At 70

I was thinking today how different life is for me now.

For example, at age 25 I survived being over 24 hours in 120 degree temperatures at Gila Bend, Arizona area on business there doing assaying for a mining company then without an air conditioner.

I suppose if I was completely passing out or something I could have turned the air conditioner on in the truck for a while but that didn't seem practical to me then. And the coldest it ever got during this time was around 100 plus degrees around 6 am in the morning. What I noticed was having a headache most of the day and for the next 3 days and crusty stuff on my armpits from sweating at an extreme level there all day on my T-shirt. And having to drink amazing amounts of water so I didn't just die that day. The other thing is you might in the morning when it is only 100 to 110 degrees be out in the sun actually doing something but when it is 120 you better be in the shade and not exposed to full sun both because you don't want to get heat prostration from getting sunburned but also the sun isn't really that survivable for very long when it's 120 degrees or more out. In other words being in the sun for an hour or more in 120 degrees is literally like getting into an oven and turning it on even without the sun at all there.

But, at 70 I likely would not put myself through that again. Within the last 10 years or so I have been in 117 and above weather outside but usually it is to put gas in my car or maybe walking around Palm Springs for a short distance between air conditioners in a mall or something like that. So, being 24 hours or more in 120 degrees isn't something I would ever choose to do again. Once was enough even at age 25.

So, the temperatures you can survive out in the sun in change as you age. Knowing this is important to your longevity. Just because you could survive something at 25 doesn't mean you can survive it at age 50 or 70 or older.

Because the main problem with being in extreme temperatures is that your brain stops working.

And when that happens if you are outside sometimes you are dead soon unless someone rescues you.