This is what I first wrote as a comment to: Pen Pals, 13 by Anistasia Allread. She wrote: "Hello again from St. George, the hottest place on Earth." This was my reaction. Title was "Hotter elsewhere in AZ"

St. George, Utah is about 7 miles north of the AZ state line and 25 miles east of the NV state line. My state map of AZ has it's elevation at 2880 feet. Phoenix is at about 1000 ft. I live in Tempe, next to and SE of Phoenix. The all time (like in the last 120 years)high temperature in Phoenix is 122 ° F. I'm sure it doesn't get that hot in St.George. Also, in this area, it seems like temperatures are lower by 5 ° for every 1000 feet gain in elevation.

The hottest AZ locations, mentioned in local weather reports, are often Bullhead City (on the Colorado River) at 700 ft. and Lake Havasu City, also on the Colorado, at 600 ft. I think their record highs are just short of 130 ° F. Yuma is lower still, but I guess it's temperature is moderated a little because it's closer to the Gulf of California. Yuma has the mildest winters. Flagstaff, 110 miles north of and 6000 ft. higher in elevation than Phoenix is uniformly 30 ° cooler

Now, let me explain. I have Asperger's Syndrome, which is a sort of high functioning autism. Weather, elevation, location and those kind of technical things somehow seem really fascinating and worth knowing to me. If I think of writing to someone, like maybe my bother or sister, I immediately begin composing paragraphs about how the weather has been, why that is, what's going to happen next, etc. I know enough not to actually include much weather news. I also react, almost as strongly, to anything that sounds like it needs an answer involving physics, mechanical engineering, cosmology, etc.

My difficulty with and one of the characteristics of Asperger's is that I have a social and nonverbal communications learning disability. All my adult life, people (partners, etc.) have told me how I've said really weird things or asked weird questions. I'd never figured out what normal social communications were supposed to be. If a thought or question occurred to me, I'd check to see if it were gross or hurtful to someone (and I didn't think too hard or long in this appropriateness check) then just say it. I guess I said things that were not relevant to any subjects others had brought up or questions a professor could answer, but not the ordinary people I was talking with. I've read that the pattern is like, I'll be talking, but I can't read the clues from others that they're not interested. If I pause, someone else starts talking on a different subject and I feel hurt that I was interrupted and nobody cared about my attempt at conversation. After a while, people stay away so they won't have a conversation with me.

At work, which gave me gender dysphoria, even though I was in denial about it, I kept having a strange feeling. I felt left out of the secret that everyone else knew. It seemed like I had missed a briefing or a one day class that would have told me how I was supposed to get my job accomplished. Everyone else seemed to know what they were doing, but nobody had clued me in.

Now days, I can make 'small-talk' with a checkout clerk and not feel nervous. I guess occasionally they'll be scratching their heads after I leave. (But I don't worry about it) What does make me nervous, and what I've just about stopped doing is trying to make friends with people (which would mainly be wimyn bicyclists) or having an in-depth conversation with someone I sort of know. It just doesn't work. Most of the wimyn I've tried to get to know, and managed to remember their names, end up never including me in their conversations. It's possible that others in the group have told them that I'm TS. Apparently nobody notices it when I first meet'em. I know that a few people know and they treat me OK, neither good nor bad. I guess I don't know about the (silent) majority.

I guess that's about all I can think of at present.
Renee