I want to know what idiot in Weather Control ordered this weather–and I’d better get an answer!
Actually, I’m not ticked by the cold weather. It happens. While it hasn’t gotten as cold around here as is forecast for Friday night (a low of 7oF and winds up to 50 MPH) in some time, temperatures like these aren’t unknown for this area of North Carolina. When I was a kid, we had them pretty much every winter, but that’s back when we had to walk to school, 5 miles, in the snow, uphill both ways. 🙂
What’s got me going is the media. “Brutally cold weather” and “Dangerously cold” are about the least idiotic things I’ve seen. Yep, If you don’t know how to dress for actual cold weather, then it’s going to be dangerous outside for you. I learned to respect true cold back in the early 80s when I rode a bare motorcycle (no fairing to break the wind) for two winters. At highway speeds, even if it was only down to 32o, the windchill is well below 0o. I had a pair of gloves that set me back $100 or so, an insulated riding suit, insulated boots, a Apple Warmer (I can’t find a picture, but it fastened to the bottom of my helmet and tucked into my collar. Think insulated scarf.) and Hippo Hands. This would be in addition to long underwear and my clothes. Never really got cold in all that gear.
I understand that in areas further to the west and north the cold is going to be worse, but again, these places get this sort of weather every few winters, if not every winter. And, except for recent arrivals, they know how to deal with it because they have had to deal with it. Is it actually life-threateningly cold? Sure it is, but these people deal with it, the same way we in the South deal with heat and humidity every summer.
If the media actually wanted to help rather than hyperventilate, they’d run things like this post and the comment thread from Eaton Rapids Joe. I’ve been stuffing plastic grocery bags into cracks the last couple of evenings. When I was young and would be in West Virginia at my grandparents for Christmas, we used strips of old towels. I still remember plugging all the way around the back door after the dog’s last outdoor visit of the night. The bags work better. Another technology making our lives better.
I have a short list of things to do to be ready. I need to check run the generator and charge the battery for my nifty Milwaukee heated jacket. And that’s it. After that, I’m sitting back and waiting to see what happens.
The joys of being prepared.
The hyperventilating over weather is ridiculous, as you point out. We’ve been living with local weather every single day. It hasn’t really changed, just some people’s attitudes about it. Maybe they need to go live in some bubble-protected managed environment.
They even cancelled school around here. Because rain, and wind. The wind hasn’t started yet, and the cold isn’t expected until after sunset. Good grief, whatta bunch of wussies.