Build Your Own Air Conditioner. Here's a tip if you're struggling through August-in-April like us here in the nation's capital. Last night at midnight, fed up with the blistering heat (yes, at MIDNIGHT!) in the bedroom, I went downstairs, filled a ziplock bag with ice, and hung it in front of our window fan.

It worked surprisingly well. If you're keeping score, the bag o' ice was a bag o' water by 4 AM, if not earlier.