She had me... then she lost me

I just finished Donna Leon's A Question of Belief, which is set in August. An apparently unrelentingly hot August. Everyone is complaining about the heat (except Signorina Elettra, of course). It's too hot, it's unbearably hot, the rooms are stifling, when they go outside the sun smashes into them, the water bounces the heat at them instead adding cool, they can barely stand to walk across a piazza...

It's August here, too (duh), and since we are also in the northern hemisphere, it's hot here, too. I was sympathizing with Brunetti and Vianello ... until they actually said a temperature. 31 degrees.

Let's see. When I was in Germany I learned this shortcut. 31 doubled is 62, minus 10% is 56, plus 32 is ... 88. (And Online Conversion says 87.8)

88? Guys, I know it's all relative, but when it's near 100, 88 doesn't impress.