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revdorothyl at 05:13pm on 20/12/2004
revdorothyl at 05:13pm on 20/12/2004[Still getting a kick out of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
beamer242's 'ho-ho-ho-ho' icon, as you can see.]
Well, I thought I might make it all the way to the winter solstice this year before having to actually use the furnace to keep my apartment livable. But it didn't quite work out that way.
I was feeling chilly enough last night to nudge the thermostat up from 65 to 67 degrees, just in case, but the furnace still hadn't kicked in when I woke up early this morning. When I double-checked the thermostat ('cause it felt a lot colder than 67 in my apartment), it turned out that I hadn't actually flipped the switch all the way past "off" to "heat" when I changed over from air conditioning last month. Once I pushed the lever up all the way, the furnace kicked in with that familiar "something singed" smell that accompanies the first hot air through the dusty vents in over 9 months. Meanwhile, I beat a hasty retreat back to bed, to cower under the duvet for the next hour or two, until I was finally confident that getting out of bed wouldn't turn me into a block of ice. I'm a morning person and usually feel plenty warm upon waking -- ready to be up and at 'em -- but not when the ambient temperature in my bedroom falls below sixty degrees Fahrenheit.
So, I admit it -- I'm a wuss. I'm not such a big, tough, cold-loving Wisconsinite looking with scorn and pity on these soft Southerners who think that 40 degrees is winter coat weather, after all. Maybe I shouldn't have been so proud of going out in this winter's first snowfall Sunday morning in just a turtleneck and thin wool blazer. God doesn't like people to come to church feeling smug, it seems, even if the smugness is only about their weather-resistance and not the illusion of moral or spiritual superiority.
Pride goeth before a really cold night and an increase in the gas bill, I guess!
beamer242's 'ho-ho-ho-ho' icon, as you can see.]Well, I thought I might make it all the way to the winter solstice this year before having to actually use the furnace to keep my apartment livable. But it didn't quite work out that way.
I was feeling chilly enough last night to nudge the thermostat up from 65 to 67 degrees, just in case, but the furnace still hadn't kicked in when I woke up early this morning. When I double-checked the thermostat ('cause it felt a lot colder than 67 in my apartment), it turned out that I hadn't actually flipped the switch all the way past "off" to "heat" when I changed over from air conditioning last month. Once I pushed the lever up all the way, the furnace kicked in with that familiar "something singed" smell that accompanies the first hot air through the dusty vents in over 9 months. Meanwhile, I beat a hasty retreat back to bed, to cower under the duvet for the next hour or two, until I was finally confident that getting out of bed wouldn't turn me into a block of ice. I'm a morning person and usually feel plenty warm upon waking -- ready to be up and at 'em -- but not when the ambient temperature in my bedroom falls below sixty degrees Fahrenheit.
So, I admit it -- I'm a wuss. I'm not such a big, tough, cold-loving Wisconsinite looking with scorn and pity on these soft Southerners who think that 40 degrees is winter coat weather, after all. Maybe I shouldn't have been so proud of going out in this winter's first snowfall Sunday morning in just a turtleneck and thin wool blazer. God doesn't like people to come to church feeling smug, it seems, even if the smugness is only about their weather-resistance and not the illusion of moral or spiritual superiority.
Pride goeth before a really cold night and an increase in the gas bill, I guess!
(no subject)
I know the feeling. I got so acclimatized that I freeze and genuinely feel uncomfortable when temperature drops below 50 F. And people say, "But you're from Russia!" Well, first, Moscow is not that cold. Second, I've spent the last 10 or so winters in relative comfort of Oregon rain.
(no subject)
And, come to think of it, I was never all that fond of the killer wind-chill and humongous blizzards of the Northern Midwest anyway. I really prefer it when the outside temperature doesn't go higher than 75 degrees or lower than 40 degrees. That's my comfort zone, and the extremes of sub-zero cold or 90+ heat and humidity are just something I can endure when I absolutely have to.
Besides, those of us who grew up in colder climates also grew up with adequate indoor heating, hopefully. The coldest winter I ever spent was my year in England, when it never really got cold outside by Wisconsin standards, but the perpetual dampness and lack of insulated walls or adequate central heating (or even thick blankets in that dormitory room) had me wearing my hat and mittens and several sweaters to bed some nights! Brrrrr!
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::kicks Toronto winds::
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But as for 40 degrees being winter coat weather--if I waited till it got below 40 to wear my winter coats, they'd sit in the closet all year!
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It's not quite that bad here, although my first few winters in Nashville were mild even by local standards -- so much so that I did leave my winter coats in the closet all year, and even forgot to dig one out and take it along when I drove North for Christmas one year. I discovered the hard way that an unlined jeans jacket over a sweater and turtleneck may be sufficient down here, but is simply an express ticket to pneumonia in Milwaukee.
the evilness of the damp chill
(no subject)
Ah! But the glow of self righteousness can keep out the cold, well known fact.
Though a duvet also works, and a furnace is even better.
the warm glow of self-righteousness
Re: the warm glow of self-righteousness
Oh ho! Them's fighting words, Missy. I bet my scaly minions can get to you quicker than your scaly minions can get to me.