Hot enough to fire pottery on my desktop

Whew! I forgot about NYC heat waves. It hit 101 degrees today, and I finally broke down and got an air conditioner. I feel like I should do some kind of penance for adding more strain to the grid, but my brain was baking and I just couldn't take it anymore. Mayor Bloomberg, I promise to keep it set no lower than 78 degrees and to turn it off when I leave my apartment!

So this seemed like a good day to talk about heat stroke. Maybe your heroine just parachuted into a remote area of the Sahara. Let's see... perhaps she's a saleswoman for Victoria's Secret and some non-English speaking guerilla group got that confused with other kinds of secret. Like the Secret Service. So our gal had to jump out of a hopelessly damaged plane, the only survivor of a missile hit (so much for the supermodels), and now she's on her own with nothing but a bag of Body By Victoria bras...

Here's what she's in for as she tries to cross the desert:
*First, she'll sweat heavily. Without water, she'll soon start to feel faint and maybe nauseated.
*After a day or so in the burning desert, she'll stop sweating. Her skin will feel hot and dry.
*She won't be able to think clearly. Instead of resting in the shade, she might decide to march all day in the sun.
*Her heart will pound and she might have trouble breathing normally.
*If she doesn't get help, she'll faint. And if she isn't rescued (which of course she will be! happy endings, people, please!) she'll die.

So there she is, passed out in the sand, only a few hundred yards from a hidden oasis--if only she knew. Luckily, a handsome, dashing archaeologist, who's knowledgable in the ways of the desert, happens to be passing by.

Here's what he'll do:
*He'll rig a temporary shelter to get her out of the sun.
*He'll cover her with damp cloths. (Or maybe he doesn't have any cloths. Hey, a use for all those bras!)
*He'll use a valuable papyrus to fan her, helping the water to evaporate and cool her skin.
*As she begins to wake up, he'll encourage her to take sips of cool water (because in the wilds of the desert, it's hard to rig up an IV).

Of course, they'll fall in love and live happily ever after. Or not. That part is up to you!

Ok. Time to get back to my actual work, the stuff I get paid for. Stay cool, everyone!