Wednesday 12 December 2012

Relative values


Now that my 99 status has been upgraded, I feel free to post up another picture. This is me in Quebec City, working up a sweat in -20 temperatures.

That night, it fell to -40. I decided to walk 500 yards to a restaurant, and my hosts told me to take someone with me. When I asked 'why?', they said that if I slipped on the ice and broke a leg, I would have 4 minutes to live. There being no-one else on the street, they would not find me until next morning, so stiff I could be broken with a small hammer. I took someone with me.

My car said it was -3 outside today - Pish!  That's nothing.

16 comments:

  1. When you were in Quebec, was the temp recorded in Farenheit or Celsius? I still think in Farenheit, and while -3°C is cold and i want a hat and gloves, -3°F is colder still.

    We occasionally get temps here of 20 below. One can see sea smoke then, which is interesting.

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    1. It was in Celsius, and there was an element of chill-factor. I was working so hard that I really did build up a sweat, but did not dare cool off. I was thirsty, so kept a bottle of Perrier water - wrapped in two blankets, in a trunk and next to a halogen lamp. When I went back to it, half an hour later, it was frozen completely solid. Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink...

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  2. It dropped here in Illois as well. Today just around 30 F. last week in the 60's so overdue for some cold. Glad you took a friend with you. A cold dead stiff Tom is no fun at all.

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  3. Minus 6 C here yesterday morning.

    How big was your G & T to warrant such an ice cube?

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  4. Quebec at minus 40. Mmmm ...
    Me?
    Achieved granny status, 1am this morning, after sitting with my daughter for the duration.
    (I'm so in love)

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    1. Ambushed by love, actually.

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    2. How wonderful, Sarah. You are going to have such a good time with the little thing.

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  5. We went to Montreal one winter (2003 or 04) -- it was -25F! Didn't dare move the car until the engine turned over for 30 minutes. Your picture really shows what the air looks like when it's frozen. I was once in Minnesota when the temperature was -60 (wind chill). Just to walk a few feet to the next house was hazardous -- when it gets that cold the sun gets a kind of parenthesis-shaped halo around it...

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    1. Yes, Montreal has the same snow festival, but I didn't do that one.

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  6. I don't know how you could bring yourself to do that - I hate the cold.

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    1. When it's that cold, it doesn't feel quite the same. In fact it feels dangerously warm, because any moisture just falls to the ground and stays there. They give a chill factor rating on the local TV which relates in seconds - the amount of seconds it takes for your exposed nose to freeze to the extent that it can be knocked off your face. So they say something like, "25 tonight, so take care!" in a cheery way at the end of a forecast.

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    2. You've just clocked up 3 more followers Tom ......... how did that happen ?!! XXXX

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    3. So I have - must have been the offer of a free me.

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    4. Actually, it's two - and they're both called Jennifer!

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