Just about everything that might need replacement in this old house of ours is off from standard by 1/2 an inch. I don’t know why, but perhaps it’s an old standard, or just as likely a quirk.

The latest is the one standard looking window in what functions as my office. With temperatures in the office well above 26˚C in the afternoon I find it difficult to function, and more often than usual am falling asleep. I could easily decamp to the house, I use a laptop after all, but I find Logic Pro’s overactive interface too much for a 13” laptop screen. The portable AC I bought for cheap a few years ago has been inadequate and inexplicably failed, so I went to Canadian Tire and bought a window unit without much thought.

Luckily, I decided to measure the height of the window before taking the AC out of the box, because as it turns out, it doesn’t open high enough. The standard looking window, is non-standard, and off by 1/2”. Fortunately, I could still return the unit. Unfortunately, it’s still hot.