Winter is coming

[thoughtful]

I am so lucky -- I took my ancient car in for yearly inspection in December. It passed without needing repairs, but they advised replacing the battery. So I have a nice new battery, and, so far, the extreme cold hasn't affected the car at all.

Between the fact that my job involves several very short walks from the car to various buildings every day, and my being one of those people who are usually warmer than everyone else, I often don't bother putting on my coat when I go out. I hate driving in a coat more than I dislike a short stroll in the cold. But even I went out with a hooded coat, ear warmer, and heavy gloves today.

I was coming out of the supermarket tonight, and a smiling young man was coming in wearing warm layers on the top half of his body -- with shorts. It took all of my self-control not to say "You're wearing SHORTS! SHORTS! How can you stand it?"

I would have deserved the "Thanks, Mom" I probably would have gotten.

 

[ViolaSebastian]

It's 7 here now, which is cold for here. School got cancelled today and tomorrow--it's supposed to be 28 tomorrow, but it'll still be in the single digits when the buses would go out. Our POS governor said that school being cancelled was a sign that kids were "soft." Fuck him so hard.

[dawbs]

58 minutes ago, ViolaSebastian said:

It's 7 here now, which is cold for here. School got cancelled today and tomorrow--it's supposed to be 28 tomorrow, but it'll still be in the single digits when the buses would go out. Our POS governor said that school being cancelled was a sign that kids were "soft." Fuck him so hard.

I know someone who I talked to today about the fact that they went ot school no matter what when he was a kid.
He's awfully glad his grandkids don't have to go to school, because he lost the tips of both ears going to and from school

The fact that in the past, the discomfort (and injury) of children was dismissed has fuckall to do with how we should treat it today.

[thoughtful]

I once worked in a school district with a superintendent who never closed school. He really thought of it as giving those damned lazy teachers a day off, and it never seemed to occur to him that it was about the safety of the children. Several times, when every other school system in the entire state was closed, we had school.

There was a dangerous cold snap like we are having now, one year, with -20 degrees F wind chill. The elementary school was being remodeled, and there was no place where a school bus or parents with cars could drop kids off near a door. Our custodian made sure there was no ice on the area between the drop-off point and the door, and we all bundled up and took turns going out to meet kids at the bus or car and tell them that, for once, it was OK to run, then run back to the building with them.

[ViolaSebastian]

It was pretty rich to take that from a guy who gets into an already warmed-up limo to go to the work in the mornings. There were A LOT of calls for him to stand at a bus stop for 30 minutes at 6am wearing nothing but a windbreaker. We have a lot of kids here who don't have heavy-duty winter gear needed to be out safely in sub-zero wind chills.

[PennySycamore]

It's 32 here now in upstate SC which is positively summery compared to what so many of you are going through.  I suppose I'll have to take Gwen out around 7 in the morning and I am not looking forward to it.  I won't freeze when I go out, but I'll not exactly be able to warm up when I come back in.  Our HVAC bit the dust this morning and we can't get it replaced until Friday.  I do have a small space heater but most of the house is pretty chilly.  The dogs and I will cuddle up on the sofa and I moved the cat bed and put it on a wing chair for the cat.  I hope she uses it.

When I was out with the dogs a while ago, I saw a neighborhood cat on our back deck.  He's sorta got a home, but he doesn't stay there all the time. I hope he finds a good place to shelter for the night.  He can always go in the greenhouse or maybe the shed.  Or maybe he'll go to the neighbors'.  They let him sometimes.  

@ViolaSebastian, Fuck Governor Bevin and fuck the Cheeto-in-Charge too.  They both have less compassion and intelligence than an amoeba.

 

[ViolaSebastian]

I will say my alma mater had the right idea:

 

[47of74]

It's 7 here now, which is cold for here. School got cancelled today and tomorrow--it's supposed to be 28 tomorrow, but it'll still be in the single digits when the buses would go out. Our POS governor said that school being cancelled was a sign that kids were "soft." Fuck him so hard.

Nah he’d probably enjoy it too much.

[ViolaSebastian]

3 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

 

Nah he’d probably enjoy it too much.

 

It would be nice for him to be a temperature that matches his cold, dead heart. 

[EmmieJ]

For all FJers dealing with this extreme cold, please take every precaution.  I hope you all stay safe.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

40 minutes ago, thoughtful said:

I once worked in a school district with a superintendent who never closed school. He really thought of it as giving those damned lazy teachers a day off, and it never seemed to occur to him that it was about the safety of the children. Several times, when every other school system in the entire state was closed, we had school.

When I was growing up, rumor had it that the superintendent of our school district wouldn't close the schools if he could get his car out of his driveway. (Probably urban legend.) We had one snow day when I was in 4th grade and one day when I was in high school that was...bizarre.

In my 3rd period class, the teacher went in his office (it was band, he had a separate office attatched to the rehearsal room) to answer a phone call. A minute later, he came out and announced that because of the icy roads that day, attendance didn't count for the day. Then he gathered his sheet music and left. So, instead of keeping kids safe by closing school on a day with dangerous conditions, they made us get there over icy roads, then released us to go back home before noon on the same icy roads.

I'm glad that the current school administrators here are better about closing schools when needed, and I'm really glad to hear about the closed schools and workplaces during this polar vortex. All y'all in the cold stay safe and warm, please!

[Dandruff]

Low teens here and I'm staying home.  While I'm no stranger to cold weather, I am getting too old for some of the shit that goes with it.

[HildaGrady]

Yeah. Winter!!! ??

[Ali]

All of the lower peninsula of Michigan is being asked to turn down their thermostats on the coldest day of the year due to a fire at one of the stations. I got an emergency alert last night on my phone.

https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/01/fire-out-at-consumers-station-company-relying-on-gas-reserves-decreased-usage.html

https://www.freep.com/story/weather/2019/01/30/consumers-energy-dte-usage-polar-vortex/2724017002/

 

[WiseGirl]

 Back in the "old days" kids walked, now most take buses. Better safe than sorry. No superintendent wants a lawsuit.

[SisNancy]

40 minutes ago, Ali said:

All of the lower peninsula of Michigan is being asked to turn down their thermostats on the coldest day of the year due to a fire at one of the stations. I got an emergency alert last night on my phone.

https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/01/fire-out-at-consumers-station-company-relying-on-gas-reserves-decreased-usage.html

https://www.freep.com/story/weather/2019/01/30/consumers-energy-dte-usage-polar-vortex/2724017002/

 

Supposedly that fire affected over 60% of gas stores for the state.  That emergency alert did a very poor job notifying people why we were supposed to turn down the heat.   It stated due to extreme cold turn your heat down not due do extreme low gas supplies.    With outdated boiler heat we couldn’t reduce by 5 overnight but we have during the day.   Reading peoples posts online about how their toes were told at 72 made me so pissy last night!  

 

 

[catlady]

our blizzard is pretty much over, but we still have 0F with -25F wind chills.  schools are closed.  my cousin's dayhab is closed, so he came to work with me.  of course, Mr.CL and i are seeing those goddamned FB memes about how our peers would have gone to school in similar conditions.  we call them "back in my day" memes (in reference to the stereotypical grandpa who always says how he and his friends walked 5 miles to school uphill in both directions).  but are our friends who are posting said memes willing to send their kids outdoors?  probably not.  sure, it's ok to be annoyed by having to make emergency child-care arrangements, but this is for the benefit of kids' safety.  why is that so hard to grasp?  

and the school officials in our nearest urban district have tough calls to make in these cases.  there is a high proportion of kids living below the poverty line, and there are most likely some living in poorly-heated apartments with too little food.  a study was done a while back that the most at-risk kids who get breakfast and lunch at school frequently do not eat much else at home.  so in the winter, these kids go to school and are warmer and better-fed than they would be at home.  so on a day like today, what's the bigger risk?  and someone *always* complains when they make the call to close schools.

[church_of_dog]

A cool (pun intended) story about the polar front!  Nature is fascinating!

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article224946305.html?fbclid=IwAR3t4C9_oTQx65MgcBLkO2sGsRIZ5CA-kIkOtKMBGJAqIuFVn3UaZBJGQDQ

[Ali]

1 hour ago, SisNancy said:

Supposedly that fire affected over 60% of gas stores for the state.  That emergency alert did a very poor job notifying people why we were supposed to turn down the heat.   It stated due to extreme cold turn your heat down not due do extreme low gas supplies.    With outdated boiler heat we couldn’t reduce by 5 overnight but we have during the day.   Reading peoples posts online about how their toes were told at 72 made me so pissy last night!  

 

 

People on Facebook saying they wouldn't lower their thermostats were irritating me. I did and I am from California. I am always cold. I will also make the sacrifice of not doing laundry since I have a gas dryer. I need a shower tomorrow morning, but I will try to keep it short. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning.

 I read that there will be planned temporary shut offs if they don't have enough of a decrease in natural gas usage. I am wondering if schools will be cancelled again tomorrow. It does not make sense to heat up the buildings for one day under the circumstances.

[Alisamer]

12 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

It's 32 here now in upstate SC which is positively summery compared to what so many of you are going through.  I suppose I'll have to take Gwen out around 7 in the morning and I am not looking forward to it.  I won't freeze when I go out, but I'll not exactly be able to warm up when I come back in.  Our HVAC bit the dust this morning and we can't get it replaced until Friday.  

It was in the low 20's here this morning. My HVAC hasn't worked all winter, and I cannot afford to fix it. So, I have a space heater on a timer to warm up the bedroom before I get up, a heated mattress pad on the bed, a living room space heater for when I'm in there, and a heated throw on the couch. It was 50 degrees in the house this morning, but warm enough in my bedroom with the heater on. It took until just before the first snow to realize it wasn't really working, and now we're getting close to Spring (and it's supposed to be a high of 70 one day next week!) so I'm going to be fine. Maybe I can fix it with tax return money. It could be something super simple, I don't know. On the plus side I'm sleeping really well with it chilly in my bedroom!

I feel like I'm really lucky to live where I do - I hope those where it's dangerously cold all stay safe and warm!

[molecule]

It's 11 below where I am, but at least our windchill warning has expired. Tomorrow's expected high is 5 below. We've been without mail for two days, and most area schools, government offices, and even many businesses have been closed. The movie theaters are opening and are providing free hot chocolate. Several churches and businesses have opened their doors to provide shelter. I'll be glad to get above zero in a couple days, but I love the news stories about kindness and outreach during times like this.

[PennySycamore]

@Alisamer,  I hope you can get your HVAC fixed with your tax refund.  Our HVAC system was just worn out, but it was installed in July 2002.  My husband was surprised by that but I recall the day that it was installed.  It was the day our summer exchange student arrived from Paris and we'd not had air conditioning all day.  

[onekidanddone]

On 1/29/2019 at 4:39 PM, clueliss said:

Where I live trash service is canceled tomorrow.  And schools are already announcing closures.  

My county has cancelled the senior lunch program and all events at rec centers. I'm thinking schools are going to announce soon. 

[SilverBeach]

No mail yesterday or today, commuter trains not running, no garbage pickup. But things start warming up tomorrow, high of 22 or so. Virtual heat wave, I'll venture out to the store. Fifty-two by next Tuesday. Go figure, that's a one hundred degree swing from the minus fifty-two wind chills we just had.  It's zero now! The first non-below zero reading in 48 hours!

[dawbs]

it looks like there is school tomorrow.

fingers crossed.