All of that makes perfect sense. I really wish that the U.S. would adopt something similar, but I do not see it happening in my life span.
To those of you without Air Conditioning, I am very sorry to hear this news. In parts of the U.S. it gets so hot that people die from the heat. In other parts, it gets so cold that people die from the freezing temperatures. Depending on where you live, AC is either a necessity or a luxury.
Robby
And in this country, AC is becoming a necessity. I just read that hospitals here are now bulk-buying AC units and fans.
The Independent just did a piece on how how the Central Line (underground train) actually gets: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/central-line-heatwave-temperatures-zone-1-london-underground-tfl-video-a8466546.html%3Famp
For the record, 38 degrees Centigrade = 100 Fahrenheit
[apologies for quite how O/T this thread has become!]
I started this mess, so I apologies too for how far I have derailed this topic. It has been entertaining, and informative.
Robby
Wow!!! 2030 till you get AC for the Tubes? That seems like it could be done a lot sooner.
Robby
They can’t use conventional A/C on the carriages as a) there’s nowhere for the equipment to go and b) there’s nowhere for the hot air to be expelled (except back into the tunnel, which is equally hot, and would heat the stations to even hotter than they already are). There are insufficient ventilation shafts in the tunnels, and it’s near impossible to drill any new ones as the city the lines run under is densely populated. Oh, and the lines run much deeper than in most other places.
Last piece of trivia: under EU regulations it’s illegal to transport cattle above 30C (86F) but most Londoners endure higher than that on their daily commute.
Thanks for this, it explains it well enough for me.
ok, then it is a must to leave the European community…
For all of us coming from the American continent (I’m from Mexico) it seems really strange that people actually have holidays sometimes even for a full month in July and August. Here in Italy, where I’ve been living for three years, you won’t find any Italians in Rome the whole month of August… I told some of my Italian friends that I was taking two weeks of this summer and they panicked! It was too short! hahaha True story, though… It gets some getting used to, certainly. But once you do, it’s kind of nice to have some time off in the summer.
It is not just about having time off work, it is meant that a worker (in any sense) first recovers and then builds up strength and creativity for the next work period. It is explicitly forbidden to take on other work during your (fully paid) holidays for that reason. This is of course valid for people with a fixed employment only.
I had a colleague who said the best things about being a teacher (here in the U.S.) were June, July, and August.
Indeed. And many people entered the teaching field willing to accept pay at considerably less than other fields for this reason. And as time passed, the summer break because more and more essential as some teaching jobs became similar to “war zones” (that me be hyperbolic in some cases, but it is literally becoming true all too often.)
Many school districts across the country have moved to a “12 month calendar” that eliminates the long summer break. In my area, few teachers get more than 6 weeks off during that break and many schools have only a 4-week break now. But they didn’t increase teacher pay to reflect the loss of that extended break benefit.
Having taught in the public schools for 37 years, I always laugh and cringe at the mention of “June, July, and August” as being off for teachers. It’s a 10 month schedule - with most districts going into most of June and returning the first week in September, or some variation of that. We do have some days off during those 10 months as well, similar to other professions. Many professions will build up to 4-6 weeks off vacation time if you put in the years, or as an incentive.
Just recently retired, though, so now I have more time to use Dorico!!! 
This thread gets my vote for most “off-topic”! Sorry to be one of the contributors of this award!