One Positive Aspect of Global Warming

Vitamin C tab the size of a quarter.

*gulp*

Name brand multivitamin.

*gulp*

Anti-malaria horse-pill.

*gulp*

Warning note on bottle: Avoid Prolonged Or Excessive Exposure To Direct And/Or Artificial Sunlight While Taking This Medication. Remind me to pass on all the tanning salons around here.

When I first got here (last week), the mosquitoes acted like they were WereKitty and I was a pole -- I took a cue from the locals and made a sorta Tuareg headwrap from an Army sling to keep the little bassetts out of my mouth, nose and ears. This, thought I, was not even going to be as much fun as Vietnam was -- at least we could bathe in malathion back in those days.

"Don't worry about the mosquitoes too much," said one of the mechanics. "They'll be gone soon."

"Why? Are the local bats gonna start doing their job?"

"No. In two days, banut garam. It will be too hot for mosquitoes."

Too hot for *mosquitoes*?

[Flashback to last month, Deep in Dixie: "Wow. The temp on the ramp is 40˚C? *That* can't be right -- but if it is, it's gonna limit our available power a *lot*. Lucky you'll be doing most of your flying at night, where you're going..."]

Banut garam happened two days later, just like the mechanic said. No mosquitoes. None. Soooo, what's too hot for mosquitoes, you ask?

Ummmm, I couldn't tell you about the temperature at noon (I was Avoiding Excessive Exposure To Direct Sunlight) but right around midnight, the temperature finally dropped down to a point we could read on the free-air temp gauge.

40˚C. Roughly 113˚ Fahrenheit. And, no, it's *not* a dry heat.

Just as an aside, they've improved the efficacy of the malaria pill since the last time I consumed massive quantities of 'em -- you still got malaria, sometimes, but the meds masked the symptoms to allow you to keep flying.

Now they've gotta work on the taste...