Windows shut

Air currents lazily flowing in the bedrooms are very noxious and could cause many nasty diseases...every granny in Mexico knows that. There are here many "folk diseases" related to "bad air", particularly (I don't know why) facial paralysis.
During a short staying in Germany, I discovered that local engineers had designed a peculiar kind of windows, good for both airphobics and air lovers: they can be either swung inwards using the side hinges as a regular window or tilted inwards from the top. Smart guys...

I LOVE these windows, and was so delighted when I discovered the building I was moving into (in Seattle) had recently installed them in all apartments - ten years ago!

In May 2015 I walked during a heat wave. I arrived at La Casa Magica in Villatuerta, Navarre early enough to claim the first bed in a “no bunks” dorm that had 6 beds. Of course I chose the bed by an open window. On my return to the room after the evening meal I began to meet the 5 other occupants as they trickled in. I quickly noticed that they shared French as their common language, and my overtures toward them from remembered French courses revealed that they were from France and were walking together. As bedtime approached and one of the women came into my space and began to close the window I stated “Je préfère ouvrir la fenêtre pour la nuit” whereupon she proceeded to tell me in slightly more advanced French than I was capable of understanding (but I understood perfectly) that she was concerned about how harmful the night air was for sleeping humans inside a building. I listened respectfully and let it go. Later when the others were asleep I quietly opened the window just enough for comfort. Early the next morning when the room felt cool enough I closed the window before the others awoke. Nobody seemed any the wiser.

I have tied the window open with a small piece of cord more than once with a series of knots. They might have been able to cut it, but I think they just got frustrated in the dark and gave up.

OTH86 said:

I LOVE these windows, and was so delighted when I discovered the building I was moving into (in Seattle) had recently installed them in all apartments - ten years ago!

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I first discovered tilt and turn windows in Denmark 33 years ago, and they weren't new then..

Flogwail said:

I first discovered tilt and turn windows in Denmark 33 years ago, and they weren't new then..

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Yep! I think we had them in Norway about that time or before...

linkster said:

I have tied the window open with a small piece of cord more than once with a series of knots. They might have been able to cut it, but I think they just got frustrated in the dark and gave up.

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I have done similar on windows near my bed in an albergue. I would wait until lights out before doing it. Once I tied one open with a loop that went all the way around. To untie one would have had to reach over me while I was sleeping.

RJM said:

I have done similar on windows near my bed in an albergue. I would wait until lights out before doing it. Once I tied one open with a loop that went all the way around. To untie one would have had to reach over me while I was sleeping.

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This is way off topic, but it made me laugh. I was staying at San Nicolas in Larosona. I had a bottom bunk. There was a guy with a CPAP across from me on the bottom bunk. In the middle of the night, I wake up to someone climbing into my bed on top of me. I freaked and let loose with a good kick and shove. The guy rang his head off the bottom of the bunk above, and quickly exited. I still remember seeing the horizontal white and back striped underwear running away. I think he got up in the middle of the night to take a pee, and made the wrong turn into the wrong room, and I was in the same spot as his bed.

The adrenaline was pumping, and I could not go back to bed. I was laughing to myself, when the CPAP machine started to flash red. It slowly started started to quiet down, and eventually went off. I debated about whether I should go and try to wake the guy, but decided not to. It was sleepless night.