Thursday, January 15, 2009

It's so cold...

For my readers back home...

How cold is it?

It's so cold that:

  • When I turned the car on in the garage, the thermometer read "22". By the time I got to the gas station, which was in the sun, it read "4". At 4:20PM.
  • In the time it took to get out of the car, stick my card in the slot on the pump, remove the handle, unscrew the gas cap, and start fueling, the brisk wind (I want to say that the wind chill at the time was like ten or fifteen below) had chilled my hands so much that I could hardly feel my fingers to get my gloves on and my hands hurt. In about a minute of exposure.
  • While I was in the grocery store for about fifteen minutes, a pretty sheet of icicles had formed in the Bimmer's tread patterns, connecting the tires to the ground. The car actually crunched as it broke free.
  • Driving home, I was on the shady side of the street. The thermometer in the car read "1".

Roseholme Lane, out in front of the cottage, is a pretty, white, unbroken sheet of uniformly skating-rink-smooth compacted snow. I heart traction control. The Monon Trail just blocks away, however, has been freshly plowed again this afternoon. You know, in case anyone wants to go jogging or bicycling in subzero temperatures.

Incidentally, thanks to this giant hickey in the jet stream (which, I'd like to remind everyone, is all Canada's fault) it was over thirty degrees warmer in Fairbanks, Alaska today than it was in Indianapolis, Indiana.

19 comments:

Jenny said...

Yeah, thinking of y'all down there in the Frozen South while sliding around in the slush. We actually topped 40F in Anchorage today! w00t! That's like shirt sleeves weather here. :)

(If it makes you feel any better, last week ran -20F to -10F )

Frank W. James said...

Tam: Does the Beamer have a good heater?

Also check my blog...No .22 rimfire conversion kit at Colt and I asked my long time source face to face. No such item in stock...

All The Best,
Frank W. James

Anonymous said...

It's days like these where I picture people in International Falls and Sault St. Marie (places the weatherman always compares us to, as the ultimate cold places) saying, "At least we're not in Indiana today."

Anonymous said...

A couple of years ago, I parked too close to a snowbank and my car got frozen into it. Had to chisel the hood out of the ice before I could go home...you have my sympathies.

Anonymous said...

I love global warming.

Any word from Al lately?

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Could be worse I suppose.

Ever read The Sixth Winter by Douglas Orgill and John Gribbin?

Or Fallen Angels by Niven/Pournelle/Flynn ?

WV: froglene. That must be what makes frogs go.

Andrew said...

-21 here in Minneapolis this morning. That's booger-freezin' cold.

1 degree ABOVE zero sounds tropical right now. :)

Heath J said...

My chickens have the look of "Screw THAT" when I open the coop up to let them out into the balmy -25 degree weather.

Anonymous said...

I was sipping a cappucino at a sidewalk cafe in sunny Pleasanton, CA thinking it might have been too chilly (70F) to go to the range today.

Taktron

Anonymous said...

Now you know why Canadians have a technical term for places like Minnesota, New York and Vermont. The deep south.

Julie said...

when i was driving to work this morning (7am) it was already 84F ... now (1.30pm) it is 107F ... i'm willing to share ... please!!!!!!!!

wv:tipsymyt ... "slightly drunk small person"

Anonymous said...

Yes, isn't it beautiful, though? Just living through it is a spiritual kick, a bracing reminder that nature wasn't designed for our personal comfort and convenience. We don't just survive. We prevail.

And yet they tell me some people don't enjoy it. How sad for them.

Anonymous said...

Getting a bit cooler here in Finland too. About -11 C (12 F, I think) last night. My bedroom is 15 C (59 F?). Thank God I'm moving next month. My old apartment has a ridiculously cheap rent, but it's for a reason...

Tam said...

Taktron,

"I was sipping a cappucino at a sidewalk cafe in sunny Pleasanton, CA thinking it might have been too chilly (70F) to go to the range today."

Like I told Dirtcrashr yesterday, I'm wrapping myself in 30-round magazines to stay warm. :p

Brian J. said...

Maybe To Build A Fire will warm you up.

It's what I go back to on cold days, where I take for granted having forced air heating.

staghounds said...

MMMM! I enjoy it cool, that's why there is cashmere!

Anonymous said...

C'mon, everyone, you know the words!

"Blame Canada!
Blame Canada!
It seems that everything's gone wrong since Canada came along.
Blame Canada!
Blame Canada!
They're not even a real country anyway!"

Anonymous said...

"(which, I'd like to remind everyone, is all Canada's fault)"

They're paying attention to us!
They're paying attention to us!
They're paying attention to us!

Wheeeeeeee!

WV = stribici

I don't know, but it sure as shit is Eye-talian.

Anonymous said...

Nah, Tim. It's the masculine plural of stribicus, one who until yesterday (see, it's pluperfect) was a denizen of the Minneapolis daily paper.

Mine? 'Wareh.' What you have to be when dealing with a stribicus.