Tuesday, January 09, 2007

January in Fairbanks SUCKS!

May I strongly recommend that NOBODY ever make plans to visit Fairbanks in January. I woke up to temps of -43 here at the house this morning (yes, that's 43 degrees BELOW Zero, Fahrenheit). Anything colder than about -30 means ice fog, air so cold your nose, ears & fingers go numb very quickly, cars that won't heat up (or won't start), and buildings that are never quite warm enough for most of us. Among other things.

My car started on the first try this morning, though it was quite the grump. And it took another 10 minutes driving before I wasn't hearing a "thump, thump, thump" every time my tires turned. Oh, not a flat at all, unless you mean that they were frozen flat where they touched the ground all night. In that case, yeah, all four of them were flat. ;p With my power-everything car, it also means that I have a hard time pulling my seat far enough forward that I can reach gas & brakes, which makes for some very jerky driving that first few minutes while the electronics in the car warm up as I start driving it. (For some reason, the electronics in the car won't warm up until I'm driving, even though I DO let the car warm up for 10 or 15 minutes before I leave.)

And that ice fog.... GODS I hate driving in that schtuff!!!!! Nasty. It's zero-visibility because it's so cold that ANY moisture FREEZES in the air. And yet, it feels incredibly dry, and one's skin is incredibly dry this time of year because there ISN'T much moisture.

All in all, January (and often February) in Fairbanks SUCKS. Again, I strongly suggest that any plans to visit Fairbanks and surrounding area be put on hold until at least April. May would be better.

And while, yes, I did get more sleep last night than the previous night (Thanks Meander & Whim!), with temps this cold, all one wants to do is curl up in a ball & sleep, anyway. Doesn't mean we get to, but we sure want to. And it was absolutely DEAD at the library today, because anybody with sense stayed home. Or went home as soon as they could. Hell, I came home as soon as I could. LOL Of course DH is working OT tonight, again. *sigh* Whether he wants to or not, they're going to make a workaholic out of him at this job. And at this point, he doesn't have a problem with that. *big sigh*

Ok, well there's my little update & warning for the day. Hope all my blog-buddies had a nice warm day, whereever you are!

Hope YOU Have A Blessed Day, Tomorrow!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Holy mother of all that is...umm...good...

43 degrees BELOW Zero!

That's just insane! yup, insane.

I bitch, cry, kick, and just not a good morning person at work and it's only a low of mid-low 30s.

I don't ever want to know what that cold is like.

Anonymous said...

I got a little snow today but I am nowhere near as cold as you are.

I'm glad you got a good night's sleep. :-)

heather said...

I will quit whining because there is a little snow today....

Kati said...

Happy to report that it HAS warmed up here today. To -35, with expected (ie: the weatherfolks are wishing!) highs of -10 to 5 above 0. LOL

Welcome to HappyOwl & Chucky.

HappyOwl, where did you grow up, may I ask? Rather remember a select few of those -60 mornings at the bus-stop. Ironically I was capable of wearing a heck of a lot less in those days, than I am now, and not freezing my tush off.

Shelli, kinda sitting her snickering over the thought of your fellow city-mates slipping & sliding on RAINY roads, much less snow. And gotta say, how's THAT for global warming, huh?!?! Oh, I guess we don't call it global warming anymore, but "Climate Shift". *wink*

Anonymous said...

That is just too freaking cold!! I was complaining today cause our wind chill finally got down in the teens (for a brief moment or two of gusty wind). But now, I shall cease my whining and put on my shorts!

Anonymous said...

Brrrrr! Yup, that's cold. We only had +5F here this morning, so no complaints. LOL about the tires.

It was -40 here one Christmas morning (1980 I think), but there was bright sunshine.

Am I rude if I say "better cold than globally warmed..."?

Maybe it will warm up enough for you to come to the pot-luck at my house tomorrow night - 'hope so! Drop on in...