I capitulate!

You may have read in the press, heard on the radio or seen on TV that Europe is suffering from a so-called "heat dome". Germany has seen temperatures of 40 C and higher. Incredible. Unheard of. 

Here in this town, the highest temperature reached so far has been 38 C. And throughout all this time, I've tried to stay cool in my flat by putting the awning [Markise] on my balcony down, putting up two sun umbrellas on the sides of the balcony, letting down the venetian blinds [Jalousien], pulling the curtains shut, and dressing in light clothes. A cold footbath and wiping my body down with a damp face flannel also helps. As do cold drinks. And my "Spanish air-conditioning" as I call it, a Spanish fan. Made of wood and cloth, it's bio-degradable, doesn't need batteries or power packs, and can be dropped without breaking. My current one is already 16 years old. 

But all these measures were not enough to prevent me from feeling exhausted by the heat. So...today...after 8 days of feeling as though I was crawling through the Saharan desert rather than living in northern Germany, a supposedly temperate climate, I capitulated. I gave up. I surrendered my principles and... got the electric fan out of its box in the box room [Abstellraum]. 

One reason for all this global warming is the burning of fossil fuels, which, among other things, are burnt to produce electricity. Hence, by putting on an electric fan and thus increasing my demand for electricity, I'm contributing to the increased burning of fossil fuels and thus global warming. That's what is called a "vicious circle" [Teufelskreis].

So you might wonder why I have an electric fan after all, if it goes against my principle of trying not to contribute to global warming. The answer is "gerbils" [Rennmäuse]. Yep, gerbils. In about 2003, when the first heatwave hit Europe and around 5,000 people in Paris alone died because of the heat, I got some gerbils from my Danish teacher. At the time, I was living in a small flat under a flat roof. Boy, did it get hot - so hot, that the poor gerbils couldn't cope and they died. The heat killed them, too.

And that's when I got a fan, because in those days, I couldn't live without gerbils and I didn't want any other pet of mine to suffer the same fate.

That means that their deaths were, as the Germans say, "ein Glück im Unglück" or a "blessing in disguise". Without them, I'd not be enjoying any relief from the heat.