Oven Study

   That’s the best way I can describe it. Oven study.
   I love living in Phoenix…for about 9.5 months out of the year. Clear blue skies, sunshine. But for 2.5 months out of the year, well—it’s not enjoyable. We are in the middle of that period now. For most human beings, January/February is the worst. For us, July, August, and the first two weeks of September, are the pits. Tremendous heat that never stops, and yes, even humidity. Of course, if we didn’t have this period, we would have 40 million people living here, and that would be bad! Now, I realize, some of you think all we have is a “dry heat.” I just compared the reading locally for the dew point (which is a far more usable measure of actual moisture in the air) with that of a place famous for humidity, New Orleans. As I tap away on this blog post, it is just over 108 degrees here with a dew point of 64 degrees; in New Orleans it is 90 degrees with a dew point of 67 degrees. Do the math.
   So anyway, what happens is that the ground here warms up, getting to about 88-93 degrees down at the level where the water pipes run. That’s why going swimming here right now is not refreshing: it is more like taking a bath. That also means it just doesn’t cool down at night. So, even though I have been dragging myself out of bed before 4am, it is still quite toasty (upper 80s, low 90s) before sunrise. So, you get a nice 18-20 mph wind going and you feel like you are riding into a giant hair dryer. In the dark. It’s great. (Don’t worry: I have a very good headlight!).
   So this morning I headed into the darkness with a bunch of things to listen to. I had spent a bunch of time Saturday (way more time than I should have–thanks to whoever freed me from this today by picking up that Nano!) resampling the files I wanted to listen to to a higher speed. I was listening to William Lane Craig (he presented what he called a “narrow inclusivism” at one point—i.e., that someone who turns in “sincere” repentance and faith to “the Great Spirit” can be saved), Shaikh Yasir Qadhi (critiquing the Kalaam Cosmologial Argument—he even mentioned William Lane Craig!) and the recent debate in London between Nabeel Qureshi and Paul Williams. It was most enjoyable, if rather sweat-inducing.
   Oh, and don’t forget tomorrow on the DL! We will be joined by Sam Shamoun as we will be discussing Zaynab bint Jash and the “revelation” of the Qur’an.