I had already invited a few people to a dinner party in my recently post-college apartment one summer when a classic New York City heat wave descended. My finances being modest, I could only afford to have one air conditioner, and it was strategically located in the bedroom. I routinely abandoned the living room and kitchen when it was this hot, but I could hardly expect my guests to tolerate such conditions. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and so it was t