Too Freak'en cold

[J. Clarke]

Moved to Atlanta from Ohio. Was a major ice storm one day. GF calls from work, can't get home. Drove around block to check road condition. Put chains on (which had never been removed from the trunk after moving south) mainly so that had brakes that worked (remember, Atlanta--no plows, no salt trucks, no sand, just bare glare ice until it gets enough old fashioned _dirt_ on it to have traction or decides to melt). Stopped at four-way stop sign at top of hill. Noted "bridge out" sign pointing to bridge at bottom of hill. Watched six cars slide through stop sign, down hill, and land in creek. Noted all drivers out and shouting at each other, decided didn't need my help, went on and picked up GF.

[Doug Miller]

Sounds like it coulda been my ex-wife. She called me at work early one January morning... she had an accident. Smashed in the right rear door of her car on the _rear_bumper_ of the guy ahead of her. Think about that one for a moment.

She's sliding sideways... and still going fast enough to catch up with, and collide with, the guy ahead.

"Ummm... just how fast were you going?"

"Not very fast, only about 30."

THIRTY??? I drove that same stretch only twenty minutes before she did, and it was so slick that I deemed it unsafe above FIVE. Wet black ice. And she's driving thirty.

Two years later, she bashed in the right rear corner of her car on a highway guardrail... in the median.

SWMBO 2.0 has been driving for almost thirty years, with zero accidents and zero tickets.

[Rick Samuel]

[B A R R Y]

I just left the plane parked today. Got to it ~ 9AM to find a 17 degree temp, 15-20 knot winds, and 2 inches of crusted ice on it. We were going to shoot some practice instrument approaches to Providence and New Bedford, then head out to Provincetown for scallops at Clem & Ursies.

I decided it was just too cold to stand out there and defrost it.

FWIW, the really slippery ice is usually only in the parking areas where there's freeze and refreeze cycles. The airport maintainers do a nice job on the runways and taxiways. I'm not icing equipped, so I don't fly while it's accumulating. It's just a funny surprise when the fan starts up and you start to slide along.

[Dave Jackson]

Well, I've decided to brave the cold and open the shop today. Went out this am to find it at 11deg INSIDE. Turned the kero torpedo on, lit the radiant kero and headed out to split some fire wood. After 1/2 hour of splitting wood, I was STILL cold. Went into the shop to find it at a cozy 34deg. It actually felt pretty warm! Built a fire and let the heaters do their thing. I've found the best way to warm cold fingers is to grab a card scraper and get to work. Right now it's probably costing me about $2.00 a minute to keep it at 55deg, but I'm making progress on a table top I glued up yesterday! Hopefully the beer I left out there thaws out soon.....--dave

[Robatoy]

Tip from a Canuckistani: after the beer thaws out, turn the bottle end- over-end a few times...gently. Then let sit for a couple of minutes and open it. It was explained to me once..something about specific gravity. It made sense and indeed it improves the taste after a freeze. I know a little something about frozen beer; I used to be an avid ice-fisherman (Sometimes I'd catch up to 30 pounds of ice!) but I stopped when arthritis set in and it became too difficult to chop a big enough hole in the ice for my boat to fit in. I still miss the sound of the sinker hitting the ice after a nice long cast....

[Robatoy]

A 4.8 KW contruction heater keeps my shop nice and toasty. But when I have the DC, tablesaw AND the heater going, the breaker blows when the compressor fires up. My dream is under-floor radiant heating. Small boiler (could be electric) and tubing in the floor. I love the feel of that. Forced air is so dirty. And natural gas, although the cheapest for me here, is not suitable because of the 'kaboom' factor when dealing with solid surface adhesives and spraying contact cement. I suppose one could do a natural gas boilerette outside the shop and feed the tubes from there. Looks like spring will be the time for me to build. 582 square feet is the cut-off here. After that, you need to dig deep for proper footings etc. That's 24 x 24-ish. Not what I wanted. Two of those would be nice, we'll see what the city council has to say. I have room on either property for 1000 sq-ft without violating the 'coverage' laws. Concrete is so darned expensive!

[Dave Jackson]

(snip) Tip from a Canuckistani: after the beer thaws out, turn the bottle end-

I've implemented your suggestion few times now with several different test samples. I've concluded the procedure is a success! Thanks! --dave

[Prometheus]

Low 50s? That's T-shirt weather! We've got a low temp (not windchill) of -21*F tonight.

Still pretty comfy in the basement shop, though.

See, now high 90s are when I can't get anything useful done.

[Prometheus]

Yep. It's not a matter of sense, though- it's a matter of what you're comfortable at. To my eternal dismay, the weather inists on getting hotter than 80 degrees (F) most summers. If I had my way, we'd have the -40 in the winter as a tradeoff for the temp never going above 65 in the summer.

If it makes any of you guys feel any better about your chilly 50* shops, I spent yesterday morning outside changing my wife's transmission gasket when it was -5. (At least, that is, until the car rolled off the jack and gave me a good smashing- there's a good "injury by dumbass" for you.) Evidently, it was so cold that the gasket froze and cracked. But it really was not so hard on me, because I'm used to the weather.

[Prometheus]

All depends on where you are- in my town, I still see the grade-school kids walking home on my way out to work every day, no matter how cold it is.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Middle and High school has to be 1 mile or more to take the bus. I think it is half that for grade school. I see a lot of parents driving their kids short distances even in mild weather. Or waiting in the car until the bus comes. And on some routs, the bus stops at every damned house instead of making the kid group together to speed things up.

[J T]

Sun, Feb 4, 2007, 2:29pm (EST-3) [e-mail] (Robatoy) doth sayeth: became too difficult to chop a big enough hole in the ice for my boat to fit in. I still miss the sound of the sinker hitting the ice after a nice long cast....

What's really a bitch is making the hole long enough for trolling.

JOAT Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.

- Johann Von Schiller

[J T]

Mon, Feb 5, 2007, 3:32am (EST+5) [e-mail] (Edwin=A0Pawlowski) "Prometheus" doth sayeth: see a lot of parents driving their kids short distances even in mild weather. Or waiting in the car until the bus comes.

Actually I think that's not a bad idea, what with all the whack jobs out ther.

JOAT Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.

- Johann Von Schiller

[<Joe]

Those low temps lend a whole new meaning to 'ice in veins'. Here in south Texas it's getting out of those intolerable 40s and 50s and is supposed to hit 60 today and a high of clear and 70 this week - marginably acceptable!. Then back to the 50s. Too close to sea level for a basement (note envy in tone).

[J. Clarke]

Lucky you that you live in an area where kids are still allowed to go to the local school.

Here (a subdivision) the bus stops at each interesection. Every morning I see at least two parents who live in the middle of the block sitting their in their cars waiting for the bus to cart Junior off.

[George Max]

60F in Hawaii? What is the world coming to? ;)

It must be global warming.

[George Max]

My dad told me all that. Plus the fact that he was chased by bears too.

[Doug Payne]

You had socks?

[Doug Payne]

Probably worth trottin' this one out again...

50° Fahrenheit (10°C) --- Californians shiver uncontrollably, Canadians plant gardens.

35° Fahrenheit (1.6°C) --- Italian cars won't start, Canadians drive with the windows down.

32° Fahrenheit (0°C) --- American water freezes, Canadian water gets thicker.

0° Fahrenheit (-17.9°C) --- New York City landlords finally turn on the heat, Canadians have the last barbecue of the season.

-60° Fahrenheit (-51°C) --- Mt. St. Helens freezes, Canadians Girl Guides sell cookies door to door.

-100° Fahrenheit (-73°C) --- Santa Claus abandons the North Pole, Ottawa opens the Rideau canal for skating.

-173° Fahrenheit (-114°C) --- Ethyl alcohol freezes, Canadians get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg.

-460° Fahrenheit (-273°C) --- Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops, Canadians start saying "cold, eh?"

-500° Fahrenheit (-295°C) --- Hell freezes over, Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.