Dear Sally Suitcase...

[steepholm]

I've been trying to pack light clothing for Boston, which I'm told is very hot right now. But then someone reminded me that Americans have this thing called "air conditioning", and that temperatures in the Marriott in particular are liable to be semi-Arctic. So, should I also pack sweaters, fur-lined boots, etc? Will I need two cases? What would you advise?

Yours sincerely,

Confused of Bristol

PS At least I remembered to buy an adaptor plug.

Comments

[jadelennox]

Hotel temperatures will be cold, but a cardigan should be adequate. Maybe a warm cardigan; in my office I need a fleece.

The worst of it is breaking, at least.

[steepholm]

The worst of it is breaking, at least.

That is excellent news!

[sovay]

Will I need two cases? What would you advise?

I wear about the same thing to every convention I attend: corduroys, T-shirts, a selection of jackets; it is true that the con hotel at Readercon is very cold. Mukluks would probably be an overstatement, but I'd pack layers—clothes you could regulate temperature in, shed if you were going out into the gonging heat that has rather characterized the last couple of weeks here and doesn't promise to knock off any time soon.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I've been praying for a miracle of meteorological mildness - but that sounds like good advice!

[nightspore.livejournal.com]

It's supposed to be a little cooler, after absurd, sub tropical heat for the last two or three weeks.

May one ask your schedule?

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

My Readercon schedule is here. My overall schedule is: Readercon, Marshfield Hills, Edgartown (on the Vineyard), Boston and home. Quite a lot to fit into 7 days...

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

It is actually supposed to be a lot cooler (merely 80+ in Fahrenheit)... but we'll see. I'm not bringing anything terribly warm, but then I'm staying with my sister and can borrow as needed. I am bringing a rain jacket, as we keep hearing of thunderstorms threatened.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I just googled "Boston weather forecast", and saw a reassuring chart showing temperatures gliding down into the low seventies. Then I realised it was Boston, Lincolnshire. But that's good news, even if the phrase "merely 80+" is hard to wrap my head around.

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

I'm in Somerville MA this minute, and it's 71 degrees and cloudy. Projected high 76. If it weren't for the humidity, I'd say I'd brought Seattle with me, but the air feels totally different.

[grrlpup]

I like a light cardigan or jacket for A/C. Almost anything is heavy enough as long as it has long sleeves, because it's often a draftiness issue as much as a chill issue. Hotels (and movie theaters) are the worst over-air-conditioners!

Looking forward to your field sightings of other Americanisms... joggers and travel mugs perhaps? Maybe joggers with travel mugs in a cutting-edge place like Boston. :D

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

That certainly sounds more sensible than the joggers with ordinary mugs one sees spilling tea down themselves in the Old Country...

[diceytillerman.livejournal.com]

Grrlpup, I'm going to jog across my living room holding a mug right now, just for you. :P

Steepholm, tempwise, I can't imagine you'll need more than a cardigan or a long sleeve overshirt. Though, um, it's been randomly raining without warning pretty often.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I never travel without a brolly!

[diceytillerman.livejournal.com]

Good call. And I just realized that when I said "without warning," I meant sort of the opposite, though it added up to same thing: it's been "chance of thunderstorms" for so many days in a row that it lost meaning.

[dorianegray.livejournal.com]

Bring a cardigan. Maybe two. I did fine in both New York and South Carolina (in July) with light, summery clothes and a cardigan for indoors.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Cardigans I can manage!

[maellenkleth]

waves, apropos of nothing in particular :)

[diceytillerman.livejournal.com]

Oh also -- you've probably got this covered (sorry), but if you're going to the Cape or the islands, those might well be cooler. Ocean breeze.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

No, it's a good thought. A sweater shall be packed!

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

if you are going from Boston to the Vineyard, you may want the sweater for there too, it can get chilly at night.

I hope you have a really good time. (Oops-- someone already said that-- well, she is right!)

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I should pack two sweaters! :)

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

Bring yourself! And a light cardigan...

Nine

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Like Arthur Dent with his towel!

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

You know, I trust, that not only are our electric plugs different, so is our voltage? So if you're planning to plug in any appliances from home, they need to be able to work at our wimpy 110v, or else have a converter as well as an adapter.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I hadn't thought of that. I think it should be okay, though, as I'll only be using it to recharge things (phone, laptop, toothbrush) rather than run them. It doesn't matter if they take a little longer.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

The Readercon hotel is cold, yes; also very dry because the AC sucks all the water out of the air. I recommend chapstick or lip balm, and drinking a lot of water whether you feel that you need it or not. A few hours of breathing in the aridity can really sneak up on you.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Thanks - will do!

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Ignore all these people, they are American and starting from different temperature assumptions of normality.

If you habitually wear a jumper in Sainsbury's, like my aunt, then take a sweater for the airconditioning. Otherwise, you will not need a sweater, jacket, or coat, but you will want long sleeved shirts. I believe at one point in Readercon last year I put an unbuttoned silk shirt over a t-shirt and was too hot.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

The legacy of spending my formative years in a house without central heating is that I'm more liable to feel the heat than the cold, as measured against even the British population, so I guess a fortiori for the States. I'll make sure to pack a couple of long-sleeved shirts. (I can see the logic of multiple thin layers for maximum flexibility, but I don't want to look like a mille-feuille.)

[maellenkleth]

I grew up in the UK; central-heating is an alien concept and I keep my house at 10C in the winter and no more than 20C in the summer. It does get perishing hot and muggy in Boston this time of year, so I would suggest light short-sleeved tops plus a wrap that you could don or doff as seen fit.

Am sorry that I shall miss you by a few days -- I am not back to Boston until midday on the 27th. :/

(ah well, there's always London....)

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Will you be at Worldcon next year?

[maellenkleth]

Hi!

I must confess that I haven't thought of it -- was planning to go to a scientific meeting in Moscow next year, but maybe I can fit Worldcon in. Although I did live with various fannish types (SMOFCon folks and the like, including a now-deceased boyfriend who worked on various New York City bidcoms) over the years, I've never gone to much in the way of cons because I find crowd scenes rather terrifying. Agoraphobia crossed with claustrophobia, and a general loathing to risk sexual harassment (as being still nightmarish about rape nearly 30 years ago now).

I'll go look Worldcon up now, and see where it is. ^_^