PORTLAND, Oregon — At food cart pod Food Cart Heaven in East Portland, it is hot as hell. Just ask John Wirtz, who works inside the Portland Custom Food and Catering truck.
"As soon as it gets busy and you're cooking in front of that flat top it's probably 130, 140 degrees in front of it," Wirtz said.
When it gets as hot as it will be this week, Wirtz said, it is all about improvising.
"During the day it's a struggle," Wirtz said. "What are you going to do during the day? Try to bring in a little more ice and do smoothies and stuff."
Waste and recycling companies know all about improvising in the heat. Garbage and recycling pick-up started earlier than normal across Portland Monday, to ensure collectors were off before the heat became too unbearable. The same will happen Tuesday and Wednesday. This requires customers to put their bins at the curb the night before.
"All of our hauling companies have guys in very hot cabs and a lot of our trucks are cab-overs so they're basically sitting on an engine on top of the heat," Josh Brown of Arrow Sanitary Service said.
High school football teams across the Portland metro area tried beating the heat as well. In Canby, the high school's varsity and junior varsity football teams got in a morning workout instead of an afternoon workout.
"We usually try to get out of here early," coach Jimmy Joyce said. "We try to get varsity and JV in here at 8 a.m. and get them out by 11."
"It's rough but we're pushing through," one player added. "Working hard. No excuses is what we want to work through."
Back at Food Cart Heaven in East Portland, you will not find John Wirtz making excuses either. If anything he is taking the excessive heat in stride because he knows it is only temporary.
"This is Oregon," Wirtz said. "It rains 399 days a year so we have to take the one to two days of sunshine we get."