So we're in from our errands, which we deferred from yesterday mainly on account o' because Wally-World is a veritable ZOO on the weekends and we avoid going there on those days whenever possible. It was a toss-up, actually: fight the crowds yesterday or deal with the kinda-sorta unpleasantness that is our weather today. Obviously "dealing with the WX" won out, but now that I'm in from the cold I'm not sure that was such a wise choice.
I'm getting soft in my dotage. It's 28 degrees outside, with a wind chill of 23... which is chilly, to be sure... but it's nothing like working on the antenna deck at Fortuna AFS, NoDak in wind chills of minus-50F or slogging through waist high snow drifts to go do preventive maintenance in the equipment shelters at Wakkanai Air Station (where the annual snowfall was purported to be 220+ inches -- no shit, really.). Driving to Wally-World on dry streets in a minor chill ain't got nuthin' on venturing out to the store in either Ra-cha-cha or Dee-troit in the dead o' winter, either. Both of which we did quite regularly and with little or no complaint. Well, I might be pushin' the envelope where "no complaints" is concerned. If only jes a little bit.
Image by Dennis Cox at wackystock.com.
no shit, really are you sure that's true? And it really does sound as if you're getting soft, but who am I to talk? I wait for the kid to show up to shovel!
ReplyDeleteSee here, Deb. (sroll down for precip and snowfall data)
ReplyDeleteMy quick math equals 180 inches of snow but this is now, that was then. I was there in 1968-1970, and I know we put up a snow gauge in our work center that only went to 12 feet and our snowfall topped that amount before the end of December that year.
Remember those Michigan days when you would just get the drive shoveled out and the snow plow would come along and fill it up again? I think it made the plow drivers day to do that!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty much mush anymore when it comes to cold weather.
ReplyDeleteBut now you're back in your cozy trailer "snug as a bug in a rug" right, Buck? :) I've always thought I might have been a good submariner. Some people get Cabin Fever in the winter, rainy days, etc., but I've always perversely *enjoyed* "cocooning" (as long as the requisite supply of mucho booze, food, sounds, and books/innertubes/sat or cable tv are laid in :) ) even tho I've been an out-doors sports kinda guy. There are worse things in the world than to be curled up in a comfy snowed-in RV with all the comforts--as long as supplies last. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking this one might do for you, Buck. A bottle o' brew, cigar case and lighter and maybe a newspaper? What more would you need?
ReplyDeleteActually, THIS is the one I had in mind... :)
ReplyDeleteI better explain! (My first comment didn't go through) Think: bottle o' brew, cigar case and matches, newspaper... you get the idea.
ReplyDeleteEd: Ya, I remember those days in Michigan AND in Rochester, NY... where it was arguably worse! Mainly coz we had more snow in New Yawk.
ReplyDeleteLou: You and me, both.
Virgil: I'm a lot like you, in that I'm VERY content to be by myself... as long as I have all those NECESSITIES you mentioned. ;-)
Bec: Blogger is being weird again. Your first comment showed up in my e-mail but not on the blog... go figger. But I LIKE that chair!! I've bookmarked it on Amazon and just may buy it in the very near future, as I have a gift certificate that expires the first week in February.
Bec: Mystery solved. Your first comment was in my spam folder.
ReplyDeleteI recall a couple of winters in the late 90s where we got over 100 inches of snow in one season. I think it was 1996 then we topped it in 1998.
ReplyDeleteWe may be on track this year for a repeat. Expecting 12 inches tonite into tomorrow, to top off the 10 inches on the ground already. And the winter, she is young.
Buck - not a soft ol' geezer. Just a tad bit more common sense about things. :-)
Kris: Hang in there! And thanks for the good words.
ReplyDelete"Bec: Mystery solved. Your first comment was in my spam folder.'
ReplyDeleteOh, good, 'cause the image of the diaper bag and bottle - without sufficient explanation - was, well, you know...
Buck, I've whined about my growing intolerance of the cold before, so trust me, I understand how you feel.
ReplyDeleteBR: I think cold-intolerance comes with getting older. Why else would all those snowbirds move to Arizona and Florida?
ReplyDelete