everywhere here because of how the city is laid out. I am already thinking of how to get through a summer of expensive gas prices here in Phoenix. I'd list my ideas, but you probably don't care and they all amount to me being pretty much even cheaper than my father.

So I'm against spending any more on gas than I have to. In othe words, I'm walking to the grocery store and I'm walking to lunch from now on. Okay, we'll see how that lasts once the temperature is over 100 degrees... But for now, I'm about to stay in a lot and walk everywhere else. The city is so spread out and has such horrible public transportation that I'll have to drive certain places like work, to my parents' house and to my boyfriend's place. I'll be a shut-in. I don't care! I'm not paying these gas prices any more than I have to. I've had enough, and it's only beginning.

I guess it's time to save up for that motorcycle I've been wanting. My love affair with the car is OVER! Especially since mine always needs work done on it. New brakes, new belt, oil changes...and that's just what it needs this week. It never ends. My love affair now will be with anything that helps me avoid paying through the nose for gas, so my own two feet are lookin' pretty hot today!

Monday, April 17, 2006

What, You Don't Believe Me?



You don't believe dust can hang in the air polluting our lungs and nasal passages for days, weeks or months? Living in Phoenix will make you a believer. After a windy Friday, Saturday morning was pretty hazy, especially on the south side of town. It looked like there was a fire somewhere, but there wasn't. I noticed the air was clearer when I drove up to North Scottsdale the morning of the 15th. Oh, but South Scottsdale? It was bad!

One More Nasty Photo of Friday's Air!



I took this photo while turning right onto McDowell from Pima. That shell of a building you see is soon to become a Chevy dealership. It was so windy all day Friday, the brown cloud filled the Valley once more and was still hanging thick over the south end of town the next morning.

Dirty Atmosphere



How about this for a plan? I breathe this; you buy stock in Sudafed, Kleenex, Mucinex and any other nasal and/or snot product you can imagine. Actually, I think I'll buy stock too so I can make back some of the money I shell out on that stuff. I have decided I don't want to know what is in our air in Phoenix because ignorance is bliss.

This is the view of the 101 from Pima (and probably Indian School because that's the light where I got stuck and decided to whip out the camera phone). The lower half of the sky is brown. The picture just doens't do it justice! This picture was taken Friday, April 14.

Dust Soup in the Air!



With all that dust flying through the air, do you not expect a caravan of camels to cross the road any second? This photo was taken on Pima Road in South Scottsdale on Friday 4-14.

Friday's Dust Storm



Here's the view from Pima Road (and Indian School if I remember correctly) on Friday afternoon, April 14. I didn't think the air could get any more dirty...until Saturday morning when my boyfriend and I could hardly see the Papagos from the intersection of Scottsdale and McDowell. Wind in the Valley has become one of the things I dread most these days, as it kicks up a brown cloud that is hard to endure, let alone get rid of. Those recent winter months without rain were hard, because the cloud during that time was immobile! And I've never had worse allergy problems.

Monday, April 10, 2006

No Jacket Required

I woke up this morning to the realization that it is simply too warm to sleep under a comforter. I already don't think twice about flipping the AC on at home. When I left for work this morning, I realized I could put all my jackets in the closet at this point. Those 100-degree days are just a month or so away! It was 87 yesterday afternoon on the thermometer at work. Since I know I'll be wearing less clothing until November, two things have to happen:

It's time to drop the winter/new relationship weight and it's also time to shop. I hate shopping. Another summer in Arizona, another trip to the mall to stock up on flip flops, cute sandals and tank tops. If I want to wear real clothes again, I'm going to have to go up north or leave Arizona for cooler spots. The annual countdown to that first 100-degree day can begin!

Sure, it will be hot but the best part about summer is everyone will leave. Goodbye snowbirds! Those old folks will be parking their trailers at Wal-Marts in cooler places from now on.

The second best part is that D-backs Opening Day is tomorrow! I hope this year will be better so that I will want to lay on my couch watching a game on TV while enjoying the canned air I breathe from April until November. Ah, summer. In total, this will be my sixteenth here. Just embrace if it you're new to Phoeninx. Drink two gallons of water every morning when you wake up and try not to move too fast.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Tomorrow's March

I can't wait to see what happens in this city tomorrow with the big march. I heard a crowd of 120,000 is expected. It's like the Woodstock of illegal immigration! What a crowd! If I only I had something I could sell...I'd walk around and try to make some money!

Seriously, I heard downtown is going to be impossible tomorrow and that companies down there are sending people home at 11am. Others are telecommuting. Maybe it's just a good time to take a day off and steer clear from downtown.

I am so glad D-backs opening day isn't until Tuesday!

And is it just me, or does it seem like racial tensions are heating up in the city these days? My boyfriend was forcefeeding me KFYI, where I hear the attorney general's office has sent a nasty letter about comments one of their personalities made about illegal immigrants. The comments were to the effect of him wanting to lock and load at the border... Now that is a little harsh! Then someone on the radio station says that the Spanish station (which one she didn't specify) has been saying all kinds of nasty things about KFYI.

Can't we all just get along?

I work for the Peak and our sister station is KTAR, which is rolling out quite the staff for the march tomorrow. They're devoting every resource, every moment of concentration to the big march tomorrow. I can't wait to hear what happens. I'll be sitting in my comfortable office in Scottsdale, far away from downtown, traffic and television.

But on the day of the first march, I was home sick. I was channel surfing and found a huge story about an immigration march on CNN. It was in Phoenix...so I flipped to the noon news and found no coverage! I finally found something on someone's 4pm news (Channel 15?) It's always interesting to see something so huge happening in your city.

The Heat Index

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