Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler OT - Winter Woes

I am sitting here in Rochester, NY where we have received 8-14 inches of snow in the last 24 hours with another 6-10 inches to come today. More forecast for the weekend. The bigger problem is that we have NO TEMPERATURE!!!! That's right - it's ZERO degrees. Unless you look at the wind chill factor, then it becomes -12 degrees. it is too cold for salt to do anything with the snow/ice on the roads. The entire metropolitan area is one big bumper car arena.

AAARRRGGHHH!!!! I really HATE winter.

I'm a bit to the north of you in Burlington Ontario, woke up to -20c thats -4f but I can see green grass on most of my property.

I don't really mind the winter but this is just a bit too cold.

Ray is hinting around so his wife will let him do a Florida Golf Getaway!

Today is the first day we've got away from the ZERO range. It is about 16degrees right now, but with the wind chill it is around 2degrees. There was a city to my neighbor to the north in Minnesota that had -54degrees yesterday, and that was not with the wind chill.....wow

I grew up in Iowa, so I guess I'm just used to it....

Randy

Hi Ford (sounds like I'm talking to myself ).

There are a variety of things that come together here that make winter particularly ugly and you are probably aware of most of them. Sitting 12 miles south of Lake Ontario and just east of Lake Erie is brutal because of the "lake effect. The lakes are warmer than the air, so the moisture is sucked up by the winter breezes. This provides cloud cover for most of the winter and also dumps ungodly amounts of snow on us. If you combine the dark, the cold, the snow depth and mix in a duration of 5 months it just wears on you. It would be QUITE a bit better if we would see the sun occasionally. If we get 5-6 sunny days between December and April, it's been a spectacular winter. Also - I'm not playing much golf during this torture either.

I had a girlfriend who went to the University of Rochester, and I was invited to attend her graduation about 13 years ago. It's June, so I fly up from Alabama thinking I'll be just fine with some shorts and light shirts.

Oy vey...

I don't know what I was thinking, and I don't know why Susan didn't warn me. And I don't know how you're dealing with it now. Of course, it was 10 degrees here in Nashville when I got out of bed, but lots of sun and not a snowflake in sight. Have fun up there, Ray!

Every year I play in an Ice Golf tournament. There is a lake near Des Moines that they set up 18 holes of golf. You actually use a putter the hole time, pretty fun, but make sure you dress warm.

I saw that -54 degrees reported my the Minneaplois news. I guess they where a few degrees away from breaking a record! I wonder what you do when it's that cold?

From Denver:

I suppose that is why so many folk are moving to Denver. We get the snow, believe me we do; however, it usually melts within 2 to 3 days after it has fallen. Also, we get over 300 days of sunlight a year, so our winters are not depressing. Right now we are in a cold spell and it is 20 outside. Not bad. Coldest it was here in Denver was 0 with a -10 wind chill. I still love it that you can shovel your driveway and all the snow will melt before noon the next day.

Trouble is, I’ve got to get the move-ins to move out so our roads will clear up!!!

I really need to balance this a little. In the summer, it really is beautiful here. Mike, I have to think that June day was an anamoly. For example, I did wake up one May 8th morning to 7" of snow. The winters are annoying here, but it doesn't compare to :

"Donner, Party of 12"

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In the summer, it really is beautiful here

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here in west texas, we get: in this order- 1 month of kinda cold, 1 month of winter, another month of kinda cold, 1 week of spring, 4 months of summer, 1 month of satan kinda hot, another 4 months of summer, 1 week of fall, and then back to kinda cold.. it works for me!!

bigjohn

Well, the sense of humor isn't frozen.....

Curtis and I played tennis last night. At 8pm it was about 70 degrees.

Now you've done it.....they are going to be mad at us!

I think the four of us played 3 hours of doubles.....that is the most I have played in one outting in over 10 years.....my body/legs are hurting!

The weather was GREAT!

Ray...I've got the golf solution for you. You've got to get one of those swing machines setup down in the basement. You can load up different courses and virtually play them until it is warm enough to play outside. You could probably even run some speaker wire down there and get some B speakers hooked up the receiver, unless you need complete quiet while playing. I'm just looking for an excuse to get you some more speakers as part of the deal.

I had a BBQ on Saturday, went wine tasting on Sunday, and went to the beach Monday. I am going to school in Flipflops, shorts, and a tshirt today. No Winter woes here.

Hooray for California.

We're up to a balmy 20 degrees in Nashville now. You and Craig and Curtis can...you can...

Oh, hell. Enjoy your good fortune.

All work and no play makes Ray a dull boy.

Sounds like the Overlook Hotel at Ray3 Manor.

50 degrees and two inches of rain in the Puget Sound region yesterday (and every day until further notice). So, typical winter. I would not be able to handle that obscene cold some of you folks get. Engine block heaters, snow blowers, etc. There are places on this earth that are unsuitable for human habitation.

I periodically point out to my parents (whose Volga-German immigrant ancestors settled in Kansas 120 years ago) that, coming from Siberia, they didn't stop in the new world until they found someplace that seemed just as horrific as the one they left. I think the same principle applies to the Scandinavians that landed in Minnesota.

I know cheap land had more to do with it, really, but still...

You bet your tennis racket we're gonna be mad at you! All three of you California beach bums are summarily banned from any "Winter Sucks" threads from this point forward. (MAN! Just get going commiserating with my fellow ice cubes and THEY gotta show up with their "shorts and flip flops," and "playing tennis." Mumble grumble, dirty Rackin'' frackin'')

It was 3 degrees here in Cleveland when I woke up this morning. It's all the way up to 15 degrees now. WOO WOO! The only good thing is the sun is shining brightly. We've got 4 to 6 inches of snow on the ground. Since Dec 10th, we've only had about 5 or 6 days when we've seen the grass, and I'm fast approaching the "I'm going bonkers" stage of cabin fever. And, there's 3 more months to go. AAARRRRGGGHHH!

YEAH, I'm with Jack!!!!! This is for you three California characters:

Ooops- it's animated!!! So who knew.

Well, I feel like I should chime in on this cold weather bashing that's going on here.

I, for whatever unknown reason, really don't mind the cold. In fact, I'm glad that for several months out of the year we have it. Seasons are nice. I like spring and fall, but both are short lived. Summer and winter both are nice at first, and then get old after a while. I mean, without winter and snow, how can one go snowboarding? And in the winter you can just put on more clothes to be warm. Really, even in sub-zero weather, if you have the right layers you can be perfectly comfortable for extended periods outside. In the summer, when the temperature is 98, you can only take off so much without breaking the law. (And even buck naked, it's still too hot sometimes.)

So...Here in Boston it's 11 (-7 with wind chill) right now, and I don't think it's too terrible.

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I mean, without winter and snow, how can one go snowboarding?

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A two hour drive to Big Bear.

Weren't you banned from this thread???

YEAH!

81F degrees here in Manhattan Beach at the moment.

Curtis,

Cut that out or we'll be forced to ban you from the State of Texas...plus NO SALT LICK FOR YOU!

WhatFurrer

I just got back from lunch. Dang...it was bordering on uncomfortably warm. 87 degrees. I had to put the AC on in my car.

Guys, we're going about this all wrong.

Instead of being bitter about how much better the Californians have it, we should be holding them accountable for helping us attain the same level of success. You know, "a rising tide lifts all boats". We just have to negotiate a better Environmental Conditions clause in each of our satellite locations.

Whazzat? You can't negotiate better weather?

Well, if I can't change it, I'll have to change the way I think about it.

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Cut that out or we'll be forced to ban you from the State of Texas...plus NO SALT LICK FOR YOU!

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I just need to go once a year.

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I just got back from lunch. Dang...it was bordering on uncomfortably warm. 87 degrees. I had to put the AC on in my car.

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I think it is nicer in Manhattan Beach than the westside right now.

yeah...you get the nice cooling effect of the Ocean being so close.

hehehehe..."nice cooling effect" hehehehhe...It's January 18th.

And here I was about to complain about the cold in NYC today... I forgot what it gets to be like in the midwest (grew up in Chicago)! I'll take my high of 19 and be happy with it!

as much as i friggin hate cold weather, i wish it would just be consistent here! it was 70F on Friday then 20F on Sunday, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!? which reminds me, should we petition Axiom to make an outdoor speaker for the nice days grilling on the back porch? whaddya think?

tom, I appreciate your esoteric approach (make the boats rise) or what ever that is, but I believe a more basic approach is required. Someone needs to go out there and throttle those guys. To do that we'll need expense money, enough to cover plane fare and hotel/food. It could take weeks to track them down, so we'll need LOTS of money. Each of you send me $1,000 and I'll volunteer to go out there and deal with this - for all of us. Yeah, THAT'S the plan. I'll be looking in my mail box for the money. And - I'll take pictures when I get there.

I would not worry to much about it guys. What you should be doing is buying land in Arizona and sit on it until SoCal breaks off and either sinks or becomes an island. That way you end up with Arizona Bay beach front property!

Ringmir you forgot to add without winter & snow how would the Pats keep beating the Colts in the playoffs. Do they have a deal with God for bad weather when they play.lol

Well, y'all can take comfort in the fact that all of California is not like Southern California (thank god...). It's a very chilly 60 degrees here in SF!

<ducks>

If I add the highs for the last 5 days up here I can't get to 60 degrees. Sigh.

Snakeyes, I did indeed forget that, but as I said in another thread, I'm a Philly boy. Go Eagles!

Boston has been quite a ride (sports wise) since I moved up here though

Eagles huh? well they are getting my vote by default at this point. got to stick with nfc east at least

This is finally the Eagles year. They've got the type of defense that can shut down Vick, and without him, what's Atlanta really have? If you think they still have a lot without him, just check out their record from last season when he was hurt.

See you in Jacksonville!

They have a pretty good defense.

Does NO ONE remember that the Steelers beat BOTH the Eagles and Patriots this year and they were BOTH undefeated at the time? Beat them quite handily too, I might add.

While I hope Pitt beats the hell out of New England (gawd I hate the Pats) I think it will be somewhat difficult. The Pats are too good of a team to allow Ben to make the same mistakes he made against the Jets. As are the Eagles. I think Ben's inexperience will cost the Steelers the Superbowl. But make no mistake about it, I'm rooting for the Steelers.

Now, you guys have gone and morphed our meaningful discussion of the weather into a football thread. Try to focus, willya?

I'm rooting for the Steelers over the Iggles in the Pennsylvania Bowl.

It is always a pleasure to bask in the aura of two expert football people, such as yourselves. Even if you don't like football, you should be able to appreciate the ethnocentrism. Boy, I never thought I'd use that in a sentence.

Ethnocentrism

OK, i thought thats what you said.....

bigjohn

Well boys...goin' to bed now. Gotta open the windows though...it's 77 degress in the bedroom.

g'nite! hehehehehehehe <evil grin>

a bit cooler here at 71 degrees in my house.....it is 64 outside right now....just a little after midnight and enjoying some audio. bwahahaha

I would think opening the windows in L.A. would be quite dangerous. All that orange air can leave stains. I've lived in L.A.

When did you live in LA? The air quality here is far from terrific, but it's certainly better than it used to be. It also depends greatly on where in LA you are. Riverside and the Valley get bad. The westside is generally pretty good.

Those games were months ago Ray. The Pats had a long win streak going that had to end eventually, and the Eagles run defense then was no where near what it is now. As for more recent play (see last week) the Pats and Eagles are both looking pretty good right now, while the Stillers are lucky to still be playing. Is the Jet's kicker on their payroll, by any chance?

Whatever way it turns out, there is still some good football left for the season. Wonder if the Jets kicker is on the roster next year?

This time of year the air quality is usually very good all across soCal. In the summer, when cool temperatures at the higher elevations trap smog against the mountains (called an "inversion layer" here), the smog can be pretty bad. But it's beautiful now. 80* the past couple days, the mountains all covered in snow, clear blue skies. Very nice.

BTW, spiff, poor air quality in the inland areas is due to all the pollution you coastal people create. We breathe your emissions. Of course, the flip side is all of our treated sewage is released into rivers that fill your aquifers.

btw, the air quality in Pittsburgh is, I think, top five worst in the country even though we've de-industrialized.

I will be at the Steelers/Pats game and given that I will be outside for 10+ hours sub 20 weather, my layers of clothing will include:

1. long underwear, top and bottom
2. wicking sock liner
3. wool socks
4. jeans
5. fleece pants over jeans
6. wicking jogging top under long underwear
7. turtleneck (steelers of course)
8. fleece jacket
9. heavy jacket
10. gloves
11. fleece hat
12. those little feet warmer packets
13. one terrible towel
14. another terrible towel

I believe I have planned appropriately. I'm overdressing because I know alcohol cools body temperature. ;-)

you forgot the Koozie, for your beer.. i would hate for it to freeze in your hand!!

BTW- how did you score tix to that game? you must know someone who knows someone... when the cowboys were making their playoff runs in the early/mid 90's, it was all but impossible to get tix. i mean, people were trading their kids on the black-market for tix.. JK..

bigjohn

I am about to provide some very important input to Riffman here. Please refrain from laughing as this may seem like something along the lines of crawling around on the floor to determine the spot for the best sub placement. It sounds odd, but absolutely works.

Having grown up in Pittsburgh and having spent more than a fair amount of time watching Steelers football in Three Rivers (now the Bills in Buffalo occasionally) during th ewinter, I cam e across the absolute BEST cold weather solution ever manifested by mankind. Those of you who have sat in cold football stadiums have lost feeling in your feet within 1-2 minutes of sitting down. Doesn't matter how many pairs of socks you have on - your puppies are gonna freeze. And you are miserable for the rest of the game. I no longer have that problem. I have a simple two word solution for keeping your feet warm - PAPER BAGS. Laugh if you will, but putting your feet in those grocery-sized paper bags keeps them warm. Period. If you have season tickets, after you do this once, the progression will go like this the first time you do this. Odd looks, snickers, a few remarks, a couple of interested questions. People listen. Next game, a few experiment. By the end of the season, there is an army of (really warm) paper-bagged feet sitting around you in the stadium. If the weather looks to be foul/snowy/wet, I learned to take an extra pair of bags in case the originals disintegrate in the first half. Also, a roll of masking tape is required so you can fold the top of the bag over and tape it down. This just works.

Let the heckling begin here.

By the way - I had a similar 'get dressed" list. Paper Bags was listed as #1. Younse can get them, in quantity, at any Jint Iggle. Go Stilers.

arent the paper bags supposed to go over your heads?



heckling begun...

now, do you mean just put the papaer sack over the outside of your already bundled up feet? over the boots and all?just wanna make sure..

bigjohn

you forgot the really big shoe horn to pry your a$$ into the seat.

I believe him.
Old people just know these kind of things.

giggle. giggle.

Thanks for the vote of confidence bray - you young whippersnapper!

For those who are truly interested in warm feet (and to answer your question John), you sit down, open the bags and put your feet, shoe/boot and all into the bag. Fold it over, tape it and begin quaffing your favorite adult beverage. It just works.

well ray, if it ever gets cold enough around here, i will try it. football is over, and the only other time i am out in the elements for extended amounts of time is when hunting. but, i dont imagine the noisy bags would do me much good up in the deer blinds.. although, i reckon the deer would appreciate it.

next time i get groceries, when asked, "paper or plastic", i will choose paper... just in case..

bigjohn

I'd like to know who thought of this paper bag thing and how did it initially happen. Someone had stinky feet and someone suggested to put a bag over them? haha

BigJohn, my friend has season tickets. He and his wife usually go but she will be out of town! Call it darn good luck!

My other friend has four tickets and even though I begged him for two for some people I know, he sold those two on ebay for $750 just yesterday. Could have waited and got more I suppose.

Don't worry Ray we'll be drinking Iron. Some crazies were talking about a keg of Labatt's or something but wiser heads prevailed. I don't know if you listen to any radio down here but the Steelers songs are out of control!

"I'd like to know who thought of this paper bag thing and how did it initially happen. Someone had stinky feet and someone suggested to put a bag over them? haha "


I think Ray got FIRST HAND information from George Washington after Valley Forge.

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When did you live in LA (Seal Beach)? The air quality here is far from terrific, but it's certainly better than it used to be. It also depends greatly on where in LA you are. Riverside and the Valley get bad. The westside is generally pretty good.

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OK! Ya caught me. But, it was only a few years ago that I lived in L.A. (Seal Beach). We played a lot at a club in Santa Monica called The Attica. Long gone by now I'm sure. It was 1971, actually.

We all know the effect that cold weather can have on the bladder. I now have this humorous image of Ray, bundled up like the Michelin tire guy, toddling off to the head in his size 12 paper bags. Too funny!

1971??? spiff was not even born!!!!!

I KNEW there was a reason it was a good year.

bray, if you don't behave yourself, I will NOT tell you what happened the day they invented dirt. Not that I was actually there mind you. Jack WAS there and he told me about it.

Ray
I'm more interested in rocks, and Jack told me to ask you.

Getting back to the paper bags:
Are you really sure that your feet were warmer with the bags? Maybe you just thought the bags looked warm before you even tried them. Were you blindfolded? Did another person, also blindfolded, swap out the bag with a wooden box or a canvas sack?

Was the bag brand-new, broken-in or out of phase? Were your feet sitting in the "sweet spot" within the bag? Did different brands of bag feel different or warm you in a special way? (Don't go there, Mark...... Trying ...to...resist....)

In all seriousness, what it probably comes down to is a larger insulating layer of air. Those paper bags seem to be pretty good insulators, at least judging by the fact that my milk's still cold after coming home from the store.

Are you sure that is milk in that brown paper bag, or a 40.

...phase ....sweet ...spot .....brands... They say it is good to laugh and is necessary for good health...well, Mark is keeping me healthy...Thank You

I don't think the paper bags would help in this stuff. This is what my humble abode looked like 12/27/04. And yes, I personally created the piles of snow along the left side of the driveway. Oh my achin' back! The right side of the driveway belongs to my neighbor in the second townhouse.

I've got a John Deere snow blower I'll sell ya, you'd have to come get it We just built a house a few years ago on 2.5 acres, and my drive is 150ft long and gravel. I just bought a blade from http://www.mysnowsport.com for my Silverado, it is the slickest thing I've ever bought, next to my Axiom's, and does not require hydraulics or electrical to work.

ya'll, i would post a pic of my house.. but you would just get mad.. the live oak still has green leaves, the grass is still green, and the rose bushes actually had a fall bloom about 3 weeks ago.

dont hate me cause i live in texas...

bigjohn

I don't.....

That pic of my house was taken about 3 years ago. It was in the spring, and we seeded our yard the previous winter. Currently it looks like Iceland with all the snow, you can just imagine.

actually iceland is green lol

Jack - show me some pictures when you have some REAL snow!

We finally got some hear today. Only an inch or two, but it's a start to the winter anyway. We may get a bunch more this weekend, but those weather people still don't seem to be sure how much it is going to dump on us.

the weather has been CRRRAAAAZY all across Canada the past two weeks or so. We went from -54 Celcius to +2 Celcius in a matter of 2 days. Thankfully the +2 came with freezing rain so now that it's cooled off to a more normal -20 Celcius, everything is like a skating rink. I'm still waiting for the live view of a good fender-bender outside the office window, maybe now!

yeah, we got our first snow of the season yesterday too. wasn't a whole lot but some people seem to take it worse than others...

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a more normal -20 Celcius

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"Hi, my name is Scott and I'm a coldoholic"

Normal?!? For God's sake man, save yourself!

Just kidding. I am constantly inspired by the diversity of our world and its people.

Tom,
a few of us from work were laughing about that the other day, how a week of -50 C makes even -30 C seem like a heat wave. Some days it just makes you ask, "what in god's name am I doing here?!?" Of course, if I were to move someplace warmer, their certain lack of hockey & curling would be infinitely more depressing!

Hmmmm - be warm and give up hockey & curling or freeze my butt off so I can keep hockey & curling.

What to do?, what to do?, what to do?

I just blow out 4 inches. More is on the way, combined with a blizzard which will last through the night. That means I will be blowing another foot in the morning. I know Peter and Ray will have something to say about my use of the b-word. And I promised I would never use it again. DARN!

When blowing becomes a chore, you know something's not right.

I was about to post "hey, it was -29C this morning" but somehow that doesn't seem so cold after reading the rest of this thread. Oh well...

Getting a big ole Canadian clipper in Iowa today. Most of northern Iowa is under a blizzard warning. Where I'm at in Des Moines in Central Iowa, we have 2 degrees with 60 mph winds which computes to -28 with the wind chill. In addition, with all the ice rain we got last night, our interstates and highways are like playing ice hockey, just dodge the semis.