Winter in Yankee Land?

[unclemick]

Moving on to more unpleasant subjects:

It was 14 degrees at 6:30 A.M. when I went out with the dog for his morning whiz and exercise.

So - leaving dreams of Club Med off the table for the moment - what the heck does a New Orleans' transplant do up here on 'da Plains' in winter

I do have an unfinished - about 1000 sq ft - with a furnace in the middle basement - 86" ceiling height begging for some action. The crazier the ideas the better!

Heh heh heh

[Eagle43]

Point your vehicles toward Florida.* Load them up.* Drive.* Soon you will feel better.* Everybody know there ain't no bon temps in Misssuri!

[MRGALT2U]

Originally Posted by Eagle43

Point your vehicles toward Florida.* Load them up.* Drive.* Soon you will feel better.* Everybody know there ain't no bon temps in Misssuri!

Eagle has a point! About 5 below zero here this morning.
We left the goldfish bowl too close to an oldside window.
Frozen solid!

JG

[Nords]

Originally Posted by unclemick2

The crazier the ideas the better!

You need to start watching more HGTV... pop in a VCR tape, record a few hours, and review it with the fast-forward button!

But since only a NASA engineer could appreciate it, here's the link again.

[SteveR]

It was a balmy 16 degrees this moring. High to be 23; low tonight 9. *I spent an hour shoveling 7 inches of snow off my driveway after I got home last night.

The mountains now have well over 7 feet of snow in most of the higher elevations. *The ski year is off and running and the winter tourist season is in full bloom. *We love those East Coast $$$. *

I don't mind the snow. *I lived in Pittsburg for a while and several years in IL so I am no stranger to snow. *The cold here is not so bad. *We rarely go below zero and that is nice compared to upper Midwest. *Also, with a low humidity, the cold just does not feel as cold. *I rarely use my big heavy coats much. *A medium weight jacket works most of the summer even in the low teens. *

Unclemick, you blood will adjust to the cold. *It usually take a couple of months, but it will thicken up and you will wonder how you dealt with the heat and humidity in NO. *

[wildcat]

I thought about working in Chicago after school but after recent visit I don't know. *It's friggin cold man. *Being a hotel clerk in Hawaii never sounded so good.

So - leaving dreams of Club Med off the table for the moment - what the heck does a New Orleans' transplant do up here on 'da Plains' in winter

Freeze your a!! off. *It takes some getting used to but I am sure even the Pac NW drizzle is more appealing than winter on the plains.

[BigMoneyJim]

Unclemick, as far as I can tell everyone just holes up and watches TV. I prefer the computer. (I'm in Indianapolis.) I tried getting out Saturday night, but there was freezing rain so I did a u-turn and hit the drive-through and the video rental store. Whee. But I fly to Texas about every other week for family reasons, so I get my escape that way, too.

When I lived in Alaska winter wasn't an obstacle to outdoor activity, but down here people seem less inclined to weather the weather. If you dress right being outside isn't a problem, but if you're by yourself then it's boring.

[MRGALT2U]

Originally Posted by SteveR

*

Unclemick, you blood will adjust to the cold. *It usually take a couple of months, but it will thicken up and you will wonder how you dealt with the heat and humidity in NO. *

I doubt this but want all the best for unclemick, obviously.

Unclemick and I are the same age. *I lived in Dallas for 4 years.
It never got too hot to suit me. *I grew up in Illinois and now find
the cold weather here really unpleasant. *Anyway, I assume unclemick will
keep us posted.

JG

[Nords]

Originally Posted by wildcat

Being a hotel clerk in Hawaii never sounded so good.

Then come on by, brah. *Unemployment's the lowest in the nation-- only 2%-- and management is desperate for workers. *If you have a captain's license or mechanical or *customer-service skills then Atlantis Submarines would reeeeeeally like to talk to you.

The lobby of one Waikiki hotel, the Hale Koa, isn't even closed off from the environment. *The reception desk is completely exposed to the temperature and the tradewinds. *Of course they're wearing sweaters & soaking their feet in buckets of hot water on the midwatch, but that's because we have no remaining organic thermal resistance. *

I can barely even walk into the surf this time of year without whimpering. *Maybe someday I'll be one of those real wimps wearing 3mm neoprene when the temp dips below 75 degrees...

[JPatrick]

Have seen some good deals on Carib cruises out of Galveston. That'll warm you up.

[uncledrz]

We're in the upper midwest, so maybe not plains but here goes anyway.

We make sure we get out when we can. Over 20 and we are out walking every day. Cross country ski once in a while.

Join a gym and go everyday to excercise. When its too cold to go out, sure is nice to be able to stretch your legs and work out.

I won't ride my bike in the winter, but do see some who do.

Lots ice skate and play hockey, but I like my teeth, so I'll leave that to the younger ones.

Downhill skiing is fine, but I prefer cross country.

[MJ]

The human body is very resilient. I was riding a bicycle in Chiang Mai 2 weeks ago in 85F -90F with t shirt and short and now I am back in NYC riding my bicycle everywhere in 30ishF with 3 thin layers of bicycle clothing. It's cold but very tolerable. When it get's down below 25F, that's where my tolerance on the bike hit's a wall.

MJ

[sailor]

Originally Posted by MJ

The human body is very resilient. I was riding a bicycle in Chiang Mai 2 weeks ago in 85F -90F with t shirt and short and now I am back in NYC riding my bicycle everywhere in 30ishF with 3 thin layers of bicycle clothing. It's cold but very tolerable. When it get's down below 25F, that's where my tolerance on the bike hit's a wall.

MJ, I agree about resiliency. Body can definitely adjust - I remember when I started bicycle commuting first year I was drawing the line at 40F, next year it was down to 30F and now I have no set limit.
The key for me was a good full face balaclava and a lot of layers.

sailor

[Martha]

Winter is the time for projects. UM wants a project.

Build a workshop in the basement and create an overly complicated device to accomplish some meaningless task.
Enter the Rube-Goldberg contest? http://www.rube-goldberg.com/

Cover all the walls with pegboard and gather items to hang on the pegs.

Paint the basement floor with interesting colors.

Me--I am doing "mission organization" in our overcrowded basement. I like working on stain glass windows. I am thinking about building a radio controlled boat. I am going to repaint the bedroom walls.

And I like to play outside too--if above 0.

EDIT: I had another thought. You could take Christmas lights and poke them through the holes in pegboard to make an interesting design. Use as a lighting source for the basement.

Can I come and play?

[MJ]

Originally Posted by sailor

MJ, I agree about resiliency. Body can definitely adjust - I remember when I started bicycle commuting first year I was drawing the line at 40F, next year it was down to 30F and now I have no set limit.
The key for me was a good full face balaclava and a lot of layers.
sailor

I agree. I wear a full face balaclava and also layer when the temp goes down into the mid twenties. I haven't bought the proper clothing to ride below mid twenties (gloves shoes socks). You still have to breath in that cold air at a higher rate than if you were walking. Then there is the wind chill factor multipled by the wind hitting you when you are riding at 15 to 25 mph. Today, when I went out briefly for a quick bike errand, it was 29F with wind chill of 17F. Before I left, had a nice bowl of hot cold cereal. I had my hot oatmeal yesterday.

MJ

[Martha]

Another basement project idea: Install grow lights and grow okra and other vegetables. Start a hydroponic garden. Don't go all out with the grow lights though--the increase in the electric bill may draw the attention of the authorities.

[justin]

start moonshining? Er, ah, ethanol gas additive manufacturing That'll keep you warm...

[Martha]

Interesting new game, googlewhacking: http://www.googlewhack.com/

The goal is to find a two word query, no quotes, that yields a solitary result.

[Martha]

Build an amazing workbench. www.freeww.com/workbenches.html.

Design and build kites and see how they fly next spring.

Build a spud gun. http://tomacorp.com/ballistics/ballistics.html

[MJ]

This will be my 1st and hopefully last winter in my northeast home si