Cold all over
The cold continues here unabated, although the allegation has been made that it may break into the double-digits tomorrow.
My psychiatrist cancelled our appointment yesterday so I was left with a hole in my schedule. I did a couple of loads of laundry. As is alsways the case with multiple machines, one of our dryers doesn’t dry quite so well as the other, and I can never remember which is which. All my jeans came out of the dryer more than damp.
I threw them on the radiators while I showered. One pair was almost dry down to the knees when I had to leave for work. Stepping outside, my legs actually steamed. Am I hot or what?
As you may recall, I’m not dressing in half my wardrobe to ward off the cold any more. Today I had on just a turtleneck and business shirt, jeans, and one pair each of longjohns and socks—along with my winter coat and hikers of course. Scarf and mittens remained in my pockets.
Last year I would have added a second pair each of longjohns and socks (and perhaps a third pair of socks), thermal top and sweater, worn the scarf and mittens and I’d still have been cold.
Waiting for the bus today, the only parts that felt less ant 98.6 were my cheeks and after 10 or 15 minutes of waiting (I always get to the stop early) my toes. I thought that maybe I should have worn a second part of socks, then dismissed it when I remembembered that I warm up quickly now and I’d probably have sweated through them at work all afternoon.
The Saturday bus schedule doesn’t align well with my work schedule. I have to wait 45 minutes before a co-worker comes along to open the building. When it’s not so nice out, I ride the bus a few stops further on and have breakfast while I wait at Jim’s Restaurant, near where I used to live.
Walking the 15 minutes to work from there, only my right knee seemed to register that it’s winter. I imagine my left would have as well were it not for the neoprene knee brace I wear on it in winter.
Arriving at work, it seemed a bit cool inside, but I figured the timer thermostat doesn’t compensate for the longer warm-up time when it’s this cold. I went about my business.
A few minutes later everyone started complaining of the cold. None of the thermostats agree, but they reported temps in the low 50s. I felt fine except for a small band of coolness across my upper back, and the uninsulated top portion of my head. Anyway, the librarian suspened dress code for the day and wore my hat.
Next someone said that they didn’t hear the blower. I got the key and went to the boiler room. The boiler was cold and the air handler silent. You can usually hear the ruckus through the solid door a couple of aisles away.
I was quite relieved to find I wasn’t the only one who envisioned ninjas rapelling through the skylights from black helicopters when the librarian told us the city was sending the “special services team” to investigate. I was disappointed when the special services team turned out to be an ordinary guy with a toolbelt. He had the heat running by 2:30. We arrive at 11:30, open to the public at noon and leave at 4:00.
We got just over 6” of snow during the 4½ hour shift this afternoon and you’d think we were a southern city given how everything has shut down. Maybe it’s because now that the snowstorm is passed, the wind shift is supposed to dump a foot or more of lake-effect on us overnight.
So what does one do for entertainment in Rochester on a snowbound sub-zero Saturday night?
I’m defrosting the freezer. What the hell? It’s just as cold outside—perhaps colder—than I keep the big freezer, so I figured, whatever doesn’t fit in the kitchen freezer could spend the night on the fire escape.
Well, everything did fit in the kitchen freezer so I’ve decided to just leave the big one off until I go grocery shopping again in two or three weeks. Near as I can figure, it costs $3–$5 a week to run the big freezer, so that’ll save a couple of bucks.
Meanwhile, the wind has shifted and picked up. The snow has begun falling again and visibility is about 100 yards. So I guess it’s just as well that I didn’t go to the meeting tonight.
I’m settling in with cookies I bought for the occasion and good book. Maybe I’ll even turn in early.
