I would go south.

Stay warm MM.

Work. Not really an option, although it's tempting. Lots of people here head south during these cold snaps. In fact, we were unable to change our Christmas flight to California to any date before April 12, due to everyone leaving town for Cancun, Florida and California.

And I'm surrounded by people bundled up as if it were ten below. Gotta love Floridians. I let my car warm up before getting in it this morning. It was an icy fifty-five degrees when I left the house. Brrrrrr.

On vacation about two weeks ago I was at a place where it dipped under twenty degrees. I went to look at the heating system before going to bed. It gave me comfort that it was only five years old. I'm like a fish out of water in those temperatures.

from January 10 to April 10. Now we live in Florida but after 4 years here, we are CA bound. Want to live among Democrats.

For a combined $4,000 (SS+Pension) I live like a king. No cold weather or Trump to worry about. I am 150 feet from the beach, if too lazy to go to the beach I belly flop into my freshwater pool. Why would anyone live up north in the winter?

PS- It is cheap enough here to rent a room year round at a friend's house in CT ($500 helps with her bills) where I and my wife live May to Oct and is our official resident for voting. If I get seriously ill I take a three hour Jet ride and I can see my Medicare doctor.

At least in a swing state like Fl you can help the cause.

do some inside chores and then I will venture out to clean the chicken coop to give them extra bedding to ease the cold...

I will come in, make some rooibos chai latte, and then work on an outfit I am making for a family member

In Wisconsin also below zero. If I need to go, I go,
If I don't I don't
It's been cold before will be again.
Perhaps biggest change is that modern cars actually run in this weather.
If I need to go to the store I will
I assume I will make it to church tomorrow
Was thinking about a trip to the dollar store to pick up some stuff iam running low on... don't need it today and my furnace works fine.

Upstate NY is very cold and snowing. Winter sucks!

2010.. then I retired back to Kauai.

Stay warm, democratisphere!

I have been to Kauai many years ago. It was an island paradise when I visited. Hope you have a Happy and Healthy New Year!

I have cold that is a few days old.

I've been drinking a lot of hot tea. I may go out and shovel the driveway later, only because I can't settle myself when it is snow covered.

Other than that, I'm just going to stay inside, drink my tea, and sleep.

Feel better, and stay warm.

It's the end of December, and the furnace has been in use since sometime in October, so I remembered the filter this morning as I typed the OP for this thread.

Don't forget to change your furnace filter, folks. Just a friendly reminder.

We have a couple days ahead of us that will be in the negatives for highs and lows, so I will save the soup making for those days. Soup adds humidity to the house, a pleasant aroma throughout and leftovers for the freezer unless I hand out portions to my kids and elderly neighbors. There is flu going around, so the soup is welcomed with open arms.

A couple days ago, I made a huge batch of 5-bean chili. It was delicious, but is the type of soup you only eat on days you will be home alone, if you get my drift.

That's my formula. It's kind of like dating. A smart guy waits to see if his date orders onions on her burger or something with garlic in it. That's why gentlemen let women order first. That way, you can avoid issues later. If both people eat garlic or onions, it doesn't matter. One, however, who eats that stuff while the other does not is bound to offend later on.

well, rather quiet as it were.

It had a great blend of flavors. I told my son-in-law he should enter it in the next chili contest.

Today I go to the Asian market- 45 minute drive, my friend's taco place, the gym, walk along the lake. (only because no wind!),

Then spend a couple hours cooking Chinese dishes. and typing nonsense on DU.




Stay warm Mr Man.

I don't really mind going out when it's frigid. I have clothes for it. But, I don't want to sit in a theater and cough through a movie. I hate when people do that. I cleared what little snow fell yesterday, so I don't have to mess with that. A nap. I think I'll take a nap.

I remember one year in the middle of March flying out of Spokane to Seattle to visit a friend. It was foggy, freezing and snow patches still on the ground in Spokane. Arriving at Sea-tac forty five minutes later, the daffodils were blooming, tulips were close behind and the early rhododendron buds were fat and ready. That was it for me. I moved to the coast. I can’t handle the long, bitter-cold winters anymore.

Just open the door, quickly close it, wait till he barks to come back in and open the door again.

I want to watch him prance about while I sip a cup of steaming coffee.

So we built a 30 foot square fenced in yard by the side door.

after we got the beagle and beagle/basset. Put a door in the kitchen wall, too. They go in and out as they please, so I don't have to.

Today? They're staying outside for no more than 5 minutes. They do their necessary business and then come back in and go back to sleep. Smart, dogs are.

Heading to a balmy 14, and then -1, tonight. I suspect it will get much colder.

There are currently 28 road accidents listed on the local 911 report so my car is nestled safely in the garage. Since I have a well stocked pantry, it will probably be staying there until Tuesday.

I'm watching wonderful old movies on TCM, trying to think of SOMETHING, ANYTHING to trigger my appetite, and plan on a nice fire in the fireplace, later. I've got plenty of good books to catch up on, and I am not opposed to a long nap, or two.

After decades of working at a stressful job, and dealing with one family emergency after another, I treasure these quiet times.

Woohoo. 14 deg F!



I think your TCM plan is a good one.

I have been in those temps often enough. This week shows us in single digits for the next bunch of days with lows in the negative range and wind chills as much as - 30 in the next couple of days. It is calm today so far but we have almost reached our high, now at 10 degrees with 11 being our high. I hate the cold but then I work for hours every day outside in it getting all the animals comfy as possible (not very comfy I am sorry to say).

I always try to hole up when I do not have to be outside. I know how to stay warm enough in these temps but it is always hard to go in and out and stay comfortable.

-12 is not something we usually see for a high, I am having problems even thinking about that being a high. Our last few winters have been very mild mostly with only a week or two of discomfort. This is more like it used to be. All I can say is at least this year we will not be pulling ticks off ourselves and the dogs for 12 months and maybe next spring they will be less than we have had! Now THAT is worth the cold snap!

I'll do what I would do anyhow but wearing warmer clothes. This is what normal midwinter temperatures used to be up until about 25 years ago; this is what I grew up with. We expected that right after Christmas or thereabouts the temperature would go below zero and stay there for a couple of weeks. So, since we knew it was coming we'd just make some adjustments. We had to go to school or to work anyhow, and there were other things to do as well and we couldn't just stay inside. I didn't have a garage most of those years so I had a block heater installed in my car and I'd plug it in every night so it would start. My house wasn't as well-insulated as it is now so I'd let the water run a bit in the bathtub (the water pipe to the tub ran along an uninsulated wall in the basement) and open the cupboard doors under the sink so the pipes didn't freeze. The house is warmer now but the floors are still cold so I wear wool socks in the house. The cats sleep on the radiators.

I will probably break down and wear a hat when I go out later today (maybe my pink pussy hat; it's warm).

the weather here. Literally. My Mom, who has some memory issues, gets confused about below zero temperatures. "How can the temperature be below zero," she always asks. I explain it once again and she gets it for a short while, but forgets.

You're right. We just do the same things we always do, but wear more clothing. Our Kia Soul will just start up in the driveway as usual, but really needs to sit there and warm up a little before going anywhere. Modern cars are amazing, really.

Thank goodness we in MI are on the other side of Lake Michigan and Superior. The lakes when not froze over actually warm the air from the West a bit....usually about 10-15 deg F

It's in the 40's now, heading to near 60 today.

We do have our crazies here, but we also have 20 million people also. Some guy tried to electrocute his wife by hooking a battery charger up to a deadbolt and door handle, fortunately she was out of town.

its a lovely -14 here north of Minneapolis.

I feel bad for my german shepherd when he has to run out and potty. He wears a coat, he won't do booties.

I think I might do a little cleaning if I can crawl out from my electric blanket. Maybe roast some potatoes and onions.

When it's this cold I like to cuddle under covers with my husband and our pets.


We rent our house and the insulation is a step above newspaper in the walls (not the fancy eco stuff) so it is breezy indoors and our thermostat at 63 but it's easily in the 50's in some areas.

So lucky to have shelter and heat so I am pretty happy just to stay indoors

and what needs to be done as to whether I stay indoors or not. In western Montana so -12F is moderate cold. Today the edge of that arctic air mass is sitting right on top of my location making it a bit warmer (-8F or so) and snowing pretty pretty good. It's a holiday weekend so I probably won't go anywhere until it's above 0 F . If it were a weekday, I'd just give myself a little more time to get anywhere and dress a little warmer. I do maintain a "box" in my vehicle for emergencies which contains dry food and outerwear to survive a five mile hike at -40F or colder.

Tuesday where it was even colder. I caught my sister's cold/flu so I am pretty much snuggled up in bed watching movies and going online. I have a nice beef stew going in the crock pot to keep me warm and cozy. I don't think I am missing much.

Stay warm MM! Let me know if you need any movie suggestions!

was negative 70. Now that was cold. We went to class like normal and about 10 minutes into each class everyone's noses started thawing out. It was not pleasant.

total immersion Russian Language school. Back in 1966. It was located at Skytop, if you know where that is. I was there during the winter. At the time, there was a little ski area with rope tows just off our compound, run by the University. We had free passes and could get skis at no charge. So, I learned to ski. No lessons, but I had a book on learning how to ski.

small the world is sometimes!

One purebred and one Beagle/Basset mix. I have not seen Skytop since 1967 when I finished that course. It was a little military compound with some brick barracks and classrooms, along with a mess hall and office building. Just down the road was married student housing buildings for SU. We called that area the "Baby Factory."

The USAF Language school shut down sometime in the 1970s. It was run by Syracuse University, and I got a very large pile of transferable credits in Russian and Russian History from that year. It was an interesting educational experience, but it sure didn't feel like attending Syracuse University. That was in name only, I think.

I doubt I will ever be in Syracuse again, so I won't find my way up that road to see what has happened to the place.

But the Skytop area was developed into off campus apartments. Probably an extension of the 'baby factory' you mention. About 2,500 students live up there now. When I went you had to be a junior or senior to live up there. They were nice 2 bedroom 2 floor apartments. Very frequent bus service to the main campus, so you didn't really need a car as long as you were on a meal plan at the University. Fortunately I had a car so we could grocery stop, etc. I loved my time at Syracuse, despite the really crappy weather. There was also a big outdoor sports facility up there where the football team would practice when they weren't in the dome.

Here's an aerial view of Skytop as I remember it:

Hopefully there will be no ice. Houston drivers, myself included, do not know how to drive on ice.

I am fighting off a cold that I have for three weeks. I broke down and went to the doctor and got some meds.

home. Not safe to be on the road with all the idiots.

...no one knows how to drive at all, even in good conditions. I pretty much trust no one in a car - not the people next to me, not the people in front of me, not the people behind me, not the people coming at me, and definitely not the 3-5 people I know are going to run the red light after my left turn arrow goes green.

I would bring an entire wheelbarrow of locust and hickory from the wood pile and park it at the back door. I would put a pot of soup or stew on the wood stove and park myself in the easy chair next to the stove. Grabbing wood would be the only trips outside I would make.

Since I'm not there, but in town, I check my electricity usage on the power company's web site and shudder at the usage. Trash and recycling had to go out and the empty containers had to brought back from the street. Since stores are near, there always seems to be something needed on the spur of the moment. I see a trip or two in the near future. I simmer a pot of water on the (electric) stove when the humidity gets low. It makes it feel warmer and helps the cough and sore throat that I haven't been able to shake for the last week or so.

The cottage can be chilly, but if you are cold you just sidle up to the stove and bask in the warmth. In town there are no warmer spots in the house to hang out.

The filter got changed Friday, I keep on top of its condition.

Going to make spaghetti sauce, stuffed shells and homemade yogurt.....none of which requires going outside.

Most importantly tho, I'm watching my Badgers in the Orange Bowl.....Go Bucky!

On Wisconsin!

Nice and sunny, too. I just watched about three dozen crows take off from my front yard, where they had been scarfing up seeds and other eatable things from our front yard.

The sunshine is deceiving on the frozen tundra!

...Chicago suburbs - from 0 to +2. Antitcipated high of +4.

The predicted low tomorrow will be -9.

I will probably go to the indoor track to walk some laps, but that's about it.

When my husband and I were first married in 1982, he was stationed at K. I. Sawyer AFB in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Tems in the -20s and -30s were routine for months. When you's go outside, all the little hairs inside your nostrils would freeze up. Very odd sensation.

Island out on the Aleutian chain. Fortunately, they sent me to the Black Sea coast of Turkey. Much nicer weather there.

It's cold though. We're only acclimated to heat. Lol

I'm on my second snowblower. I wore the first one out.

No where

at a marina..might be cracking 86 in the shade..

Truly.

to buy foam backer rod for the floor (which was streaming cold air in from the outside - whoever installed the floor neglected to add enough insulation between the floor and the wall - or a baseboard, for that matter).

And silicon caulking for the windows (great windows, but no caulking???).

Then to the market, I'm cooking dinner for the homeless shelter tonight.

It was -11 here last night, but today it's up to 8 degrees!

furnace off - shorts and long-sleeved t-shirt - gonna fire up the smoker and do some salmon for dinner on the patio tonight

great time of the year to live in Florida

A lush, tropical paradise awaits you - just a ten-minute drive from your house!

What I like to do is take a walk around the zoo to say high to the animals, and then sit in the Conservatory to warm up afterwards. The Como Park Zoo is a nice place for a winter walk, and my wife and I try to go several times during the winter months.

I'm in S Florida & right now it is cold, 61 %

Florida. Too humid in the Summer. I couldn't live there.

but you could say 61% warmer than you guys

A little chilly but a lot of fun.

when I was out at the grocery store.

We have had mid-teen wind chill temps already this week--with more to come--so I wonder if the people who are
probably wintering here from Minnesota and Michigan wish they had gone all the way to Florida!

Hope you feel better soon.

I love chicken soup. Just getting over a stomach bug here.

Chicken soup makes everything right in the world.

without seeing it. She got to the theater, only to find that it was closed, due to a frozen pipe that had burst, courtesy of our frigid temps. So, she picked up a couple of microwave-ready sandwiches at the nearby convenience store, bought a couple of PowerBall tickets and is now watching a different movie in the living room.

My scheduled nap will still take place in about 10 minutes, after I fold the second batch of laundry that just came out of the dryer.

Exciting doings here in old St. Paul, MN. Exciting doings indeed!

Where Do You Go When It's 12 Below?
Kinda rhymes too
m

But I've already hit the gym today. COld weather is what I live for (I can go without a jacket until about 0).

But in the summer I want to hibernate in a fridge.

-11 and no wind. Perfect. Got to try out my new parka and gloves.

Uncommonly warm and dry. Not much going on in my little town but the weather is
outstanding all year long. A bit windy in the spring, a bit hot in the summer (but with
monsoons), perfect falls, and a bit cold in the winter. No hurricanes, no floods,
no blizzards, no tornadoes. I use wood heat in the winter and a swamp box cooler
in the summer.

Or was this morning. I'm staying inside though I may take a brief walk. Even frigid fresh air is better than no fresh air.

The kitchen trash out. Must have been a lulz in the wind.

I live in an apartment and I noticed when I trotted out to the recycling bin (I was probably outside for less than 2 minutes).

Don't you love this kind of weather - it takes 10 minutes to get appropriately dressed just to take the trash out.

When I lived there I was fortunate enough to have trips to Kauai that coincided with the polar vortex hitting the Twin Cities - so I avoided the worst. This year I did not time it right. I came back from Hawaii before the cold hit.

to stop wearing shorts and put on long pants. Even worse, I had to raise the roof on my convertible.

I seldom have to worry about below 20 F and never below 10 F.

But there is not much fun to go in that weather if one is a geezer, good reading weather. Glad to have a propane generator.

The excellent warrior knows and respects the seasons and does not resist. Happy New Year!

🌝

It is a balmy 29 today though. I recall it being in the single digits once.

I was young, single and working. Didn't have much of an option.

I ran everywhere. Like from my car to the building.
I refused to let weather hold me hostage to an apartment, neither did anyone else my age, so I went out with my friends.

have to close. woo hooo! btw i'm in SD.

editing to add that we already had a few inches of snow on the ground, and it just started really coming down. it's going to be a great night, i can tell.

It's supposed to be -20 or lower.

But we're going anyway.

Next weekend - smelt fishing!