DON'T FORGET YOUR BOOTIES: It's a few weeks early for the movie clip (but I'll link to it anyway, since it's appropriate), but we still need an open thread to tell of how ThingThrowers are coping with the Polar Vortex. Stay warm, people!
Helping my kids clean their rooms and organize their clothes (getting rid of what doesn't fit, etc) I promised the weather gods last night as I was falling asleep that if we got a snow day I would use it for good.
I had a restless night's sleep too, punctuated by a 4 a.m.-ish car alarm from somewhere close down our block (triggered, I'm guessing, by a windblown trashcan). But our power stayed on, the heat worked, the car started fine, there was no ice left on the main roads (a big concern after the rain and heavy melting from yesterday morning), and I got a parking spot close to the door of our office building. I'm thankful, and far more worried about those who are dealing with this without a warm, safe place to shelter. Thinking about where to send a donation.
My only complaint was overheating on the subway this morning due to all the layers on my body. I do kind of feel like I'm dressed a la Orthodox jew; couldn't fit my fleece leggings under work pants, so they're under a skirt.
Going to work and commuting in the cold. Wheeeeee. Thankfully, we've had power and heat so no real complaints outside of waiting for the train in the cold.
Buffalo is under its first blizzard warning since the 90s, so uh yeah- we're staying in and watching ice form *inside* the windows. But we're a comparatively balmy 5 above 0- areas farther south are much colder.
My concession to the wind chill was driving to the Metro this morning instead of doing my usual walk. The only real annoyance was that when I got to the parking garage and tried to open my window to swipe my card, it was frozen shut.
My winter running clothes have become my normal attire. I'm wearing a bright colored running buff outside to cover my face, even to walk to the subway (5 blocks). And my lined winter running pants have become my new long johns. My windows are crap. My radiator has been running constantly, but the cold air coming from the front of my apartment makes it seem like the heater is off. Otherwise, it's fine here. I leave for Chicago tomorrow, so more cold.
When I looked last night around 11 p.m., Athens, GA was colder (by just a couple of degrees) than NYC or Philadelphia. But today, they're colder and that makes me feel better about the world.
Meanwhile, the Polish exchange student and I are continuing our ongoing debate about Fahrenheit vs Celsius for weather temps.
I work retail part time and was cut from my shift Sunday and today--Sunday because that shift was for store pretty-fying and our manager thought it wasn't worth the risk to leave home and today because for the second day in a row our regional manager closed most stores at 4pm in order to let people get home, most of our associates walk and take public transit and that is brutal.
So I have been at home working on a backlog of quilt work and finishing up the unpacking from our move the week before Christmas. Although my new sewing machine is at the shop, so I've been cutting out like it's going out of style.
Sunday night we went out for last supply run and final snow shovelling (here in Chicago it was 7 degrees, -10 wind chill) and then I went two blocks yesterday to a UPS store to mail off a project that had to get mailed and it was very cold, but I was very layered and it was fine, if not very much fun. Now I am staying in the house unless the sewing machine store calls with a fixed machine.
Well, except that with temperature it's an objective measurement rather than a subjective assertion, so the precision is meaningful. If we went to 10 stars for movies or hotels it would just be a matter of people being subjective more specifically, whereas there are actual (if minor) differences between, say, 35 and 38 degrees F.
I don't mean to sound like the cranky old man, but what amazes me in these cold snaps is the car starting. I'm old enough to have had a car with a carburetor in Chicago. Parked outside overnight, it was always a race to get it started before it flooded and/or the battery ran down. It was 50-50 at best. If you wanted to improve the odds you disconnected the battery and brought it in the house overnight.
Amazed that now I can open the door, reach in and grab the scraper and turn the key and start it every time without even sitting down.
Layers, layers, layers! I'm in Chicago, too, so long underwear, heavy sweaters, etc. I got a Jayhawk scarf from the boyfriend's 10-year-old for Xmas, so I've been wrapping that around my head for the block-long walk from the car to the office.
My biggest complaint is that the company's fine neighbors in Lakeview seem to think the snow will magically disappear from sidewalks, so there's no need to shovel. Is it because they're renters? Or maybe have lawn services so are unaccustomed to physical labor in their yard? It's like running on the beach but in four layers of clothes and heavy boots in the freezing cold.
That polar vortex thing might actually kill me if I had to endure it. I feel for you guys tremendously. Hang in there! One day y'all will have warmer weather, and one day it'll rain here.
We're fine. I much prefer cold to heat, so given that the heat and electricity have stayed on, I've been happily in front of a fireplace finishing up my rewatch of Veronica Mars.
However, the children absolutely must go back to school.
That's a great link but I loved how the comments mentioned that there are only six nations in the world that use Fahrenheit - Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Belize, the Bahamas, Palau and the US. (Excluding Canada as it is a supplementary scale).
Helping my kids clean their rooms and organize their clothes (getting rid of what doesn't fit, etc) I promised the weather gods last night as I was falling asleep that if we got a snow day I would use it for good.
ReplyDeleteI had a restless night's sleep too, punctuated by a 4 a.m.-ish car alarm from somewhere close down our block (triggered, I'm guessing, by a windblown trashcan). But our power stayed on, the heat worked, the car started fine, there was no ice left on the main roads (a big concern after the rain and heavy melting from yesterday morning), and I got a parking spot close to the door of our office building. I'm thankful, and far more worried about those who are dealing with this without a warm, safe place to shelter. Thinking about where to send a donation.
ReplyDeleteMy only complaint was overheating on the subway this morning due to all the layers on my body. I do kind of feel like I'm dressed a la Orthodox jew; couldn't fit my fleece leggings under work pants, so they're under a skirt.
ReplyDeleteGoing to work and commuting in the cold. Wheeeeee. Thankfully, we've had power and heat so no real complaints outside of waiting for the train in the cold.
ReplyDeleteBuffalo is under its first blizzard warning since the 90s, so uh yeah- we're staying in and watching ice form *inside* the windows. But we're a comparatively balmy 5 above 0- areas farther south are much colder.
ReplyDeleteMy concession to the wind chill was driving to the Metro this morning instead of doing my usual walk. The only real annoyance was that when I got to the parking garage and tried to open my window to swipe my card, it was frozen shut.
ReplyDeleteMy winter running clothes have become my normal attire. I'm wearing a bright colored running buff outside to cover my face, even to walk to the subway (5 blocks). And my lined winter running pants have become my new long johns. My windows are crap. My radiator has been running constantly, but the cold air coming from the front of my apartment makes it seem like the heater is off. Otherwise, it's fine here. I leave for Chicago tomorrow, so more cold.
ReplyDeleteWhen I looked last night around 11 p.m., Athens, GA was colder (by just a couple of degrees) than NYC or Philadelphia. But today, they're colder and that makes me feel better about the world.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the Polish exchange student and I are continuing our ongoing debate about Fahrenheit vs Celsius for weather temps.
Fahrenheit. But Celsius is oh so much more sensible.
ReplyDeleteI work retail part time and was cut from my shift Sunday and today--Sunday because that shift was for store pretty-fying and our manager thought it wasn't worth the risk to leave home and today because for the second day in a row our regional manager closed most stores at 4pm in order to let people get home, most of our associates walk and take public transit and that is brutal.
ReplyDeleteSo I have been at home working on a backlog of quilt work and finishing up the unpacking from our move the week before Christmas. Although my new sewing machine is at the shop, so I've been cutting out like it's going out of style.
Sunday night we went out for last supply run and final snow shovelling (here in Chicago it was 7 degrees, -10 wind chill) and then I went two blocks yesterday to a UPS store to mail off a project that had to get mailed and it was very cold, but I was very layered and it was fine, if not very much fun. Now I am staying in the house unless the sewing machine store calls with a fixed machine.
Well, except that with temperature it's an objective measurement rather than a subjective assertion, so the precision is meaningful. If we went to 10 stars for movies or hotels it would just be a matter of people being subjective more specifically, whereas there are actual (if minor) differences between, say, 35 and 38 degrees F.
ReplyDeleteThat makes my point even MORE right, Russ. Yay, specificity!
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to sound like the cranky old man, but what amazes me in these cold snaps is the car starting. I'm old enough to have had a car with a carburetor in Chicago. Parked outside overnight, it was always a race to get it started before it flooded and/or the battery ran down. It was 50-50 at best. If you wanted to improve the odds you disconnected the battery and brought it in the house overnight.
ReplyDeleteAmazed that now I can open the door, reach in and grab the scraper and turn the key and start it every time without even sitting down.
I'm in Cincinnati, and the worst part of this weather has been keeping gloves on my toddler. Take it from me, toddlers just don't understand.
ReplyDeleteduck tape?
ReplyDeleteLayers, layers, layers! I'm in Chicago, too, so long underwear, heavy sweaters, etc. I got a Jayhawk scarf from the boyfriend's 10-year-old for Xmas, so I've been wrapping that around my head for the block-long walk from the car to the office.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest complaint is that the company's fine neighbors in Lakeview seem to think the snow will magically disappear from sidewalks, so there's no need to shovel. Is it because they're renters? Or maybe have lawn services so are unaccustomed to physical labor in their yard? It's like running on the beach but in four layers of clothes and heavy boots in the freezing cold.
That polar vortex thing might actually kill me if I had to endure it. I feel for you guys tremendously. Hang in there! One day y'all will have warmer weather, and one day it'll rain here.
ReplyDeleteWe're fine. I much prefer cold to heat, so given that the heat and electricity have stayed on, I've been happily in front of a fireplace finishing up my rewatch of Veronica Mars.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the children absolutely must go back to school.
That's a great link but I loved how the comments mentioned that there are only six nations in the world that use Fahrenheit - Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Belize, the Bahamas, Palau and the US. (Excluding Canada as it is a supplementary scale).
ReplyDelete