*Winter Survival Questions**

[cyber-sibes]

It's a beautiful sunny day out. You'd never know its 4 F unless you step outside. I like winter as long as we have snow on the ground.

[Daisy and Delilah]

You brave souls!!! I can read through this thread and be very thankful that I live in Florida. Despite the occasional storms, we do have some gorgeous weather here. The summers are almost unbearable but as long as you stay in the air conditioning, you're unaware that it's so hot outside.

I absolutely love the thought of curling up with a cup of hot chocolate with the dogs That sounds wonderful!

[Blue_Frog]

We get pretty cold here too, but not as bad as further north, and we never get quite as much snow as Buffalo does. Chalk it up to Lake Ontario i guess I've had to plug in cars before, i think its to heat the engine up so the block doesn't crack? Not sure entirely, but I did it because my dad told me to.

Basically, its like everyone else said -- dress in layers, heat up the car before you get into it, and run like stink from your house to your car, from the car to your workplace, etc. without falling on your butt. Although, being the twit that I am, I'm still kicking around in my fall polar fleece pullover, since I haven't bothered to dig out my winter jacket yet.

Also, carrying an emergency kit is a good plan, just in case you go off the road or something in the cold weather -- i think there was a posting in General a little while back about emergency kits.


One of the questions i've gotten a lot the last week from people at work (since the temps have dropped and its gotten windy -25° C / -13° F) is what do the Alpacas do since they live outside all the time? They lay outside in the snow like a bunch of twits and eat hay. Go figure When they get really cold, they go back into the barn and lay around there eating hay.

[elizabethann]

If you're like me, you call in sick on days like today. Heeheehee. I had a "migraine". I'm in my sweatpants with the heat cranked up, watching old movies (like ANTS and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), listening to the wind howling.

But I do have to go out with Fenway to do his business so I bundle up and look like a sausage (very attractive) in my parka, hat, mittens, scarf and boots.

I'll go to work tomorrow. But I'll have to go and start my car for about 20 minutes later on just so that it will start tomorrow morning.

Every year I say "I'm moving to Florida". I'll be visiting my brother in Port Charlotte, FL in 3 weeks. So that kind of gets me through this weather as well.

As much as I love Florida, I don't think I would like the summer's very much since I hate humidity. Where can I move where it's 70/80 all year through? Even Hawaii had a cold spell this weekend - 50's!

[BC_MoM]

All week it's been nearly -40C and lower with the windchill. Yesterday afternoon, there was no wind at -29C and I thought I was in paradise. Meterologists predict that my area of Canada has 90 more days of this weather.

I need a vacation.

[Daisy and Delilah]

Brrrrrrrrrrrr......now my teeth are chattering

[areias]

It's about 55 degrees here....during the day! Ahhhh! It's frickin cold! It's been dropping down into the low 40's at night sometimes....it was 35 last week.

We don't have to do a whole lot here.

[GreyhoundGirl]

Where I used to live (FF Soucy, one of the furthest north towns in Quebec) you would have to light a fire under your car in the winter to get it started. Funny, I guess I was so yound I didn't even wonder why!

[critter crazy]

Today we ahve had a high of 8 degrees, with a wind chill factor of -15. But all in all it is a gorgeous day! the sun is shinning!! at least it looks that way from inside!!!

[Lizzie]

This thread is very helpful to me in regard to my car in cold weather. I had to park my car outside this winter for the first time since I bought my house 23 years ago, and I was really thrown on how to deal with the occasional deep freezes we have had so far. I had to learn to wipe all condensation from the door frames and seals to prevent the doors from freezing shut, and to take extra time each morning for scraping ice off windows, running the car, etc. I'd never heard of keeping my gas tank full and why, I'll remember that - thanks!

The problem with western Washington state is that we don't have to deal with very cold weather often. Some winters, it just rains and rains. In some, we get a fair bit of snow but little ice. So, when we have a week of temperatures in the single digits at night and teens in the day, nearly everyone makes an ass of themselves in one way or another.