so guys...

[Beth]

I have this log that just ignighted in the firelace. I cannot go to sleep now because it is now ablaze despite having to wake up at six in the morn. Damn log laid dormant for three hours and just lit,...bah!

How do you Northerners stand the cold weather? This Tampan (not Tampon) and her family can barely bear 68 degrees F.

[Sweetie]

Celsius is spelt with an "s"? Man, I didn't know that, I always thought it was Celcius.

I guess you just get used to it. Right now it's -12.9 C which is, I guess 8.78 F. There's no wind, it's calm, going outside for a smoke is nice, I can just sit there. The other day it was -4 and it felt like spring, we were walking around in sweaters and taking off our hats. Too, when I'm doing my exercises the warm air feels so cloying so I go to the door and take a few breathes of crisp cool air.

I'm not sure though, I had heard something about that your blood is thicker when you live in the colder climates, don't know if that's true. I remember my English teacher though, he had gone to Jamaica and he described what a freak he looked like to them because he was used to walking with his head down, bracing himself against the cold and walking quickly and yet in Jamaica everybody's calm and slow and warm and relaxed, in no hurry. It was a funny story, I'll always remember it.

Anyways, these temperatures are nice, man though, a few weeks ago it was intolerable. We can't even tolerate it, we just don't go outside if we don't have to. It hasn't even been as cold as it was nine years ago when I was about to give birth to my daughter in a truck, they were just about to take me into the house when the ambulance showed up. A week ago nine years ago, it was -41.5 C. Anyways, survive one more month and nicer weather all the time, I am so looking forward. Ever heard of cabin fever? Ever heard of cabin fever in a house with three kids with cabin fever? :D Nah, it's not too bad, this last week has been good so we've gone sledding and skating and stuff so, they aren't whining about being bored that much these days, just I am. :D

[Sweetie]

Wish I had a fireplace though. :sadcheer:

[godfry n. glad]

Beth, sweetheart...

I couldn't live in Tampa for one year without succumbing to severe fungal disease. My body would be covered with three different colonies of fungus which had grown together.

I spent a week in Washington in July and a week in Nashville in June and I'm tellin' you, I never want to do it again. And I've never been to the deep South.

How do I do it? Well, for one, my body tends to generate excess heat. I'm comfortable at about 65 F (18 C) in my pjs in my house. I have installed an upstairs air conditioner for the gruelling 80 F (26 C) and 90 F (34 C) degree days in the depths of August.

To give you an example, my wife, who was a NY Jew who'd attended college in Miami, didn't like to be cold. After I moved in with her, she removed her electric blanket from the bed the first night we were together and the down comforter the second night and never again sleep with them again over twenty years, unless sick and alone....which was rare. I am a human heater. My body radiates heat much of the time. It always has....ever since I was a child. My body temperature is always within the normal range, but you can tell I'm a heat generator just by shaking my hand.

Don't take me wrong, I can get cold, especially in a cutting wind. But I can take colder temperatures than most and I can't take warmer temperatures that most folks tend to like. Luckily, I live somewhere really warm days are rare, and warm humid days are even more rare.

So...I'd guess it's natural metabolism and to what you've acclimated yourself.

I'm kind of a stick-in-the-mud guy. I've lived in the same metropolitan area for more'n 45 years - where it tends to be cloudy and cool. I don't like to move my domicile around. Then I hear about these military brats that have lived in 16 places in 14 years...whew, that's difficult to imagine...it's hard for me to acclimate myself to much else.

godfry n. warm

[Sweetie]

We don't generally ever go below -44 C in the winter or above 44 C in the summer, but man those are some wicked extremes when you think about it. Thank goodness those extremes only last a few days here and there.

I'm quite sure that the humidity you guys have down south would kill me. :D My husband was in Texas not too long ago and he said it was quite humid.

We had an exchange student from Mexico here once and he always complained about the cold, we kept assuring him, summer is coming, summer is coming. It came and he complained the heat was too dry. :D

[godfry n. glad]

Sweetie, what part of Canada are you in?

godfry, who's in Portland, Oregon, in the US.

[freemonkey]

The first couple of winters after we moved from Chicago to the Seattle area, we laughed at the people who ran around saying "It's freeeeezing!" when it was in the 40's & 50's F.

Five years out, we've been know to get a chill on a typical NW winter day. I guess some of us acclimate pretty well. I don't like to think how I'd manage a Chicago winter now.

[livius drusus]

I hate this cold shit. I didn't move down south from the Berkshires for this. :snow:

[Beth]

Beth, sweetheart...

I couldn't live in Tampa for one year without succumbing to severe fungal disease. My body would be covered with three different colonies of fungus which had grown together.

I spent a week in Washington in July and a week in Nashville in June and I'm tellin' you, I never want to do it again. And I've never been to the deep South.
I have been to both D.C. and Tennessee and I can say in all honesty, there are times in DC that the heat and humidity far surpasses that which we face in Tampa. ;-) In Tennessee, well, I stuck to hiking in the Mountains and cooling in the rivers and rapids, so I am not sure about the heat;-).
I have been told by several men(world travelers), though, that Tampa has some of the most beautiful women in the world, so...well, mayhaps that will encourage you to come down.:):P

How do I do it? Well, for one, my body tends to generate excess heat. I'm comfortable at about 65 F (18 C) in my pjs in my house. I have installed an upstairs air conditioner for the gruelling 80 F (26 C) and 90 F (34 C) degree days in the depths of August.
God, I break into cold sweats and shivers in 100 degree weather. although it can be argued that I am heat stroking. August can have a heat index of a hundred ten and above here. , but i normally stay inside then so I do not become reduced to a migrained, pathetic position.

To give you an example, my wife, who was a NY Jew who'd attended college in Miami, didn't like to be cold. After I moved in with her, she removed her electric blanket from the bed the first night we were together and the down comforter the second night and never again sleep with them again over twenty years, unless sick and alone....which was rare. I am a human heater. My body radiates heat much of the time. It always has....ever since I was a child. My body temperature is always within the normal range, but you can tell I'm a heat generator just by shaking my hand. People say I generate heat when I massage as well, abnormally so, but I stay cold most of the time, I come from low blood sugar and very cold (temperature wise, not temperament;) ) women- aristocratic (pre-civil war) Southern belles, in fact. Although I can generate intense heat, I still freeze without lots of exercise or booze.

Don't take me wrong, I can get cold, especially in a cutting wind. But I can take colder temperatures than most and I can't take warmer temperatures that most folks tend to like. Luckily, I live somewhere really warm days are rare, and warm humid days are even more rare.
Bah! I wear a jacket in 70 degrees!

So...I'd guess it's natural metabolism and to what you've acclimated yourself.[
yuppers! I am aclimated to sub tropical and desert weather sometimes
I'm kind of a stick-in-the-mud guy. I've lived in the same metropolitan area for more'n 45 years - where it tends to be cloudy and cool. I don't like to move my domicile around. Then I hear about these military brats that have lived in 16 places in 14 years...whew, that's difficult to imagine...it's hard for me to acclimate myself to much else.

godfry n. warm
Erk! I am thinking of moving northwards, I have grandparents and other family who are either Yanks or North Westerners, but the idea of leaving wamth is kinda scary. (Just yesterday I was in a short sleeve shirt and mini skirt, today, ...sweats.)

[HelenM]

The first couple of winters after we moved from Chicago to the Seattle area, we laughed at the people who ran around saying "It's freeeeezing!" when it was in the 40's & 50's F.

Five years out, we've been know to get a chill on a typical NW winter day. I guess some of us acclimate pretty well. I don't like to think how I'd manage a Chicago winter now.

When we moved to Chicago from England (whose climate is much more moderate - somewhat like Seattle, I think) I was nervous about the winter cold. I wondered how all the natives survived :eek: (but evidently they did somehow).

One thing that amazes us is how reliable the Chicagoland commuter trains are, right through winter. It's so unlikely the trains will be late here, that if yours is you can get a note from the train company to take to work to prove it. :D

In England the points freeze when it gets down to freezing - or, they did when we lived there - and that's the end of any semblance of the trains being on-time - well, if there was any in the first place.

Helen

[livius drusus]

It's all white outside. Damn.

[LadyShea]

Although Vegas is known for its heat, we have relatively cool winters (compared to SoCal for example). I have had to scrape frost off my car windows several times this year. However, I don't think I can ever live anyplace with true winters again...I had enough of snow in Colorado. Been there, done that.

I am a little worried about acclimating to the humidity in 'Bama, but I know many people who have done so so I assume I will be able to. Many people can't imagine living in Vegas in the summer when it can hit 118, but we deal okay. Oh, and that "It's a dry heat" thing ceases to matter at a certain point...steamers and ovens, both cook.

[Ymir's blood]

It's all white outside. Damn.There too? We are supposed to get up to ten inches of snow today. The way it is coming down right now, it could end up deeper than that.

:snowwalk:

[Ensign Steve]

I love the dry 118 degree summers in Vegas, too. ;) My buddy has a T-shirt from Phoenix that has a design of the sun-bleached skeleton of a cowboy (you can tell from the had and boots) who died crawling across the desert. Complete with cacti and buzzards and all the good stuff. And it reads: "Arizona - it's a dry heat" LOL

But this morning, my mind was blown! I was taking puppy out of a walk and the front steps were wet from rain. I stepped onto one and almost slipped onto my back. I thought, "What dangerous material are these steps made of that they become that slick in the rain?" Turns out, it was ice. ICE! I've never heard of such a thing. There were icecicles on the banister, the trees, in the wheelwells of cars. The grass was covered with drops that had frozen. Even the dog poops had a frosty glaze. It was beautiful and surreal, and I know one day I'm going to slip and crack my skull. Yay!

[godfry n. glad]

Although Vegas is known for its heat, we have relatively cool winters (compared to SoCal for example). I have had to scrape frost off my car windows several times this year. However, I don't think I can ever live anyplace with true winters again...I had enough of snow in Colorado. Been there, done that.

I am a little worried about acclimating to the humidity in 'Bama, but I know many people who have done so so I assume I will be able to. Many people can't imagine living in Vegas in the summer when it can hit 118, but we deal okay. Oh, and that "It's a dry heat" thing ceases to matter at a certain point...steamers and ovens, both cook.

Y'know... I went to a outdoor wedding in LostWages in August. It was 106 F (42 C) and I'd worn a wool suit on the understanding it was to be in an air conditioned country club. (The stupid dogdamn bride decided she wanted it outdoors at the last minute). I managed that much easier than an 85 F (32 C) day in either Nashville (5-second "Insta-pit") or Washington (stepping outside feels like having someone throw a hot wet towel on your face...and, it's difficult to breathe). Dry air makes a huge difference as far as I'm concerned. I can stand desert heat (and cold)...add in the humidity of the jungle and I begin to resemble a gastropod.

Here, most of the winter is humid, but the average temperature is about 45 F(7 c) in midwinter, with high humidity. When it gets warm here, it drys out. Rain is cooling. Worst days are windy. East windy. It's either icy cold or searing hot. Either way, it's uncomfortable. Thankfully, it's rare.

[JoeP]

I can stand desert heat (and cold)...add in the humidity of the jungle and I begin to resemble a gastropod.
You retreat into your shell? Your eyes pop out on stalks?

[godfry n. glad]

I can stand desert heat (and cold)...add in the humidity of the jungle and I begin to resemble a gastropod.
You retreat into your shell? Your eyes pop out on stalks?

No shell...just a quivering gelatinous mass moving at .0000002154 mph. I haven't experienced the eyes popping out, yet.

If you've ever seen a gastropod (snail or slug) that's been caught stranded in the midst of a vast expanse of concrete or asphalt when the direct sun comes out for an extended period of time...too far to sanctuary.

[LadyShea]

I think you would like Colorado godfry. Dry and cool.

One thing I noticed that I really liked when I have spent time in humid climates...my skin and hair. I was amazed at how soft both were when I was in Hawaii for week and Alabama in June. I didn't even need lotion or lip balm. Here and in Colorado I go through gallons of skin and hair moisturizers.

[Ensign Steve]

Oh, so true! I got a real bad sunburn the first day I was in Cancun, and it never peeled until I got home a week later. :onfire:

[JoeP]

I can stand desert heat (and cold)...add in the humidity of the jungle and I begin to resemble a gastropod.
You retreat into your shell? Your eyes pop out on stalks?

No shell...just a quivering gelatinous mass moving at .0000002154 mph. I haven't experienced the eyes popping out, yet.
So ... you leave a trail of slime wherever you go.

[Beth]

Oh, I was joking about the aristocrat thing. ... I thought it was funny but should have used smileys.

Anyhoo...

I think you would like Colorado godfry. Dry and cool.

One thing I noticed that I really liked when I have spent time in humid climates...my skin and hair. I was amazed at how soft both were when I was in Hawaii for week and Alabama in June. I didn't even need lotion or lip balm. Here and in Colorado I go through gallons of skin and hair moisturizers.My hair dries out here terribly even though it is humid

[wildernesse]

I love the dry 118 degree summers in Vegas, too. ;) My buddy has a T-shirt from Phoenix that has a design of the sun-bleached skeleton of a cowboy (you can tell from the had and boots) who died crawling across the desert. Complete with cacti and buzzards and all the good stuff. And it reads: "Arizona - it's a dry heat" LOL

But this morning, my mind was blown! I was taking puppy out of a walk and the front steps were wet from rain. I stepped onto one and almost slipped onto my back. I thought, "What dangerous material are these steps made of that they become that slick in the rain?" Turns out, it was ice. ICE! I've never heard of such a thing. There were icecicles on the banister, the trees, in the wheelwells of cars. The grass was covered with drops that had frozen. Even the dog poops had a frosty glaze. It was beautiful and surreal, and I know one day I'm going to slip and crack my skull. Yay!

My brother was having to pry open mailboxes with a screwdriver and watch for falling trees today on his route--everything over there is covered with a lot of ice. And they're out of power.

We are snug in our little home--RA took the kitties outside to remind them how good they have it (or something). We have the littlest bit of snow.

[Ensign Steve]

My brother was having to pry open mailboxes with a screwdriver and watch for falling trees today on his route--everything over there is covered with a lot of ice. And they're out of power.

Where's your brother? I had fun pulling on the door handles, wiggling the mirrors, and lifting up the windshield wipers to break open the crust of ice on my car. I was tempted to grab my keys so I could pop the hood, trunk, gas cap, windows. Instead I just smashed against the window with my elbow and had fun breaking apart the ice and imagining that it was glass. Hehe. My neighbors must think I'm a weirdo. Honestly, I've never seen that before! It was amazing. Then, my dog slipped down the last 4 steps. It was hysterical, but he didn't get the joke. Next time we went down the stairs he refused, so I had to carry him (yes, he is a spoiled baby). Anyway, I slipped on the stair that time and in catching myself, I banged the puppy against the banister and almost dropped him. Then a HUGE limb broke off a tree right in the area where he goes poop. Fortunately we weren't there at the time, but it freaked me out. I'm glad to read your post to know now that that's supposed to happen, but I'm ascared to go back there, now. The dog and I are both freaking out over this FROZEN MENACE! This is the type of stuff they need to clue us in on in our welcome packets (that, and where the good mexican food is), not rate the local elementary schools. What the fuck do I care about elementary schools?

[godfry n. glad]

I can stand desert heat (and cold)...add in the humidity of the jungle and I begin to resemble a gastropod.
You retreat into your shell? Your eyes pop out on stalks?

No shell...just a quivering gelatinous mass moving at .0000002154 mph. I haven't experienced the eyes popping out, yet.
So ... you leave a trail of slime wherever you go.

Some seem to think so.

[Ensign Steve]

That reminds me! I need more help because I am a cold-weather moron. There is a sign at the front of my building that says:

Freeze warning
Leave water +
heat on.

With the cross all stuck on the side like an afterthought. Are they saying "leave water heat on" or "leave water and heat on"? I leave on my heat and my water heat, but do they want me to leave my water on? Like the tap running?

Man I feel like a tool asking this question. Please don't judge me. Obviously, I'm new. :blush:

[godfry n. glad]

My brother was having to pry open mailboxes with a screwdriver and watch for falling trees today on his route--everything over there is covered with a lot of ice. And they're out of power.

Where's your brother? I had fun pulling on the door handles, wiggling the mirrors, and lifting up the windshield wipers to break open the crust of ice on my car. I was tempted to grab my keys so I could pop the hood, trunk, gas cap, windows. Instead I just smashed against the window with my elbow and had fun breaking apart the ice and imagining that it was glass. Hehe. My neighbors must think I'm a weirdo. Honestly, I've never seen that before! It was amazing. Then, my dog slipped down the last 4 steps. It was hysterical, but he didn't get the joke. Next time we went down the stairs he refused, so I had to carry him (yes, he is a spoiled baby). Anyway, I slipped on the stair that time and in catching myself, I banged the puppy against the banister and almost dropped him. Then a HUGE limb broke off a tree right in the area where he goes poop. Fortunately we weren't there at the time, but it freaked me out. I'm glad to read your post to know now that that's supposed to happen, but I'm ascared to go back there, now. The dog and I are both freaking out over this FROZEN MENACE! This is the type of stuff they need to clue us in on in our welcome packets (that, and where the good mexican food is), not rate the local elementary schools. What the fuck do I care about elementary schools?

Ensign! Cool, calm, collected.

You are experiencing something which is quite common where I live. It's an ice storm. Where I live, it usually occurs during a transition in the weather pattern, that being when a warm, wet front runs in and pushes up over a stationary cold front. The cold area has usually been subfreezing for more than 24 hours and the warm front drops condensed moisture as it cools, riding up on the stationary cold front. The moisture thus released then falls through the air of the stationary cold front below it (warm rises, cool falls) freezing on the way down or upon impact when it hits the frozen ground. The latter is worse, as it can coat tree limbs, power lines, rain gutters with increasing amounts of ice. Too much ice, and something gives.

Best thing you can do is stay put. Don't try to move around outside. If you do, wear something with cleats. (Golf shoes seem to work okay, tying rags or old socks around the outside of your shoes can work, kitty litter can make it safe to get to the garbage can and back.) Don't get in your car until the local police says it's acceptable.

Make sure you have flashlights, batteries, and candles readily available in the event of a power outage....which, if you have overhead lines and continued freezing rain, is a high likelihood.

Around here, when such an event hails the end of a protracted cold session of no above freezing weather for a week or two, it's called a "silver thaw". The ice is the worst because it's largely unnoticeable until you're on it.

godfry

[wildernesse]

My brother was having to pry open mailboxes with a screwdriver and watch for falling trees today on his route--everything over there is covered with a lot of ice. And they're out of power.

Where's your brother?

My family is from just north of Columbus, GA--on the west side of the state. Map o' Georgia. (http://www.sitesatlas.com/Maps/Maps/GA1.htm) Yeah, ice is bad news for trees and power lines. Be careful! :yup:

As for the sign--they don't want your pipes to freeze and burst. While you're probably going to leave your heat on, you can leave your faucets dripping to help prevent the pipes from bursting. I don't think I've ever done it, though.

[Ensign Steve]

You are experiencing something which is quite common where I live. It's an ice storm. Where I live, it usually occurs during a transition in the weather pattern, that being when a warm, wet front runs in and pushes up over a stationary cold front. The cold area has usually been subfreezing for more than 24 hours and the warm front drops condensed moisture as it cools, riding up on the stationary cold front. The moisture thus released then falls through the air of the stationary cold front below it (warm rises, cool falls)...

Yes, there has been a light but constant drizzle all day.

...freezing on the way down or upon impact when it hits the frozen ground. The latter is worse, as it can coat tree limbs, power lines, rain gutters with increasing amounts of ice. Too much ice, and something gives.

Definitely the latter. Everything is coated. Like it's been hermetically sealed!

Best thing you can do is stay put. Don't try to move around outside. If you do, wear something with cleats. (Golf shoes seem to work okay, tying rags or old socks around the outside of your shoes can work, kitty litter can make it safe to get to the garbage can and back.) Don't get in your car until the local police says it's acceptable.

Make sure you have flashlights, batteries, and candles readily available in the event of a power outage....which, if you have overhead lines and continued freezing rain, is a high likelihood.

Ooooh! A real-life emergency condition! I haven't checked the radio, but I also haven't left my house except to walk the pup. That has been disastrous enough, obviously! I'm supposed to call a phone number during emergencies to find out whether I'm supposed to report to work, and darnit if I can't find the number! Oh well, I don't have to go back until Monday, and maybe it will clear up by then. They warned us that we were supposed to have "a real winter storm" this weekend, but I assumed that meant snow!

Around here, when such an event hails the end of a protracted cold session of no above freezing weather for a week or two, it's called a "silver thaw". The ice is the worst because it's largely unnoticeable until you're on it.

It was actually pleasant this week (sixties) until Friday, when the arctic winds came in. Whereabouts are ya, godfry?

Sorry for the lame-ass thread derail all, and the stupid questions, but I am way too excited about this newness!

[Ensign Steve]

nevermind! LOL

[lady cop]

i often wonder why we even have weather reports down here in florida...it's hot, fucking hot :flaming: , or hurricane :tornado: . that's it. i have been here since 1988 and i absolutely hate the heat! we are forced to wear polyester uniforms :ladycop: and bullet-proof (haha) vests, and it could not be more miserable. my lovely antique jaguar :convertible: ...the steering wheel MELTED and the mirror and rear brake light fell off from the high temps. my god i love the keys, but it is unbearable.i have no clue what i am doing here. i used to be a downhill skier :snowboard: , now i SCUBA dive :snorkel: :dolphin: :seahorse: :squid: :shark: . the only good thing about this wretched swamp/mosquito paradise.. :gecko: :toad: :flamingo:

[John Carter]

What they want you to do is leave your tap on. You don't need to have it wide open, just enough to let it drip.

The rationale is that this will make it less likely for the water in the pipes to freeze and burst the pipe.

[Ensign Steve]

Stupid question #85932. Hot or cold? Does it matter?

#85933. If my neighbors in the same building are doing it, do I need to? (it doesn't sound like they are, though, and I can hear everything)

[John Carter]

Since the idea is to keep the water moving, it shouldn't matter which. So use the cold water.

[xouper]

I lived in Tampa from 1991-2000. (Oldsmar actually.)
Played a lot of ice hockey in the adult amateur leagues there. :hockey:
I definitely prefer Tampa Bay to Detroit (where I grew up).

Despite being a die-hard Red Wings fan, I'm also a Lightning fan from before they even played their first game. I was there in person in 1992 to see Manon Rheaume make hockey history as the first woman to play in an NHL game. We gave her a standing ovation. :lindance:

I was also there in person at the ThunderDome for the season opener in 1993 when the Lightning set an NHL record for largest attendance ever, over 27,000. :woohoo:

I wasn't living in Tampa last year when they won the Stanley Cup, I had to settle for watching it on TV. :sadnana:

[Beth]

i often wonder why we even have weather reports down here in florida...it's hot, fucking hot :flaming: , or hurricane :tornado: . that's it. i have been here since 1988 and i absolutely hate the heat! we are forced to wear polyester uniforms :ladycop: and bullet-proof (haha) vests, and it could not be more miserable. my lovely antique jaguar :convertible: ...the steering wheel MELTED and the mirror and rear brake light fell off from the high temps. my god i love the keys, but it is unbearable.i have no clue what i am doing here. i used to be a downhill skier :snowboard: , now i SCUBA dive :snorkel: :dolphin: :seahorse: :squid: :shark: . the only good thing about this wretched swamp/mosquito paradise.. :gecko: :toad: :flamingo:
I've lived here all of my life and have only visited the cooler places. I've been to D.C. in July and I swear it was more unbearable than being fully dressed, in a unairconditioned car at the beach in direct sun- I am sure that gave you a clue as to the heat;). Anyway, I have had to deal with losing rearview mirrors from the glue melting. I have learned that on hot days I had better not adjust the mirror. In summer, I go ahead and pop the advil in a morning ritual, because if not, the bright sun and heat will soon have triggered a migrane. Some days, if I do not get to stop it soon enough, a migrane will hit and it will last for weeks on end, culminating in a final day of extreme sickness.

In summer, my yard ends up looking like shit because it is just too hot to weed things. I try to dress in as little clothes in the coolest fabrics possible without looking like a skank(short cotton skirts with short sleeves or tanks or cotton sun dresses are nicest). I love going to beach town or Bush Gardens because I can wear a two piece or a speedo with a sarong or wrap skirt and look perfectly normal and decent. It is even a decent outfit to wear to get groceries in beach towns. Women work on their yards in bikinis so they can get a tan and be close to naked- I don't, though; I am well aware that me and a bikini just don't mesh well and I like to limit views of my thighs to strangers at the beach and not punish my neighbors. The thing that make the heat like a sauna, though, is sunblock. It is so very important here, but the protection has the feel of walking around in 110 degree weather with plastic wrap covering all of your skin. Anyway, all this said, I'd rather have this than ice and cold. :P

[godfry n. glad]

It was actually pleasant this week (sixties) until Friday, when the arctic winds came in. Whereabouts are ya, godfry?

Sorry for the lame-ass thread derail all, and the stupid questions, but I am way too excited about this newness!

I'm in the Pacific Northwest. Portland, Oregon, to be specific.

The ice is common, but rare. We get one, maybe two, ice storms a year. The same with snow storms; one, maybe two. Since they both tend to be products of meterological transition, they don't tend to last long. The winter before last, we had one snow all winter. It was about 1/2 - 1" of snow, it started at 9 am and stopped at 3 pm, screwed up homebound traffic, but was gone by 9 pm that night. Last year, we got 6-8 inches one night and it lasted four, maybe five days. It was the only snow all winter.

Two weeks before and the week after this most recent ice storm, we had midwinter temperatures that reached daytime highs of 60 F (16 C). This was also a bit out of norm. The usual would be daytime highs in the low 40s F (~5 C).

Here, rillyrilly hot weather and rillyrilly cold weather both tend to be dry. That's because they're both products of high pressure in the cold interior and a low pressure in the maritime air of the valley, which generates the high velocity east winds and freakish icy conditions in the Columbia River Gorge (Mecca to sailboarders), the west end of which terminates in Portland's most eastern suburb, Troutdale.

Really, the temperature and humidity here are quite mild. You just have to be able to live without a lot of direct sunlight. Clouds are a major feature of the weather around here. Particularly the pall of undifferentiated low-lying overcast. Not fog, that's rare, too. Just lots of cloudy weather. And light, drizzly rain.

Land of the pale people. Mossbacks...that's what we are. I'm SNOB, too, but I had my genesis as a dry-sider.

godfry

It's dry here during the summer (Jul-Sep) and most people don't water their lawns and they go yellow and then light brown. September is the brown month. There really is no point in watering one's lawn and it costs money to do so.

[Crumb]

Fellow Portlander here Godfry! :2thumbsup:

It was so odd after the ice storm to have temps in the high 60s. It was like winter iced over wasteland one day to tropical paradise the next.

/me scrapes the moss off his back.

[godfry n. glad]

Fellow Portlander here Godfry! :2thumbsup:

It was so odd after the ice storm to have temps in the high 60s. It was like winter iced over wasteland one day to tropical paradise the next.

* Crumb scrapes the moss off his back.

Yeah? Kewl.

Weird huh? I've seen it before. New Year's Day...I've seen it both 60 F (15 C) and sunny, and I've seen the Broadway Bridge so heavily frozen with ice that the span could not move.

You SNOB? If so, wet or dry side?

ApostateAbe is in Vancouver and Corwin is in Salem. I think freemonkey is in western Washington, in the Sound area (d'jah say Sequim, fm?). Lone Ranger, of course, is in Pullman...dry side. Regular little cadre of mossbacks...'cuse me, Michael.

godfry

"Enjoy your visit, but please don't stay." Tom McCall

[godfry n. glad]

I wasn't living in Tampa last year when they won the Stanley Cup, I had to settle for watching it on TV. :sadnana:

Tampa?

Tampa, Florida, won the Stanley Cup?

We're talking hockey here, right?

Damn....I've been away from the sport many years. Tampa? Has an NHL hockey team?

Has the world gone mad?

godfry n. perplexed

[Beth]

I wasn't living in Tampa last year when they won the Stanley Cup, I had to settle for watching it on TV. :sadnana:

Tampa?

Tampa, Florida, won the Stanley Cup?

We're talking hockey here, right?

Damn....I've been away from the sport many years. Tampa? Has an NHL hockey team?

Has the world gone mad?

godfry n. perplexedYeah, a pretty good one, too. :) My son loves freezing his ass off at the games. I've never gone...I figure that mommy does not need to be tortured while daddy bonds with kids.

[Shake]

Well, Ensign, I was going to reply about the running water -- you need only leave it on a trickle -- but I see I've been beaten to it. At least you're in an area where it won't stay that cold for all that long. We can go for days or weeks without getting above freezing, so those with poor insulation would need to keep water running constantly. It really affects people in mobile homes and such. But hey, we're looking at multiple days in a row now of above freezing! I'm so excited!

Yeah, it's actually better to be well below (or well above) freezing since right around that temp, you get that horrible chance of falling ice. Back in '91, I think it was, we had an ice storm here that knocked down about 1/3 of all the trees in the county. Some people, like my folks, were without power for 10 days or more! Nah, f-that! Gimme a bunch of snow instead of icy rain anyday!

Oh yeah, Beth, we have these things call remote car starters. You start your car a while before you're going to leave so it gets warm before you get in. Of course, those without can just start it manually and let it warm up as they brush the snow off and/or scrape the ice off the windows. It's important to remember to leave your blower on 'defrost' before shutting off the car.

In even colder climes, they use engine block heaters to warm up the engine even before starting it. That's just too cold, IMHO ... and I'm a bloody northerner!

[Shake]

Hey, I just found a link to Ice Storm '91 (http://www.rochestersbest.com/2001/articles/icestorm.htm)! It's only a few pages, but it'll give you an idea of what we endured.

[Ensign Steve]

Well, check it out. I never turned on my water, since I didn't know exactly what to do. I don't know whether it's related (I kinda doubt it) but the room above my laundry room / water heater closet (presumably my neighbor's laundry room / water heater closet) appears to have flooded or sprung a leak or something. The ceiling in my lr/whc is wet and caving in. Neat!

[wildernesse]

Well, check it out. I never turned on my water, since I didn't know exactly what to do. I don't know whether it's related (I kinda doubt it) but the room above my laundry room / water heater closet (presumably my neighbor's laundry room / water heater closet) appears to have flooded or sprung a leak or something. The ceiling in my lr/whc is wet and caving in. Neat!

Do you have an upstairs neighbor? If you don't, then maybe no one knows about the flooding.

I am also living with a caved in ceiling--we have a (apparently huge) leak in the roof, so they want to put a new roof on, and then they'll fix the ceiling. :chin: Meanwhile, more of the ceiling is caving in--seriously, this weekend, the drips started in a new place. Fun stuff, that. I won't tell you how much fun it was during the hurricane-related torrential rain. I'm pretty sure that by the time they get around to fixing the ceiling, we'll have a skylight. You, on the other hand, would only get a portal to your neighbor's strange existence. That might be actual fun.

[Ensign Steve]

Well, check it out. I never turned on my water, since I didn't know exactly what to do. I don't know whether it's related (I kinda doubt it) but the room above my laundry room / water heater closet (presumably my neighbor's laundry room / water heater closet) appears to have flooded or sprung a leak or something. The ceiling in my lr/whc is wet and caving in. Neat!

Do you have an upstairs neighbor? If you don't, then maybe no one knows about the flooding.

I definitely have a neighbor up there. They have an elephant parade every night from 10pm to 2 am. Then they have the nerve to complain that my dog barks. Anywho, I left a message for maintenance, and I can tell someone came because they left the blinds open, but I can't discern what they did, if anything. I bet my dog went ballistic when they came in. HAHAH!

[RevDahlia]

Fuck, but it's cold here.

Central Texas winter weather comes in two varieties: Gulf and Great Plains. Gulf is about 70f, humid and overcast; Great Plains (since there isn't a single geographical feature of note between here and Nebraska) is 10-40f, windy, and clear or partly cloudy. Since late November we've had three days of one and three days of the other alternating, and periodically we get a thing called a norther, which is what just happened. A norther is a cold front that comes barrelling down upon us and causes the temperature to drop 40 degrees in two hours or so.

All this whoopsie-doo weather is playing hob with my skin. Humid=oily, cold=dry, and I've got zits the size of Kilimanjaro. Lovely. Going to check the space heaters now.

[Godless Dave]

Much as I hate the bone-chilling frigidity, I'd rather be cold than hot, especially with humidity. I sweat a lot, and heat and humidity make me very uncomfortable.

And it's only Minnesota cold I really dislike. Regular northern cold, 20 degrees F or so, doesn't bother me. But 0 or -10 F is too much. And yet I still live here. Our summers are hot and humid too, but only for a couple weeks at a stretch and not as hot as down south. It rarely gets above 100 F.

[Shake]

It was about 10F when I came into work this morning, but the sun was shining and there was no wind at all. It actually felt nice! I didn't even bother to zip up my coat (and I was wearing a short-sleeved polo underneath)!

Mom always asked, "How can you wear short sleeves/t-shirts in the winter?!?"

My reply was, "That's what the coat is for."

[Clutch Munny]

I wasn't living in Tampa last year when they won the Stanley Cup, I had to settle for watching it on TV. :sadnana:

Tampa?

Tampa, Florida, won the Stanley Cup?

We're talking hockey here, right?

Damn....I've been away from the sport many years. Tampa? Has an NHL hockey team?

Well, yeah, the Cup series was Calgary versus Tampa, but it was Canada versus Canada, really. In fact it was the most Canadian series for a long time: between the two teams, 32 players were Canadian.

Which meant that the Canada-US angle of the series (some booing and rhetoric from both sides, essentially resulting from Iraq and our non-participation in it) was particularly weird.

[Clutch Munny]

liv, rev, and assorted other southern sorts, may I just say this once, and be done with it?

WIMPS!


Hee-hee! There is a god, and he sends snow to the south in order to provide entertaining news montages of low-speed 30-car pile-ups on suburban streets, involving people whose faces clearly display their determination that if they only stand on the brakes a little bit harder their bald summer tires will stop them.


As you were. :giggle:

[livius drusus]

You can take your tundra and shove it, my friend. Besides, don't even deny you watch those news stories just to catch a glimpse of upended hoopskirt on the icey pavement.

[godfry n. glad]

:mememe:

I'd do that. Watching belles in hoopskirts go ass over teakettle would be fun.

Around these parts, we've a new addition to the ice follies: The 4-wheel drive moron. He (and it's usually a male, but they don't have a monopoly on it) thinks that if he has 4-wheel drive, he can go anywhere. On glare ice, it's a positively microcephalic assumption. If you've no traction devices, you'll spin all four wheels as you do uncontrolled cookies on the off-ramp. :no2:

godfry

[Beth]

er...I have not worn a hoop skirt since my wedding. Hmmm.

[Sweetie]

In even colder climes, they use engine block heaters to warm up the engine even before starting it. That's just too cold, IMHO ... and I'm a bloody northerner!

:roflmao:

One of my vehicles came from BC and something happened, it overheated and whatever, the guy who fixed said he had to put a blockheater in, it didn't have one. We're all like, wtf, no blockheater? It didn't even have one? :eek: I had a foreign traitor of a car. :D

I'm from middlish Canada godfry, FYI. :wink:

[Beth]

Block heater? Gosh. The main thing we must do is put anti-freeze in the radiator. I never heard of a block heater before today.

[Sweetie]

We only need blockheaters in cars when we're not driving our dogsleds. :P Man, you don't know how many people from America and Mexico who thought that we drove dogsleds to the border and then got into some mechanical transportation once we hit the US.

[Ensign Steve]

So, do you let the dogs sleep in the igloo with you?

[Sweetie]

Yeah, if you go out on a cold day about -18 ish to minus whatever and leave your car outside for generally over four hours, you have to plug the blockheater in otherwise your car might not start. If you can't plug it in, you might have to start it every four hours. If you're at home, you generally leave it plugged in overnight if it's not in a garage.

Sweetie <---not blessed with Command Start (remote car starter) but not having to be out and about in the cold for extended periods of time, :woohoo: which could be why she's not in a hurry to get a job until it's closer to spring. :innocent:

But, as regards the mention of ice, yeah, that sucks. We had a quarter to a half an inch of ice on like all our nearby roads and it lasted about a week, it was bad. The Department of Highways actually ran out of salt, or so I'm told. I had plans to go out last week but was stuck at home it was just so slick. Well, ice on the roads, caked ice on the roof and top surfaces of the cars, it was yucky but it's good now. I prefer it stayed below zero Celsius or above but when it messes around, that's when things can get ugly.


However, Sunday was awesome! Wake up on a cool, calm, crisp morning with the hoar frost! Hoar frost is soooo beautiful, I love it!

[Sweetie]

So, do you let the dogs sleep in the igloo with you?

Hehe, only when I'm of a mood. :suave:

[Clutch Munny]

I remember driving down to California with my family back in the 70s, and being asked several times whether Canada had electric cars. (The block heater elec.plug hangs out the grill at the front.)

liv, if you have up-hoop-skirt shots to share, please do so. I wish I saw some on the news, but the main attraction is the 5 kph crashes -- all the better if the cars are slowly rotating, as if in some vehicular version of curling (http://www.curling.ca/). Sweep!

[godfry n. glad]

I'm from middlish Canada godfry, FYI. :wink:

How far and what direction from Moosejaw?

[Beth]

This what you have in mind, Godfry? (http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/presentations/vicfashions/images/inconvenineces.jpg):p

[godfry n. glad]

This what you have in mind, Godfry? (http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/presentations/vicfashions/images/inconvenineces.jpg):p

Well...sorta...there's no snow and ice.

Of course, inquiring minds would like to know how your subject got the bottom hoop quite that high.

:D

godfry

[livius drusus]

Is it just me, or is there somebody underneath that petticoat besides its wearer?

[godfry n. glad]

It's just you, gutter-mind.

godfry

[Clutch Munny]

Is it just me, or is there somebody underneath that petticoat besides its wearer?

I think it's just you, liv. I had no idea that's what you looked like!

[JoeP]

Is it just me, or is there somebody underneath that petticoat besides its wearer?
Wouldn't you remember if it had been you?

[livius drusus]

I'd have had to have to been pretty full of GHB to dive head first into that mess.

[Beth]

This what you have in mind, Godfry? (http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/presentations/vicfashions/images/inconvenineces.jpg):p

Well...sorta...there's no snow and ice.

Of course, inquiring minds would like to know how your subject got the bottom hoop quite that high.

:D

godfryHehe
When I used to wear hoops, they were made of a flexible plastic that could be crunched down.

I, unfortunately for you have no pics of snow and ice and garter upskirt shots. I could fine none online, either. I have one wedding pic of me sitting, lifting up my skirt to show my garter, but the hoop is so scrunched down that it does not look like I am wearing a hoop.
I think the women of old had cages to wear much more rigid and difficult than anything I've ever suffered.

[Ensign Steve]

Of course, inquiring minds would like to know how your subject got the bottom hoop quite that high.


I think she was hopping the fence and it got caught on her way over.

[Beth]

Gosh, to think, that was porn of the day...:D

[godfry n. glad]

Of course, inquiring minds would like to know how your subject got the bottom hoop quite that high.


I think she was hopping the fence and it got caught on her way over.

Yeah...right... :boythink:

Everybody goes fence hurtling in their hoop skirts. :hrm:

[godfry n. glad]

Gosh, to think, that was porn of the day...:D

I...don't...think...so...

That looks more like vaudeville. The regular entertainment programming of the time - their television. Porn of the day was explicit.

[Beth]

Gosh, to think, that was porn of the day...:D

I...don't...think...so...

That looks more like vaudeville. The regular entertainment programming of the time - their television. Porn of the day was explicit.
I was kidding around based on the modesty of the day when even baring an ankle was daring or indecent. Well, until it became fashionable with single girls.

[Blake]

Fascinating as the hoop skirt digression is, I can't let discussion of ice storms go without mentioning the topper of recent history: Ice Storm '98 (http://canadaonline.about.com/cs/weather/p/icestorm.htm). The current fun that deprived 300,000 Georgians of power is peanuts by comparison.

Casualties and Damage:

28 people died, many from hypothermia
945 people were injured
Over 4 million people in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick lost power
About 600,000 people had to leave their homes
130 major power transmission towers were destroyed and more than 30,000 utility poles fell
Millions of trees were brought down by the freezing rain, and more continued to break and fall for the rest of the winter
Estimated cost of the ice storm was $5,410,184,000
By June 1998, about 600,000 insurance claims totalling more than $1 billion had been filed

[Ensign Steve]

Of course, inquiring minds would like to know how your subject got the bottom hoop quite that high.


I think she was hopping the fence and it got caught on her way over.

Yeah...right... :boythink:

Everybody goes fence hurtling in their hoop skirts. :hrm:

I bet beth and liv did, when they were little hoop-wearing tomboys. ;)

[livius drusus]

/me giggles
I wasn't in the south then. I did wear a hoopskirt for carnevale once. I was Queen Isabella and the huge lacey ruffled collar just about drove me crazy. (The rose damask fabric was pretty kickass though.)