Dispatches from the sunburned wastelands

As we are sitting here sweltering away in 39 degree heat (my employer apparently decided to turn down the air conditioning, probably to score green points with the local Green political party, with whom they are occasional bedfellows in politics), I'm left wondering about the poor design of Australian buildings.  It's not designed to withstand the extreme heat conditions at all.  I mean, in Canada they build their houses with decent insulating materials to withstand the cold, and in parts of Asia houses are built on stilts to allow monsoon floodwater to drain without washing away houses.  But here in oz, they build like they were still in Europe. The same goes for clothing.  No, I'm not talking about leisure wear, because as anyone knows the Aussies are very good at beach wear.  I'm talking about wearing their (black) business suits to work, in these sweltering conditions.  One could swear we were in Brussels (if it wasn't for the melting asphalt in the shade outside).  C'mon, how hard would it be to adapt to the local conditions?  They don't even do casual Fridays very well here.  Whoever thought that Aussies were all laid-back surfer-dudes, better think again.  They dress more conservatively than a British House of Lords representative.
 

Posted by HannesB at 8:53 PM Comments