An Adjustment Period
The 100 Club: Houston's record-breaking heat leaves transplants Texas cockroachstunned
Houston is set to break its record for subsequent scorchers that breach 100 degrees, not including heat index.
The last comparable streak was back in 1980, when Houstonians endured 32 days of 100-plus degree weather the entire year. This Monday, we're on day 33 for 100-degree temps in 2011 — and it's the 22nd day in a row with temperatures over 100 degrees.
Besides the obvious adverse effects, this record-breaking heat has posed a personal problem as I attempt to convince my boyfriend that moving to Houston back in December wasn't the worst mistake he's ever made. It's hot, I say, but it's not usually THIS hot.
With my boyfriend having grown up in St. Louis and spent his prior professional life in Kansas City, the heat is but one of Houston's distinctive ticks that a newbie like him is bound to balk at.
Here are the top five toughest things to accept about living in Houston:
The heat: It's not just the searing summertime heat that new residents find hard to stomach. Back in February, when the city declared a state of emergency over a few icy on-ramps, those from colder climes found our overall panic to be utterly ridiculous.
Texas cockroaches: I will never forget the first time my boyfriend encountered a Texas cockroach. His reaction, in sequential order, went something like this: 1) "What IS that?" 2) "It's enormous!" and 3) "IT FLIES?!"
The roads: Maybe it's our damp ground, maybe it's our municipal priorities, or maybe it's that I live off of West Alabama, but I've been assured time and again that our roads are some of the worst, most pothole-ridden thoroughfares in the nation.
Flash flooding: I personally find the eerie greenish glow of an impending tornado far more terrifying, but the whims of Houston weather and the ease with which the sky moves from apocalyptic to beachy blue appears difficult for non-natives.
Liquor licensing: This is more a trait of Texas than of Houston specifically, but the beer-and-wine versus liquor licensing has those from some more lenient states scratching their heads. No beer before noon on Sundays? But it's football season!
