California Cold...Brrrrrr

[Chris James]

I'll bet all you guys in southern California are digging through the closets for your long johns. Snow in the Los Angeles area? I hate to rub it in, but my gardenias just started blooming here in south Florida. Do they even sell snow shovels out there?

[dude]

With forecasts for near record low temperatures for this weekend, I was seriously worried on Friday. I’d been down with a bad cold all week and my cheap new Chinese-made space heater had died late Thursday. My apartment's built-in A/C unit had not yet produced any heat this season.

Shortly before five an unexpected knock came at the door... "Mike, it's Julian, let me in!" I slowly opened it, giving my cats time to scamper for cover – only two of the four were known to the management and this was the building maintenance man.

A grinning Julian stepped in with two burly men in some kind of uniforms, which I noted, thankfully, were not from the County Pound. They were introduced as Sal and Tony… from the company that maintained the heater/coolers for our complex.

I moved my satellite radio music system off the top of the a/c unit and the men started tearing it apart. Julian’s eyes glanced around the living/dining room… “We must have scared the cats into the bedroom” he said with a knowing grin.

“Yep, seldom have more than a single guest here, if that” I replied. “Your voices must have spooked them.”

Forty minutes later they were gone and my heating unit was working and cats were crawling out from under sofas, beds and each other.

This (Saturday) morning I woke up early and fed my furry family in my toasty, warm apartment and over a cup of coffee wondered if Cole and Pecman or any of my other L.A. area friends were shovelling snow.

[Cole Parker]

No sign of snow here, but it's cold for LA, that's for sure. We're supposed to have another week of this.

Hey, look at the bright side: I don't need to keep putting chlorine in the pool!

C

[The Pecman]

Forty minutes later they were gone and my heating unit was working and cats were crawling out from under sofas, beds and each other.

Congrats, Dude! Our angry-and-hostile cat Sookie has been miserable with the cold here in LA. Going down to 36 tonight (which for LA, is unbelievably cold). We've given her a little heating pad set to the lowest possible setting, and she seems happy. My partner is also keeping his electric blanket on low, and she seems to snuggle under there about 18 hours a day. Not much heat around here, either.

[FreeThinker]

My heart bleeds. Sunday night's expected low in Okieland--12. NBC says that Boston tomorrow will be warmer than San Diego and Flagstaff will be colder than Green Bay.

[Cole Parker]

Yeah, but as it'll only last about another week, it'll be a unique treat for us, and something the rest of you will live with for another three months.

Isn't there something, somewhere about someone laughing louder?

Ha ha ha ha ha!

C

[Gee Whillickers]

Coming to the party late, but it's amusing reading about 36 F being cold. It was well below zero fahrenheit the last few weeks here. It's warmed up the last couple of days. Right up to a hair above freezing. Seeing everyone outside in hoodies and light jackets was refreshing.

[dude]

Coming to the party late, but it's amusing reading about 36 F being cold. It was well below zero fahrenheit the last few weeks here. It's warmed up the last couple of days. Right up to a hair above freezing. Seeing everyone outside in hoodies and light jackets was refreshing.

Well, Nanook of the North, I guess it's all relative... We see Canadian snowbirds these days all over Palm Springs in 30 degree weather 'oot and aboot' in their bermuda shorts. And folks from Minnesota running around calling our weather, 'wonderful, don'cha know!'

[Gee Whillickers]

Well, Nanook of the North, I guess it's all relative... We see Canadian snowbirds these days all over Palm Springs in 30 degree weather 'oot and aboot' in their bermuda shorts. And folks from Minnesota running around calling our weather, 'wonderful, don'cha know!'

Very true. It's all relative. The really funny thing is seeing the teens going to school the first morning after it warms up to just above freezing. A small but noticeable percentage of them are out there in nothing but t-shirts. I mean, I get it, I really do. But c'mon. It's the freezing point of water. We're mostly made of water. It's a bit risky, all for the sake of showing how coolly immune you are to the air temperature outside.

[Cole Parker]

Coming to the party late, but it's amusing reading about 36 F being cold. It was well below zero fahrenheit the last few weeks here. It's warmed up the last couple of days. Right up to a hair above freezing. Seeing everyone outside in hoodies and light jackets was refreshing.

And one would suspect when you live where subzero temps aren't rare you have warm and insulated houses. Here, since it rarely even drops into the 40s, there are a sizable number of houses with no furnaces. Really! And every time there is a cold snap, deaths are reported from people bringing their charcoal barbecues inside to warm their living space.

Yeah, subzero isn't bad when your set up to handle it. Even above-freezing can be bad when you're not.

C

[Jeff Ellis]

Very true. It's all relative. The really funny thing is seeing the teens going to school the first morning after it warms up to just above freezing. A small but noticeable percentage of them are out there in nothing but t-shirts. I mean, I get it, I really do. But c'mon. It's the freezing point of water. We're mostly made of water. It's a bit risky, all for the sake of showing how coolly immune you are to the air temperature outside.

Nope, nothing to do with cool... it's because the last thing their mom said after breakfast was "You need a parka and scarf today".

Cool in this case isnt a matter of style, its making sure that your mates know that your mom has lost control of you

PS. Are we the only blog that proof-reads and edits their postings?

[Lugnutz]

This is winter, cold is expected. Summer gets hotter than hades. Just depends on your locale where the extremes are. I am glad the snow has stayed away thus far. Another 3 months before we turn to the sun again.

[Gee Whillickers]

And one would suspect when you live where subzero temps aren't rare you have warm and insulated houses. Here, since it rarely even drops into the 40s, there are a sizable number of houses with no furnaces. Really! And every time there is a cold snap, deaths are reported from people bringing their charcoal barbecues inside to warm their living space.

Yeah, subzero isn't bad when your set up to handle it. Even above-freezing can be bad when you're not.

C

Very true. Even in Vancouver, BC, many of the houses are poorly insulated and most have baseboard electric heat instead of NG furnaces. Makes it tough every year when they inevitably get a short cold snap below freezing.

As for "warm and insulated houses" I guess you haven't been to my drafty old claptrap. Sigh. Eventually, when I win the lotto, I need to do something about that.

People bring their BBQ's inside? It's like when an ice-storm knocks out the power for more than a few hours and people start using their wood-burning "decorative coded" fireplaces to try and heat their houses. A disaster waiting to happen.

Finally, "your" instead of "you're" Cole? Your...I mean you're...slipping.

[Cole Parker]

I miswrite 'your' and 'you're' all the time. I know what each means and how to use them both, but tell your fingers that when you're racing along at 90 wpm. I usually proofread and catch them when they're being naughty but obviously not all the time.

Something else that plagues me: when I write 'you', about half the time it comes out as 'yoiu'. Occasionally as 'hyou', but mostly 'yoiu'. I'll bet some of you guys have favorite typos, too.

Lastly, Gee's comment on winning the lottery. It occurred to me, reading that, that we should make a pact. Anyone here who wins the lottery should pledge to commit some of it to AD. What a great thing that would be! Mike could stop worrying about funding and take some stress out of his life. Of course, we should commit to heating Gee's dad's house, too. Only fair.

C

[Merkin]

Mike could stop worrying about funding and take some stress out of his life.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Win the lottery? Yer kidding, of course.

[Cole Parker]

Not kidding, but it's easy for me to make that committment. I never play.

C

[colinian]

The SF Bay Area has seen a cold spell. The low where my folks live in Walnut Creek got down to 26F one night. That is COLD! Daytime temps in the mid-40's. Gee, stop shoving that cold weather down our way!

Berkeley didn't get that low, maybe 30F here, with daytime temps in the low 50's. That's still cold for those not used to these temps.

It's warming up, with high 60's and maybe even a few low 70's forcast for this weekend.

GO 'NINERS!

Colin

[Cole Parker]

It's warmed here. No longer waiting. 77 yesterday, suppoed to get to 78 today. Mike's snowbirds will be happy: it's going to be just as warm there.

Happy shivering, the rest of you.

C

[Lugnutz]

Winter isn't done with you yet.

[Gee Whillickers]

The SF Bay Area has seen a cold spell. The low where my folks live in Walnut Creek got down to 26F one night. That is COLD! Daytime temps in the mid-40's. Gee, stop shoving that cold weather down our way!

Hey don't blame me! It's been real cold in many parts of the Great White North, but in my area it hit a high today of a balmy 10 C, which works out to somewhere around 50 F. Of course, we have to enjoy it while it lasts. It'll be back to below zero before we know it.