Re: December Cold in Minnesota

[Johnny Borborigmi]

On Dec 18, 2:05*am, "Edward Dolan" > wrote:

> Well, as you can tell, I am starting to go crazy from the cold. Any of you
> who are living in more moderate climes should count your blessings. Right
> about now, I would give my soul for a little warmth. My advice to anyone
> reading these forlorn words of mine is that if you are still young make it
> your life's work to find a decent climate to live in. You do not want to end
> up like me, cursing the weather every day of your life.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota


Well We're getting hammered right now with a big storm here in NY. 7+
inches so far. Probably 9-10 before it's over. It's 20 degrees F.
currently as I type this. No bike riding for me!

[Tim McNamara]

In article
>,
Johnny Borborigmi > wrote:

> On Dec 18, 2:05*am, "Edward Dolan" > wrote:
>
> > Well, as you can tell, I am starting to go crazy from the cold. Any
> > of you who are living in more moderate climes should count your
> > blessings. Right about now, I would give my soul for a little
> > warmth. My advice to anyone reading these forlorn words of mine is
> > that if you are still young make it your life's work to find a
> > decent climate to live in. You do not want to end up like me,
> > cursing the weather every day of your life.
>
> Well We're getting hammered right now with a big storm here in NY. 7+
> inches so far. Probably 9-10 before it's over. It's 20 degrees F.
> currently as I type this. No bike riding for me!

Minnesota is in line for getting it tomorrow- 6-10" here and up to 12"
towards the Iowa border. On the upside, we've been in a drought for a
long time and are still 7-8" short on rainfall over much of the state,
so this will be helpful for the 2009 growing season.

My bikes are put away in the winter. Even with studded tires, it's no
fun riding when you're surrounded by ground missiles that are barely
under the control of their operators. The standards of winter driving
around here have been declining for years- a combination of an aging
population, a significant influx of people seeing snow for the first
times in their lives, and repeated budget cutting for road repair and
maintenance because low taxes are more important than a functioning
infrastructure...

[Jorg Lueke]

On Dec 20, 1:08*am, Tim McNamara > wrote:
> In article
> >,
> *Johnny Borborigmi > wrote:
>
> > On Dec 18, 2:05*am, "Edward Dolan" > wrote:
>
> > > Well, as you can tell, I am starting to go crazy from the cold. Any
> > > of you who are living in more moderate climes should count your
> > > blessings. Right about now, I would give my soul for a little
> > > warmth. My advice to anyone reading these forlorn words of mine is
> > > that if you are still young make it your life's work to find a
> > > decent climate to live in. You do not want to end up like me,
> > > cursing the weather every day of your life.
>
> > Well We're getting hammered right now with a big storm here in NY. 7+
> > inches so far. Probably 9-10 before it's over. It's 20 degrees F.
> > currently as I type this. No bike riding for me!
>
> Minnesota is in line for getting it tomorrow- 6-10" here and up to 12"
> towards the Iowa border. *On the upside, we've been in a drought for a
> long time and are still 7-8" short on rainfall over much of the state,
> so this will be helpful for the 2009 growing season.
>
> My bikes are put away in the winter. *Even with studded tires, it's no
> fun riding when you're surrounded by ground missiles that are barely
> under the control of their operators. *The standards of winter driving
> around here have been declining for years- a combination of an aging
> population, a significant influxleas of people seeing snow for the first
> times in their lives, and repeated budget cutting for road repair and
> maintenance because low taxes are more important than a functioning
> infrastructure...

At least 6" so far, next comes the wind and the sub zero temps :-)
I think I will skip the Timberwolves game, but it's good sledding
weather.

[Tim McNamara]

In article
>,
Jorg Lueke > wrote:

> On Dec 20, 1:08*am, Tim McNamara > wrote:
> > In article
> > >,
> > *Johnny Borborigmi > wrote:
> >
> > > On Dec 18, 2:05*am, "Edward Dolan" > wrote:
> >
> > > > Well, as you can tell, I am starting to go crazy from the cold.
> > > > Any of you who are living in more moderate climes should count
> > > > your blessings. Right about now, I would give my soul for a
> > > > little warmth. My advice to anyone reading these forlorn words
> > > > of mine is that if you are still young make it your life's work
> > > > to find a decent climate to live in. You do not want to end up
> > > > like me, cursing the weather every day of your life.
> >
> > > Well We're getting hammered right now with a big storm here in
> > > NY. 7+ inches so far. Probably 9-10 before it's over. It's 20
> > > degrees F. currently as I type this. No bike riding for me!
> >
> > Minnesota is in line for getting it tomorrow- 6-10" here and up to
> > 12" towards the Iowa border. *On the upside, we've been in a
> > drought for a long time and are still 7-8" short on rainfall over
> > much of the state, so this will be helpful for the 2009 growing
> > season.
> >
> > My bikes are put away in the winter. *Even with studded tires, it's
> > no fun riding when you're surrounded by ground missiles that are
> > barely under the control of their operators. *The standards of
> > winter driving around here have been declining for years- a
> > combination of an aging population, a significant influxleas of
> > people seeing snow for the first times in their lives, and repeated
> > budget cutting for road repair and maintenance because low taxes
> > are more important than a functioning infrastructure...
>
> At least 6" so far, next comes the wind and the sub zero temps :-) I
> think I will skip the Timberwolves game, but it's good sledding
> weather.

I went to a jazz workshop at 12:30 and it was a minor slog over snow
covered roads and highways (I-94 and I-35W), but not too bad. I did see
that there were four or five cars that had spun off the road, collided,
etc. on eastbound I-94 between the Mississippi River bridge and
Cretin-Vandalia in St. Paul. At 4:15 when I left the workshop to go
home, the wind had picked up and the temperatures felt much colder- it's
dropped 13 degrees F since 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be dropping to 2F
tonight and -14F tomorrow night. Sigh. I'm not a real Minnesotan and I
don't enjoy this stuff.

[Andrew Price]

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:38:15 -0600, Tim McNamara
> wrote:

[---]

> At 4:15 when I left the workshop to go
>home, the wind had picked up and the temperatures felt much colder- it's
>dropped 13 degrees F since 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be dropping to 2F
>tonight and -14F tomorrow night. Sigh. I'm not a real Minnesotan and I
>don't enjoy this stuff.

That I can well sympathise with - living in Western Europe, to me,
those temperatures look really mean. How do you cope with it indoors
- double/triple glazing on windows and lots of insulation? I imagine
that heating costs must represent a considerable part of the household
budget, too.

[A Muzi]

Tim McNamara wrote:
> In article
> >,
> Jorg Lueke > wrote:
>
>> On Dec 20, 1:08 am, Tim McNamara > wrote:
>>> In article
>>> >,
>>> Johnny Borborigmi > wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Dec 18, 2:05 am, "Edward Dolan" > wrote:
>>>>> Well, as you can tell, I am starting to go crazy from the cold.
>>>>> Any of you who are living in more moderate climes should count
>>>>> your blessings. Right about now, I would give my soul for a
>>>>> little warmth. My advice to anyone reading these forlorn words
>>>>> of mine is that if you are still young make it your life's work
>>>>> to find a decent climate to live in. You do not want to end up
>>>>> like me, cursing the weather every day of your life.
>>>> Well We're getting hammered right now with a big storm here in
>>>> NY. 7+ inches so far. Probably 9-10 before it's over. It's 20
>>>> degrees F. currently as I type this. No bike riding for me!
>>> Minnesota is in line for getting it tomorrow- 6-10" here and up to
>>> 12" towards the Iowa border. On the upside, we've been in a
>>> drought for a long time and are still 7-8" short on rainfall over
>>> much of the state, so this will be helpful for the 2009 growing
>>> season.
>>>
>>> My bikes are put away in the winter. Even with studded tires, it's
>>> no fun riding when you're surrounded by ground missiles that are
>>> barely under the control of their operators. The standards of
>>> winter driving around here have been declining for years- a
>>> combination of an aging population, a significant influxleas of
>>> people seeing snow for the first times in their lives, and repeated
>>> budget cutting for road repair and maintenance because low taxes
>>> are more important than a functioning infrastructure...
>> At least 6" so far, next comes the wind and the sub zero temps :-) I
>> think I will skip the Timberwolves game, but it's good sledding
>> weather.
>
> I went to a jazz workshop at 12:30 and it was a minor slog over snow
> covered roads and highways (I-94 and I-35W), but not too bad. I did see
> that there were four or five cars that had spun off the road, collided,
> etc. on eastbound I-94 between the Mississippi River bridge and
> Cretin-Vandalia in St. Paul. At 4:15 when I left the workshop to go
> home, the wind had picked up and the temperatures felt much colder- it's
> dropped 13 degrees F since 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be dropping to 2F
> tonight and -14F tomorrow night. Sigh. I'm not a real Minnesotan and I
> don't enjoy this stuff.

We get your 'used' weather a few hours later.
--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

[sergio]

On 20 Dic, 08:08, Tim McNamara > wrote:
and repeated budget cutting for road repair and
> maintenance because low taxes are more important than a functioning
> infrastructure...

Unlike what is happening in Manchiuria (China) as reoported by a
friend who has just come back: every possible infrastructure is
blossoming and booming over there.

Sergio
Pisa

P.s. The weather over here? Yesterday I was out for more than three
hours, to and from a butcher in the countryside. Returned with
backpack loaded with good meats for the imminent festivity. The hen
wasn't even frozen when I got home. Cheers and Merry Xmas to all.

[Tom Sherman[_2_]]

Andrew Muzi wrote:
> Tim McNamara wrote:
>> In article
>> >,
>> Jorg Lueke > wrote:
>>
>>> On Dec 20, 1:08 am, Tim McNamara > wrote:
>>>> In article
>>>> >,
>>>> Johnny Borborigmi > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Dec 18, 2:05 am, "Edward Dolan" > wrote:
>>>>>> Well, as you can tell, I am starting to go crazy from the cold.
>>>>>> Any of you who are living in more moderate climes should count
>>>>>> your blessings. Right about now, I would give my soul for a little
>>>>>> warmth. My advice to anyone reading these forlorn words of mine is
>>>>>> that if you are still young make it your life's work to find a
>>>>>> decent climate to live in. You do not want to end up like me,
>>>>>> cursing the weather every day of your life.
>>>>> Well We're getting hammered right now with a big storm here in NY.
>>>>> 7+ inches so far. Probably 9-10 before it's over. It's 20 degrees
>>>>> F. currently as I type this. No bike riding for me!
>>>> Minnesota is in line for getting it tomorrow- 6-10" here and up to
>>>> 12" towards the Iowa border. On the upside, we've been in a drought
>>>> for a long time and are still 7-8" short on rainfall over much of
>>>> the state, so this will be helpful for the 2009 growing season.
>>>>
>>>> My bikes are put away in the winter. Even with studded tires, it's
>>>> no fun riding when you're surrounded by ground missiles that are
>>>> barely under the control of their operators. The standards of
>>>> winter driving around here have been declining for years- a
>>>> combination of an aging population, a significant influxleas of
>>>> people seeing snow for the first times in their lives, and repeated
>>>> budget cutting for road repair and maintenance because low taxes are
>>>> more important than a functioning infrastructure...
>>> At least 6" so far, next comes the wind and the sub zero temps :-) I
>>> think I will skip the Timberwolves game, but it's good sledding weather.
>>
>> I went to a jazz workshop at 12:30 and it was a minor slog over snow
>> covered roads and highways (I-94 and I-35W), but not too bad. I did
>> see that there were four or five cars that had spun off the road,
>> collided, etc. on eastbound I-94 between the Mississippi River bridge
>> and Cretin-Vandalia in St. Paul. At 4:15 when I left the workshop to
>> go home, the wind had picked up and the temperatures felt much colder-
>> it's dropped 13 degrees F since 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be dropping
>> to 2F tonight and -14F tomorrow night. Sigh. I'm not a real
>> Minnesotan and I don't enjoy this stuff.
>
> We get your 'used' weather a few hours later.

But no "lake effect" snow being "well inland" [1].

[1] More than about a 20 minute bike ride from Lake Michigan.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
LOCAL CACTUS EATS CYCLIST - datakoll

[Tim McNamara]

In article
>,
sergio > wrote:

> On 20 Dic, 08:08, Tim McNamara > wrote:
> and repeated budget cutting for road repair and
> > maintenance because low taxes are more important than a functioning
> > infrastructure...
>
> Unlike what is happening in Manchiuria (China) as reoported by a
> friend who has just come back: every possible infrastructure is
> blossoming and booming over there.
>
> Sergio Pisa
>
> P.s. The weather over here? Yesterday I was out for more than three
> hours, to and from a butcher in the countryside. Returned with
> backpack loaded with good meats for the imminent festivity. The hen
> wasn't even frozen when I got home. Cheers and Merry Xmas to all.

Same to you, Sergio!

[Tim McNamara]

In article >,
A Muzi > wrote:

> Tim McNamara wrote:
> > In article
> > >,
> > Jorg Lueke > wrote:
> >
> >> On Dec 20, 1:08 am, Tim McNamara > wrote:
> >>> In article
> >>> >
> >>> ,
> >>> Johnny Borborigmi > wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> On Dec 18, 2:05 am, "Edward Dolan" > wrote:
> >>>>> Well, as you can tell, I am starting to go crazy from the cold.
> >>>>> Any of you who are living in more moderate climes should count
> >>>>> your blessings. Right about now, I would give my soul for a
> >>>>> little warmth. My advice to anyone reading these forlorn words
> >>>>> of mine is that if you are still young make it your life's work
> >>>>> to find a decent climate to live in. You do not want to end up
> >>>>> like me, cursing the weather every day of your life.
> >>>> Well We're getting hammered right now with a big storm here in
> >>>> NY. 7+ inches so far. Probably 9-10 before it's over. It's 20
> >>>> degrees F. currently as I type this. No bike riding for me!
> >>> Minnesota is in line for getting it tomorrow- 6-10" here and up
> >>> to 12" towards the Iowa border. On the upside, we've been in a
> >>> drought for a long time and are still 7-8" short on rainfall over
> >>> much of the state, so this will be helpful for the 2009 growing
> >>> season.
> >>>
> >>> My bikes are put away in the winter. Even with studded tires,
> >>> it's no fun riding when you're surrounded by ground missiles that
> >>> are barely under the control of their operators. The standards
> >>> of winter driving around here have been declining for years- a
> >>> combination of an aging population, a significant influxleas of
> >>> people seeing snow for the first times in their lives, and
> >>> repeated budget cutting for road repair and maintenance because
> >>> low taxes are more important than a functioning infrastructure...
> >> At least 6" so far, next comes the wind and the sub zero temps :-)
> >> I think I will skip the Timberwolves game, but it's good sledding
> >> weather.
> >
> > I went to a jazz workshop at 12:30 and it was a minor slog over
> > snow covered roads and highways (I-94 and I-35W), but not too bad.
> > I did see that there were four or five cars that had spun off the
> > road, collided, etc. on eastbound I-94 between the Mississippi
> > River bridge and Cretin-Vandalia in St. Paul. At 4:15 when I left
> > the workshop to go home, the wind had picked up and the
> > temperatures felt much colder- it's dropped 13 degrees F since
> > 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be dropping to 2F tonight and -14F
> > tomorrow night. Sigh. I'm not a real Minnesotan and I don't enjoy
> > this stuff.
>
> We get your 'used' weather a few hours later.

LOL! Although this past week or so you had some special delivery
weather we didn't get.

[Tim McNamara]

In article >,
Andrew Price > wrote:

> On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:38:15 -0600, Tim McNamara
> > wrote:
>
> [---]
>
> > At 4:15 when I left the workshop to go
> >home, the wind had picked up and the temperatures felt much colder-
> >it's dropped 13 degrees F since 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be
> >dropping to 2F tonight and -14F tomorrow night. Sigh. I'm not a
> >real Minnesotan and I don't enjoy this stuff.
>
> That I can well sympathise with - living in Western Europe, to me,
> those temperatures look really mean. How do you cope with it indoors
> - double/triple glazing on windows and lots of insulation? I imagine
> that heating costs must represent a considerable part of the
> household budget, too.

I live in a 100 year old house which doesn't have double glazing but has
the usual double-hung inner sashes and storm windows. If you keep the
weather seals in good shape, the cold air intrusion is minimal and the
heat loss moderate. The house is well insulated and thus summer I had
all the old badly damaged siding replaced with Hardieboard, so I will be
interested to see if the heating bills are lower. The house is
certainly much quieter with the new siding.

In the peak (trough?) of winter, the heat bill has been about $200-300 a
month depending on energy costs; the local energy monopoly has a program
to spread those costs out year 'round- part of the year we are paying in
advance of winter and part of the year we are paying off the balance.
It ends up being about $125 a month year 'round for natural gas and
electricity combined. We pay a little extra to support development of
wind power in Minnesota.

[Jorg Lueke]

On Dec 21, 12:56*am, Tim McNamara > wrote:
> In article >,
> *Andrew Price > wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:38:15 -0600, Tim McNamara
> > > wrote:
>
> > [---]
>
> > > At 4:15 when I left the workshop to go
> > >home, the wind had picked up and the temperatures felt much colder-
> > >it's dropped 13 degrees F since 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be
> > >dropping to 2F tonight and -14F tomorrow night. *Sigh. *I'm not a
> > >real Minnesotan and I don't enjoy this stuff.
>
> > That I can well sympathise with - living in Western Europe, to me,
> > those temperatures look really mean. *How do you cope with it indoors
> > - double/triple glazing on windows and lots of insulation? I imagine
> > that heating costs must represent a considerable part of the
> > household budget, too.
>
> I live in a 100 year old house which doesn't have double glazing but has
> the usual double-hung inner sashes and storm windows. *If you keep the
> weather seals in good shape, the cold air intrusion is minimal and the
> heat loss moderate. *The house is well insulated and thus summer I had
> all the old badly damaged siding replaced with Hardieboard, so I will be
> interested to see if the heating bills are lower. *The house is
> certainly much quieter with the new siding.
>
> In the peak (trough?) of winter, the heat bill has been about $200-300 a
> month depending on energy costs; the local energy monopoly has a program
> to spread those costs out year 'round- part of the year we are paying in
> advance of winter and part of the year we are paying off the balance. *
> It ends up being about $125 a month year 'round for natural gas and
> electricity combined. *We pay a little extra to support development of
> wind power in Minnesota.

We just noticed that the duct work is dripping moisture where it goes
along the outside of the house.
Probably will need to wrap it before mold starts to grew.
It hasn't been quite this cold in a few years.

Sometime I'll have to ride in the sub zero weather just to add it to
my resume.

[Edward Dolan]

"Tim McNamara" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> Andrew Price > wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:38:15 -0600, Tim McNamara
>> > wrote:
>>
>> [---]
>>
>> > At 4:15 when I left the workshop to go
>> >home, the wind had picked up and the temperatures felt much colder-
>> >it's dropped 13 degrees F since 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be
>> >dropping to 2F tonight and -14F tomorrow night. Sigh. I'm not a
>> >real Minnesotan and I don't enjoy this stuff.
>>
>> That I can well sympathise with - living in Western Europe, to me,
>> those temperatures look really mean. How do you cope with it indoors
>> - double/triple glazing on windows and lots of insulation? I imagine
>> that heating costs must represent a considerable part of the
>> household budget, too.
>
> I live in a 100 year old house which doesn't have double glazing but has
> the usual double-hung inner sashes and storm windows. If you keep the
> weather seals in good shape, the cold air intrusion is minimal and the
> heat loss moderate. The house is well insulated and thus summer I had
> all the old badly damaged siding replaced with Hardieboard, so I will be
> interested to see if the heating bills are lower. The house is
> certainly much quieter with the new siding.
>
> In the peak (trough?) of winter, the heat bill has been about $200-300 a
> month depending on energy costs; the local energy monopoly has a program
> to spread those costs out year 'round- part of the year we are paying in
> advance of winter and part of the year we are paying off the balance.
> It ends up being about $125 a month year 'round for natural gas and
> electricity combined. We pay a little extra to support development of
> wind power in Minnesota.

Tim McNamara is quite right about the cost of heating an older house in
Minnesota in the wintertime. I live in a barn myself (not literally, but the
house leaks like a barn) and I only heat one room and yet the bill for a
single month can still run over $300. I must be heating the whole outdoors!
The only good thing that can be said about Minnesota is that you do not need
air conditioning in the summer as we normally only get a few hot days.

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

[Alexandre Kampouris]

Hi Andrew,

Andrew Price wrote:
> On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:38:15 -0600, Tim McNamara
> > wrote:
>
> [---]
>
>> At 4:15 when I left the workshop to go
>> home, the wind had picked up and the temperatures felt much colder- it's
>> dropped 13 degrees F since 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be dropping to 2F
>> tonight and -14F tomorrow night. Sigh. I'm not a real Minnesotan and I
>> don't enjoy this stuff.
>
> That I can well sympathise with - living in Western Europe, to me,
> those temperatures look really mean. How do you cope with it indoors
> - double/triple glazing on windows and lots of insulation?

Quite well, actually, and IMO *much* better than in countries like F or
GB, where winters are milder but where single-pane windows are
prevalent. (Some days ago I was in Paris, and froze in my hotel room
even though the temperature was above 0C.)

It can actually get too stuffy indoors, especially when there are older
folks around who prefer setting the thermostat at 75 F (I'm quite comfy
at 65, even 60). (German-style individual thermostats on radiators are
practically unheard of). What bothers me most is the groaning of the
furnace.

I personally miss "real" winters.

The downside to "real" winters is that cycling is a 6 month/year
activity. Of course, there are some real die-hards, like here (the
temperature was probably something like 20F):

http://radio-bip.qc.ca/deneigement/viewer.html#x33x93xD%C3%A9neigement%20%C3%A0%20Mon tr%C3%A9al%20au%20d%C3%A9but%20janvier%202006
http://radio-bip.qc.ca/deneigement/a.html

I am not one of them. Even if I had snow tires, the corrosion would ruin
the bike in a season. (Was Sheldon a 4-season cyclist?).

Here in Berlin I have a problem finding good handgloves which will keep
my fingers warm in the wind.

> I imagine
> that heating costs must represent a considerable part of the household
> budget, too.

Indeed. It's a pity oil prices came crashing down, we must really get
off the hook. Heat pumps, passive houses, solar panels, urban heating,
the works.

Alexandre