Cold enough For 'Ya???
Yeah, I'll be betting you'd like to have a dollar for every time you hear THAT today, right?
Think of this frigid weather as just ANOTHER reason why GLOBAL WARMING is "so bad".
(yasureyoubetcha)
And you're wondering where the hell is SPRING?
So, if you're feeling just a bit like Roald Amundsen, you're not alone out there.
All we need are some Inuit tribesmen, a few igloos, a sled dog team, and some caribou skins for clothing, and we're off and running, eh?
It's been interesting to watch programs that have recently aired across the "cablescape" talking about another ice age, or a big freeze, and how or even IF we could all cope with it.
Now, I'm not one of those "doomsayers", so you won't be seeing ME walking about center city with a sandwich board over my shoulders proclaiming the "end times". But days such as this DOES make one ponder the possibilities.
And of course, the TV stations are telling you what to do in cold weather like this (pssst....I told you all back on MONDAY, ahead of those people).
I have noticed a rash of house fires, and that can only mean that people have taken to using "alternative" methods for home heating. Now while I applaud any alternative energy solution, I do think it's WRONG to attempt to employ "heating" devices in ways other than their intended use.
There will be folks that put GASOLINE instead of KEROSENE in space heaters, with the usual explosive results. And there will STILL be folks that will crank up the electric OVEN to "self-cleaning" mode (which can reach temperatures of 500 degrees F). Others will try to use that "decorative" fireplace as the auxiliary furnace...for which it was never intended. It's not the Little House on the Prairie, people. Most all of today's fireplaces are little more than "selling points" for a house, and NOT designed to handle the constant use. The chance for a FIRE will be increased, and the LAST thing you want to be in this cold weather is HOMELESS.
Getting older might have it's good points, if you can call the potential for arthritis, glaucoma, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, prostate problems, loss of hair, and other assorted aches, pains and maladies GOOD.
Trying to keep warm fits into that category.
For some reason, as we age, we become more "sensitive" to temperature changes. It's like the body's thermostat has gone on the fritz. Must be those damn hormones, I suppose.
We tweak the temp in the house, in the car, and bitch about it at work.
I personally don't mind it a tad on the cool side. It's better than the massive shock to the system when you go from a house that's tickling EIGHTY degrees into a sub-zero Greenlandish refrigerator outside. I like my house between 66-72 degrees, thank you.
Having an older house presents it's own challenges such as one room will be HOT, while the rest is ten degrees cooler, or one room will be freezing, and the rest is comfortable. You can't seem to win.
Fortunately, I know a little something about heating and A/C, so I will change the air flow into rooms periodically, using those vent dampers, Kind of like changing the tack of your sails to the prevailing winds.
Still, no matter what you do INSIDE the house to promote comfortable living, you STILL have to venture OUTSIDE, and that is always fun.
Nothing beats the proper garments when going out in this weather...!
Makes me long for my old N3B USAF parka even more...LOL.
I do feel for animals left out in this...that's simply not right.
And I feel for the seniors that have to rely on fixed incomes, and can't really go out in this cold to get the necessities in life. Let's face it, the last thing an 80-year old wants when it's freezing is to bust a hip when they slip and fall.
Hell, that's the last thing I want, too.
But aside from the car accidents that we surely know WILL happen, and the houses torched to the ground by people just NOT thinking, and the homeless that should be seeking shelter somewhere, and the abandoned dogs and cats, and the assorted other nuances this weather brings, we can take solace in knowing that after all this crap is done with, we WILL eventually be staring at those nasty HOT, HUMID days with temperatures hovering around the "century mark".
Bet you ALL feel a lot warmer now...don'cha?
Limit your activity outside, keep warm, dry, and safe out there.
Better yet, put the kettle on and go have a cup of hot chocolate.
(We only have...one simple rule:
Never, EVER let it cool...LOL!)