Hot enough for ya?

Frankly, I don't really mind the mid-90s temperatures we've been having as much as some people because the humidity is far lower than on the East Coast and I don't have to take the subway. Sure, I come back home drenched in sweat from head to toe, and sure, I drive with the window down and the AC up just to teach that uppity Al Gore a lesson, but I've seen worse. Like right after finals during freshman year of college, when my computer's innards melted in my no-AC third-floor dorm room.

Not to mention that this week's heat is nothing compared to the Great Chicago Heat Wave of 1995, when temperatures reached 106 degrees, killing hundereds:

Because of the nature of the disaster, and the slow response of authorities to recognize it, no official "death toll" has been determined. However, figures show that 739 additional people died in that particular week above the usual weekly average. Further epidemiologic analysis presented by Eric Klinenberg (author of Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago) showed that blacks were more likely to die than whites, and that Hispanics had an unusually low death rate due to heat. At the time, many blacks lived in areas of sub-standard housing and less cohesive neighborhoods, while Hispanics at the time lived in places with higher population density, and more social cohesion.

So if you're wondering why all the signs on the highway tell you to check up on elderly friends, family and neighbors, it's a result of the disasterous response to the heat wave more than a decade ago.