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Post by Exildo Wonsetler Briggs III on Jan 29, 2007 22:14:27 GMT -6
Reading the "I'm freezing" thread made me think about a trip to Edmonton, Alberta I made a couple of years ago. Originally, the trip was scheduled in August. I was going to meet a doctor who we hired to testify in a malpractice case. The trip got post-poned until January. When time came for the trip, the doc told me, "Bob, don't EVEN think of renting a car unless you are looking for some excitement!" I didn't rent a car. I flew into Edmonton via that "Your Worst Nightmare" place MSP.  Upon arriving, it was chilly. Actually, it was cold. The temperature was 35 degrees BELOW ZERO! (Fahrenheit, not Celsius!). I grabbed a cab to drive me to the office of the doc I was meeting. His office was in some Gov't complex, and the cabbie seemed to know exactly where he was going. Arriving in the complex, I see a sign that points to where I thought we needed to go, only the cabbie says, "No . . . we go this way. I've been here many times and this is where you need to go!" We arrive and I pay him and grab my bags and go in the building. I meet someone at the info desk and tell them I'm here to meet doctor so-and-so. "Oh no . . he's in the building across campus!" I strike out across the campus . . . of course I have a VERY heavy ski coat on but nothing on my head. After about 200 yards of walking, my ears go numb. I begin running, dragging my overnight bag behind me and finally make it to the building I should have been at just in time. I'm sure if someone had thumped my ears, they would have broken off my head in a million pieces. The meeting goes well and I get a cab back to my hotel. I have dinner and after 2 1/2 glasses of wine, I wonder what it's like to go outside. It's now 40 degrees BELOW ZERO (this is NOT the wind chill folks, but the ACTUAL temperature!!) I step outside in my short sleeve shirt and pants for a breath of fresh air . . . it's pretty cold. A second or two later, it's like an iceberg is thrust into my soul and I'm running back inside. JESUS!! THAT was COLD!! The next morning, I'm flying back home. Our flight is delayed 'cuz the de-icing fluid sprayed on the plane that came in from MSP has FROZEN IN THE WINGS!!! They announce, "Folks, if the temperature doesn't rise above Minus 33 degrees, we will not be flying this plane!" Thankfully, another plane had just flown in all warmed up that they were able to put us on for the flight back home. Why folks live in these places is a question that I have no answer for. Man, I'm FREEZING here in Florida!! It's only 45 degrees outside right now . . . I'm SURE this is all due to Global Warming!!! ;D ;D ..............Bob |
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Post by Chicago Jake on Jan 30, 2007 1:24:55 GMT -6
. .....The temperature was 35 degrees BELOW ZERO! (Fahrenheit, not Celsius!)....... Bob, you do realize, don't you, that at those temperatures, the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius are negligible? -35 F is the same as -37 C! (-40 F, by the way, is exactly the same as -40 C)......Jake (either way, it's FUCKIN' COLD!!!) |
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Post by Hank on Jan 30, 2007 7:09:07 GMT -6
I remember a couple of trips to some really cold places also, which is one of the reasons I live in Key West now.
The first one was to Mt. Fuji, Japan during January and February for cold weather training. I was a wrecker (tow truck) driver for a motor transport platoon and most of our drivers were native Hawaiians. These guys had never been in the cold much less seen ice and snow on the roads. All of the roads at our base camp were lined with five foot wide half pipe culverts (for the summer run off) needless to say while teaching the Hawaiians to drive in the snow a lot of them ended up in these culverts. I spent most of my two months there handling winch cables in that weather getting vehicles out of the culverts.
The other one I remember very well was Denmark in January. It wasn't as cold, 20F to 40F, but it rained the whole time we were there. We didn't have a barracks to sleep in since we were on a tactical operation at the time we had to sleep in our vehicles. Since the whole crew could not sleep in a vehicle at one time, half the crew had to sleep under the vehicle while the other half stayed inside We had a Lt. who decided that he didn't want anyone dying of carbon monoxide poisoning or being run over so I was ordered to pull the coil wire off of every vehicle at night. This meant we could not start our vehicles and run our heaters after dark. Those were some cold nights.
After that I was stationed in places like Hawaii and Okinawa, Japan (same climate as Hawaii) and I decided I was not going back to a cold climate, I grew up in Baltimore. Thus I ended up in Key West when I retired from the Marine Corps because I couldn't afford to live in Hawaii.
Hank
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Jan 30, 2007 8:10:40 GMT -6
. .....The temperature was 35 degrees BELOW ZERO! (Fahrenheit, not Celsius!)....... Bob, you do realize, don't you, that at those temperatures, the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius are negligible? -35 F is the same as -37 C! (-40 F, by the way, is exactly the same as -40 C)......Jake (either way, it's FUCKIN' COLD!!!) For those who have no concept just how cold -40 is.. try this comparison... -40 is 72 degrees below the freezing point. 72 degrees ABOVE the freezing point is 104 degrees. SO the freezing point is to -40 as a summer day in Phoenix is compared to the freezing point. Coldest I have ever experienced is -28, here about 5 or 6 years ago. A great thing to try at that temp, if there is little or no wind... Take a bucket of water out side and throw the water up into the air. the water droplets freeze instantly and fall as hit the ground as ice pellets (it also makes an interesting whooshing sound) Coldest wind chill I ever experienced was while living in Madison about 25 years ago, the temp was -20 with a 25mph wind, wind chill -60 give or take. We were living in a brand new quadplex apartment, we ended up taping blankets over the outside doors to stop the drafts, the door knobs on the outside doors had frost on the inside, as did the faceplate screws on the outlets on outside walls. Had to go out in that weather, the dog needed to 'go', never seen a dog find a 'good place' so fast before or since. |
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Post by Hank on Jan 30, 2007 8:41:02 GMT -6
Gordon, you're right I have not experienced -40 but I have been in -20. The difference between my -20 experience and my above post was at -20 I had facilities I could get inside to warm up unlike the above were I was in what I perceive as wet cold nasty weather for a prolonged period of time.
Respect,
Hank
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Post by Exildo Wonsetler Briggs III on Jan 30, 2007 9:01:17 GMT -6
. .....The temperature was 35 degrees BELOW ZERO! (Fahrenheit, not Celsius!)....... Bob, you do realize, don't you, that at those temperatures, the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius are negligible? -35 F is the same as -37 C! (-40 F, by the way, is exactly the same as -40 C)......Jake (either way, it's FUCKIN' COLD!!!) Yup, Jake . . . I have no idea why I put that in there. I'll have to ask my brain when I find it. |
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Jan 30, 2007 9:19:34 GMT -6
Dan
You are so right.. the coldest I have ever FELT, was when I was living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland about 20 years ago. The temps were in the teens but the air was incredibly damp, chilled me to the bones. If you can keep yourself dry and well covered you can usually stay warm, as soon as your clothes get wet (from sweating or whatever) you lose body heat REALLY fast, even at warmer temps (hypothermia from being in water, even in the70's, is not uncommon). Simply put, stay dry and you will keep warm.
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Post by drmryder on Feb 5, 2007 13:27:07 GMT -6
Gordon,
I'm tempted to try the bucket of water trick, but I'm afraid it would freeze in the bucket the minute I step outside.
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Feb 5, 2007 14:35:08 GMT -6
Or even worse... if you forget to put on gloves, your hands freeze to the bucket.
Yesterday, I dashed outside to fill up the water in the bird bath, didnt notice that I got water on my hand, grabbed the door knob to come back in, and I was stuck. fortunately I still had some warm water left over, and poured it over the stuck skin while gently pulling, and I got free with no damage. Not quite as good as the "triple dog dare" in the movie "A Christmas Story", but good enough for me... fun at -13 (it did break thorough 0 today for the first time since Friday)
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Post by New Mama on Feb 5, 2007 15:01:15 GMT -6
Or even worse... if you forget to put on gloves, your hands freeze to the bucket. Yesterday, I dashed outside to fill up the water in the bird bath, didnt notice that I got water on my hand, grabbed the door knob to come back in, and I was stuck. fortunately I still had some warm water left over, and poured it over the stuck skin while gently pulling, and I got free with no damage. Not quite as good as the "triple dog dare" in the movie "A Christmas Story", but good enough for me... fun at -13 (it did break thorough 0 today for the first time since Friday) Funny you should mention this. Filling the bird bath is the ONLY time I stuck my nose out of the house this weekend. Art was all over me about not touching anything with wet hands....like the door knob. I just looked at him and told him that I'm not just another pretty face and that the I've seen the movie! ;D ;D |
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Post by Chicago Jake on Feb 5, 2007 15:03:15 GMT -6
How the hell are birds supposed to use a birdbath in sub-zero weather? Do you add anti-freeze to it?
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Post by Dan on Feb 5, 2007 15:19:26 GMT -6
How the hell are birds supposed to use a birdbath in sub-zero weather? Quickly. |
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Post by New Mama on Feb 5, 2007 15:34:55 GMT -6
How the hell are birds supposed to use a birdbath in sub-zero weather? Do you add anti-freeze to it? Heat baby, electric heat. It is more important for the wild life to have drinkable water than bird food in this sub zero weather. We have squirrels that sip on it too. |
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Post by Cherbunny on Feb 5, 2007 16:51:53 GMT -6
Heat baby, electric heat. I need to get a bird bath and was wanting one that has a fountain. They sell solar-powered bird baths with fountains. I had absolutely no idea about this. It certainly is a better choice than running power. www.birdbaths.com/ |
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Feb 6, 2007 6:40:15 GMT -6
How the hell are birds supposed to use a birdbath in sub-zero weather? Do you add anti-freeze to it? Heat baby, electric heat. It is more important for the wild life to have drinkable water than bird food in this sub zero weather. We have squirrels that sip on it too. Exactly!! (and this time NOT in the BB context) |
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Post by edie2u on Feb 6, 2007 16:20:36 GMT -6
We use to go out and break the ice out of the birdbath and pour hot water into it, when we had really cold weather at our house in California. It could stay frozen for a day or two or as long as a couple of weeks. Of course I fed all the dove (and sometimes quail) when it was really cold, too. Sounds familiar,eh, Cher?
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Post by edie2u on Feb 6, 2007 17:48:24 GMT -6
This is one of our barn cats sitting on the ice in the birdbath .  |
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Post by Cherbunny on Feb 7, 2007 9:16:43 GMT -6
We use to go out and break the ice out of the birdbath and pour hot water into it, when we had really cold weather at our house in California. It could stay frozen for a day or two or as long as a couple of weeks. Of course I fed all the dove (and sometimes quail) when it was really cold, too. Sounds familiar,eh, Cher? Sure does. I'm going through 75 pounds of seed a week. |
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