Philotic Web

I can't even imagine. This is when you need a friend with a car to drive you to work! I'm paying double to park around the corner from work instead of in a lot 5 blocks away on these below zero (and -30 wind chill) mornings.

All my coworkers, save one, live in places from which it would be terribly inconveniencing to come get me and really, it's not their problem anyway. The one that lives semi-close goes in 4 hours earlier than I do but offered me a ride home if I make it in.

I'm torn because it'd just be easiest for all and safest for all if the library closed. But that would mean PT staff don't get paid, which I kind of need.

Seriously, how do you even face that sort of cold? I could layer more but only to a point and I feel like goggles or something would be best to keep my eyes protected but the closest I have is sunglasses. I'm half tempted to text the boss and tell him I'm concerned for the safety of being out for 20-40 minutes in an unsheltered environment and would like to work from home.

It really is all about the layers. My typical attire for bitter bitter cold is normal undies, sweat-wicking long undies, flannel PJ pants, pants pants, and snow pants (plus thick wool socks and heavily insulated boots, or two pairs of wool socks and normal winter footwear). On top, a sweat-wicking long sleeve shirt (under-armor or the like, but baggy), a hoodie, several zip-up layers of fleece, and my coat. Thick neck-warmer or scarf and hat under the hood of the hoodie (nose tucked into the neck warmer, or an extra face-mask for the nose) / alternatively a balaclava), and coat-hood pulled up over it all. Never really needed googles if I'm not skiing, because windchill can usually be dealt with by proper inclination of the head and a "mere" -15F - -20F of actual temperature isn't going to freeze your eyeballs, and glasses will be COLD on your skin.

At least for today, it's nice to just watch the snow fall during breaks from reading. This is exactly what I imagined all winter "storms" and snowfall to be; actually substantial, ya know? Not just a sprinkling of what looks like powdered sugar or maybe an inch of two of crunchy stuff. Almost two years here and I'm finally seeing the stuff of my imagination. It's kind of mind-blowing. And gorgeous.

Also, I love the wind howling just over my head when I sleep at home in my loft.

It really is all about the layers. My typical attire for bitter bitter cold is normal undies, sweat-wicking long undies, flannel PJ pants, pants pants, and snow pants (plus thick wool socks and heavily insulated boots, or two pairs of wool socks and normal winter footwear). On top, a sweat-wicking long sleeve shirt (under-armor or the like, but baggy), a hoodie, several zip-up layers of fleece, and my coat. Thick neck-warmer or scarf and hat under the hood of the hoodie (nose tucked into the neck warmer, or an extra face-mask for the nose) / alternatively a balaclava), and coat-hood pulled up over it all. Never really needed googles if I'm not skiing, because windchill can usually be dealt with by proper inclination of the head and a "mere" -15F - -20F of actual temperature isn't going to freeze your eyeballs, and glasses will be COLD on your skin.

I don't believe anything I own is sweat-wicking (but people constantly tell me what materials will do this and I pretty much don't retain the information), nor do I own snow pants. Also, most of my scarves are slightly more fashionable than functional (which is not to say they're not functional).

Basically, I have prepared for the type of winter I've mostly dealt with and not the polar vortex winter we just had.

And...the weather reports have all told me I'll get frostbite, hypothermia, or DEATH in prolonged exposure to actual -15ish (mostly with the added windchill) so

If you don't mind sacrificing fashion, a cheap pair of army-surplus wool pants will do the trick for snow pants. That's what I use, and I got my pair for maybe $10, which is much much cheaper than the correspondingly sized snow pants would have been.

The scarf doesn't need to be super-functional. It's main purpose is to make a pocket of slightly-warmer air to protect your face from frostbite. If everything else is dressed appropriately, it's not all that relevant to keeping your body temperature up, and if everything else isn't dressed appropriately - it won't help much.

Also, favor mittens over gloves. Keeping your fingers together helps a lot. I have also a great pair army surplus wool-and-canvas trigger mittens that keep a good balance of warmth and dexteriy: your pointer finger has the option of being indepedent, or tucked in with everyone else.

The sweat-wicking clothes aren't necessary from a short-term warmth perspective (you could replace them easily with a non-sweat-wicking layer), but they're critical if you're going to be moving around a lot or outside for a long period of time: it's actually possible to be dressed too hot, even in -30, but you can't afford to let perspiration get cold in those conditions, and cotton is completely worthless once it's wet. Wool, fleece, and synthetics are where it's at.

The weather reports are absolutely correct that this sort of weather can kill, but with appropriate clothing you can be fine all day. The moral of the story is...


And now...back to your regularly scheduled programming

I have also a great pair army surplus wool-and-canvas trigger mittens that keep a good balance of warmth and dexteriy: your pointer finger has the option of being indepedent, or tucked in with everyone else.

WANT.

WANT.

Wool mitten: http://www.amazon.com/Military-Cold-Wea ... B0049B7NMY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Canvas mitten shell: http://www.amazon.com/Official-US-Milit ... B0036ZTDYA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Make sure you get the right sizing and all that.


And the pants too, if anyone cares: http://www.amazon.com/Military-Field-Tr ... B00CX7KX82" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I didn't get any of my stuff from Amazon, but this is what it looks like, so I think its the same thing.

It's a sloppy slick damn mess here now! the ground is frozen so hard all the wet stuff turns to sheet ice with water on top. Talk about slick!

Brrrrrrr!

This is the part of winter when I start to get a bit upset with every sloppy wet little snowfall. I wouldn't mind if spring came a bit early but knowing it would be wrong.

Cold. Very cold. Still very cold. The car heater has given up entirely.

Even dogeweather.com 's validation is not cheering me up.

Winter. Must. Die. I'm thinking of starting some kind of hero quest to kill it, somehow. Any volunteers if I do?

It was surprisingly perfect today. Not too cold, not too hot, not too bright. Just right.
Unfortunately, its been a while since I had the opportunity to spend my Saturday afternoon lazing around, doing nothing, at my place... so after accomplishing some 'productive' things, I jumped at the opportunity, came back to my dorm, and disregarded the world outside.

Back to hell here!

High of 60* today. Snow starting shortly.

Gotta love colorado weather!

We are halfway to May and it's snowing outside. What...?

It was 20C (68F) here today, which is pretty much my threshold for shorts and t-shirts, and the forecast for tomorrow involves snow and icy conditions with a high of -1C (30F).

A 20 degree celsius drop in less than 24 hours?! This winter/spring season has brought some of the most bizarre weather I've ever seen.

It keeps getting harder for me to handle the heat! Seems like we were just complaning about the cold weather, could time possibly fly by any faster?

Ick. Summer. It's bad news when I'm grateful for lows of 75.

Its so smokey here! Damn near dark!

It's 78 here now, and a bit humid. I'm hoping both of those things improve in time for my frisbee game in a few hours.

We just had a helluva storm here! trees down all over hail may hav done a number on the wheat m everything else even had a river run down the ditches and had a creek running round our yard n house. Glad we keep up on crop insurance, where is that policy?

I don't know what I think of "global warming" but our weather patterns are changing for shure, but then they always have been.

Hell, this is some strange s***! we keep getting these thunderstorms "every stinking day" we just get the harvest crew together and get started up when the wheat and barley gets dry enough to cut and it starts again. the grain is starting to discolor and I keep waiting to hear that there is some wheat "sprouting in the heads" around soon. Bad enough the crop is short here locally and then there were the hail storms last month, what a mess.

Hell, this is some strange s***! we keep getting these thunderstorms "every stinking day" we just get the harvest crew together and get started up when the wheat and barley gets dry enough to cut and it starts again. the grain is starting to discolor and I keep waiting to hear that there is some wheat "sprouting in the heads" around soon. Bad enough the crop is short here locally and then there were the hail storms last month, what a mess.

Yes, same s*** was happening in here, there were heavy rain every day till last weak... Agriculture suffered a lot (I know, becauseI have a little "farm" in village) I hope the weather will improve for you!

Wow Nikihak Serbia! Your a curiosity to me as I'm always super interested in how people farm in different parts of the world. Do ya have any old John Deere tractors or combines?

Wow Nikihak Serbia! Your a curiosity to me as I'm always super interested in how people farm in different parts of the world. Do ya have any old John Deere tractors or combines?

Not exactly, we don't have that much of a land. One wine yard (if you call it like that) which give us about 2-3 60l barrels of wine and that much of rakija (which is similar to vodka just made from grapes). We also have one farmland which is primarily used for corn.

We use this one as most advanced thing

Thats a neat machine and it sounds like you have a nice farm. I especially like how you make your own alcahol, we should try that too, I've often thought about producing some of our own fuel. Even if I do consume it myself

It's finally getting chilly! I'm so happy!

This is the best time of the year!

It is a crisp 58F out and I am inside (with the patio door open), wearing sweats as I await the start of my class. A few days in the foreseeable future will reach the mid 70s but it seems as though the new highs will be in the 60s and upper 50s. My chai has been ordered but due to exercise/eating, I'll have to limit my intake on it this year, which, when all is said and done, is a pure shame. Nothing quite comes close to a nice cup of hot chai after a cool (or freezing, depending on time of year) 1.5 mile walk home.

I'm not looking forward to the winter this year. Last year's didn't scare me so much as lasted for so long, I don't feel I've gotten enough warmth and sun out of spring and summer to mentally make it through another half-year winter.

It's fall!!!!



It's usually not as cold here as there, so you could come meet Jocelyn on a super cold weekend and probably have a lot of nice sunshine here.

So how 'bout that wind chill? Tomorrow is supposed to be Pretty Damn Cold®. While not the -40s we saw last year at this time of year, -30s is close enough. It's making me want to hibernate in blankets.

It's warmed up here a bit. Up to about 3 degrees. T-shirt weather!

I just love when the sun comes out and lights up the day even if it's still polar like cold!

LOTS of snow today. My work and practicum library are both closed, so more time for moving (at least a little bit...we almost got stuck on one trip).