Stay cool tip #2: Evaporative cooling

Hot enough for you?

If that phrase has you ready to strangle the next person who says it, you might want to try some personal evaporative cooling. Evaporative coolers work best when the humidity is low, but this method helps even when it's high. You have to do it only when you're at home, to be polite.

Wet your clothes, wring them out and put them back on. That's it. You'll feel a lot cooler instantly and if you move around, that helps even more.

Try it. It works.

Stay cool tip # 1

Run cool water over your inside wrists or at any pulse point when you get overheated. This drops your temperature and makes you feel cooler fast. Do NOT use really cold or iced water. Too quick of a drop in temperature can make you sick.

Passive cooling

Got a window that lets the hot sun in during the summer? Plant annual vines to shade it. It's still early enough in most parts to plant morning glories, black-eyed Susan vines, cup and saucer vines or a double duty vine like (edible) scarlet runner bean. You'll need to offer some support - a light wood or metal system of some kind, but that needn't be expensive if you make your own or creatively use old grills, stakes, etc. Plant the vine so that it will shade the window during the hottest part of the day and take into consideration the angle of the sunshine later in the year.