a disturbing trend...

Topic: a disturbing trend... (Read 3079 times) previous topic - next topic

a disturbing trend...

Reply #15 – December 01, 2007, 04:58:37 PM

Like many of you, my mood undergoes a dramatic change as soon as September rolls around.
To make it short: as soon as the temperature drops below 75*, I become irritated at everything.
I absolutely, positively cannot stand cold weather. I feel comfortable at 80* - honest to God.
You will always hear people complain about the cold temperatures in the winter season, but those are usually the same people who complain about the heat in the summer.
I am not one of those people.
Give me summer 52 weeks a year.
I have fully functional AC in my '96 and I rarely use it in the summer. Even if it's 95* degrees outside, I'll just have the windows down.

With that said, I plan on moving south within the next year.
I will either go back to North Carolina, or I'll try for Texas or Florida. I've spent time in all of those states - all three of them during the true heat of the summer. I never once complained about the weather.
I don't care if I ever see snow again.
If your climate has such a drastic effect on your mood (like it does with me), then think about moving. Life is too short to be pissed off 4-6 months every year.

a disturbing trend...

Reply #16 – December 01, 2007, 06:07:26 PM

Quote

Give me summer 52 weeks a year.

a disturbing trend...

Reply #17 – December 01, 2007, 07:12:19 PM

a disturbing trend...

Reply #18 – December 01, 2007, 08:32:36 PM

Quote from: Thunder Chicken;190625

'Bout the only thing gonna get me outta my funk is April. Winter sucks. Dark at 5:00PM sucks. Cold sucks. Snow sucks. Driving a Saturn sucks.

Can I get an "Amen!"

This is pretty sick, but I've learned to look forward to those cold, rainy, March days, because it means that winter is over. I've actually learned to like thunderstorms and downpours. Sick, I know. I hate the cold (even though, here in Philly, we're spoiled rotten compared to points west and north). I hate the snow (even though we don't get much of it south of the city where I live). I hate the dry air that makes my knuckles crack and bleed. I hate it being too cold and too dark to go biking on the weekends. When winter comes around I tend to go into "sleep mode" until April and I hate it. Unfortunately, my family, friends, and (perhaps most importantly) my job are here.

I can understand why so many northerners move to places like Florida, but it's liquid air there in the summer. A couple of weeks ago I had to fly out to LA for work, and I can understand why so many people live there. Wow, there were a lot of people there--so many I felt claustrophobic. But the weather was absolutely gorgeous, though all the plants had that dark green look like when you forget to water something for a week. They looked like they would burn if you even just looked at them and thought about fire. Still, I can definitely understand the appeal. The weather was like Florida but without the humidity. It would be great if you didn't have to drive--they have traffic from hell. I joked with my boss that we needed to fly to NYC so we could get some elbow room (he's from Queens and I used to live in the Bronx so we both got it).

The irony was that today it was 38F outside and I didn't feel all that cold. But I still hate it. I hate winter with a passion, and it's not even here yet. You're all right: it seems like people are pretty stressed--we need to find a way to cheer each other up until we can make it to March.

In my case my car is still in the body shop--I've been without it for 2 months now and I'm a little more on edge than usual...

a disturbing trend...

Reply #19 – December 01, 2007, 08:41:45 PM

Quote from: Quietleaf;190675

Can I get an "Amen!"

This is pretty sick, but I've learned to look forward to those cold, rainy, March days, because it means that winter is over. I've actually learned to like thunderstorms and downpours. Sick, I know. I hate the cold (even though, here in Philly, we're spoiled rotten compared to points west and north). I hate the snow (even though we don't get much of it south of the city where I live). I hate the dry air that makes my knuckles crack and bleed. I hate it being too cold and too dark to go biking on the weekends. When winter comes around I tend to go into "sleep mode" until April and I hate it. Unfortunately, my family, friends, and (perhaps most importantly) my job are here.

I can understand why so many northerners move to places like Florida, but it's liquid air there in the summer. A couple of weeks ago I had to fly out to LA for work, and I can understand why so many people live there. Wow, there were a lot of people there--so many I felt claustrophobic. But the weather was absolutely gorgeous, though all the plants had that dark green look like when you forget to water something for a week. They looked like they would burn if you even just looked at them and thought about fire. Still, I can definitely understand the appeal. The weather was like Florida but without the humidity. It would be great if you didn't have to drive--they have traffic from hell. I joked with my boss that we needed to fly to NYC so we could get some elbow room (he's from Queens and I used to live in the Bronx so we both got it).

The irony was that today it was 38F outside and I didn't feel all that cold. But I still hate it. I hate winter with a passion, and it's not even here yet. You're all right: it seems like people are pretty stressed--we need to find a way to cheer each other up until we can make it to March.

In my case my car is still in the body shop--I've been without it for 2 months now and I'm a little more on edge than usual...

Shovel some snow!! It's coming.

a disturbing trend...

Reply #20 – December 01, 2007, 09:37:40 PM

Ever since I got the Mountaineer with full-time AWD, I don't mind winter anymore. The old Cougars and T-Bird were really fun in the winter. But now...no guilt. No more cars to sacrifice to the salt gods. Besides, I don't drive much anymore now. I'm lucky to put 6,000 miles a year on three vehicles! So wintertime is sort of a hibernation period for me. As much as I enjoy yard work, it's kind of nice to finally put away the lawnmower for the next 4-5 months.

What I don't look forward to is the home heating bills. In a way I'm lucky because the house (inefficient as it is) is heated with propane, and I got a chance to lock in my price per gallon back in September, so no price gouging this year. When the tank is filled and paid for, it's mine until it's gone...no monthly bill. Of course, the initial 400-gallon fill still makes my butthole bigger. But I see all these news reports about how people won't be able to heat their homes this year, or how they have to make a choice between heat and food...and suddenly my problems aren't so big anymore.

By the same token, I highly recommend a new ceramic space heater. Man do those things ever work well. I have one of those meters that tells you how much energy you're using for a given appliance. Running the heater 7 hours a day costs me a whopping $.53. I never knew they were that efficient. And the house is at least 2-3 degrees F warmer. It's going to significantly reduce the use of the furnace this winter, all for a mere $40.

But I agree, snow still sucks LOL. Nice to look at, not so fun to play in anymore.

a disturbing trend...

Reply #21 – December 01, 2007, 10:11:46 PM

my dad doesnt want me to have my lincoln done before the snow...
doesnt look like im gonna, its to cold to work on it, been sick for a month from working on it.... bout to give up till spring..

a disturbing trend...

Reply #22 – December 01, 2007, 10:16:38 PM

Eric: I've got a 4WD F-150 to drive on snowy days, a FWD $400 Saturn beater to drive on the non-snow days (with 4 winter tires in case a day turns into a snow day unexpectedly), two snowmobiles, a 4WD 4-wheeler with a plow, and two snowblowers (one mounted to a tractor). The yard work's still there, only instead of mowing lawn I'm clearing the driveway and toting firewood.

All those machines STILL ain't enough to make me like winter. All that stuff makes it a bit more tolerable, but all in all it's like taking a painkiller. The pain's still there, but more bearable.

All the traction in the world ain't gonna prevent that sun from setting at 4:45PM. I seriously get the winter blahs - I can't even bring myself to work on the T-Bird. I'd have to go out and light a fire in the garage woodstove, then wait in vain as the stove desperately tries to heat an uninsulated 28X24 garage. After about an hour of a blazing fire I can still see my breath. I know, I know, I'm lucky to have a garage at all (and believe me, after living 33 years without one I fully appreciate it) but the cold just drains the ambition out of me.

And like you, I have a house to heat. Luckily I've got three heat sources - a wood/oil furnace and electric heat. Being able to burn wood makes a HUGE difference (I bought five cords and gathered 5 cords so this year I should have enough, unlike last year) and being able to turn the thermostats in the rest of the house down to 60 degrees while I keep my bedroom at a toasty 70 helps a bunch too. I burn very little oil - last year I burned about 75 gallons, but I had an oil fired water heater. This year I've got electric hot water, and should burn even less.

If I could legally move south I'd have this house for sale in a heartbeat. Maybe not Florida (too many old people, too hurricaney) and definitely not California (too oppressive to car guys), but perhaps South Carolina or Virginia. Unfortunately it's even harder for a Canadian to legally move there than it is for a Mexican to.

I dunno, I guess today I'm particularly cranky because we had our first snow, it's extremely cold (coldest day so far this year, -12c out, 40MPH wind, -30c windchill), and I've spent most of the day listening to the generator because the power was out...

...On the bright side, though: Deer season ended today and I was the only one out of our cam AND our rival camp to get a deer this year :D:D:D

a disturbing trend...

Reply #23 – December 01, 2007, 11:41:29 PM

I think the bitchiness is contagious...and definitely a result of the shorter days/colder weather. I know for me, when it's dark and gloomy out it's awful hard to feel all bright and sunshiney, lol.

Something happened about the time I hit 30...and instead of wanting to go play in the snow, I spend the day trying to make the ache in my bones go away that comes about the time the snow starts to hit. I get cold...and when it's to the bone (which is often in the wonderful state of Wyoming) it's almost impossible to get warm.

Today was no exception...it was too cold to mess with putting any Christmas lights up outside (I'm starting to have an appreciation for the people who used to pi$$ me off that leave them up all year), so I worked on doing some decorating inside the house. My front door is glass-paned from the middle up, and I was going to put some decorations up from the inside on the window that would be visible as people approach the door....but I had to se the ice off the INSIDE of the window first. :hick:

As I sit here and type this, glancing over to check the temp, it's currently 2*F. Kinda sad when it would actually have to warm up to snow.

So why am I living in Wyoming if I can't stand the cold? Because my family is here. And as crazy as it sounds, if they resided in Hades, I'd be there too. My grandparents are in their late 70's, my mother is in poor health, and this time with them is important.

Oh yeah, I'm still gonna complain about the cold...the snow. How we have two seasons here...Snowing..and Not. I'm not real sure sometimes which one is longer, lol. But as someone said above....it could be worse. My home has heat, my family is near, there's food in the cupboard, and even if I'm still cold, I know I'm truly blessed.

a disturbing trend...

Reply #24 – December 02, 2007, 12:05:59 AM

My have been kind of tender lately.

I love winter, and Christmas even more. But I hate being broke, and having a POS in the driveway that costs you more than a car payment a month just to keep it on the road. Going from one kid to another is beyond insane.... and did I mention Christmas? And yeah, the T-bird is spending the winter under the snow.

I'm so glad it snowed, though. Last winter just didn't feel right at all.

Peace, guys. I'll try to curb the curmudgeon. To be honest, life is pretty good, just not perfect.

a disturbing trend...

Reply #25 – December 02, 2007, 12:18:53 AM

Ok...group hug?

a disturbing trend...

Reply #26 – December 02, 2007, 07:36:40 PM

I'm still going to be a ...

That's just the way I am....

a disturbing trend...

Reply #27 – December 02, 2007, 07:49:22 PM

Quote from: Chuck W

I'm still going to be a ...

That's just the way I am....

The weather has had an effect on you too. You've been NICE lately!:hick:

a disturbing trend...

Reply #28 – December 02, 2007, 08:44:11 PM

Quote from: V8Demon;190829

The weather has had an effect on you too. You've been NICE lately!:hick:

Hate to be around him on a bad day then. lol
Ahh we all have rough moments...I don't hold anything against anybody in the heat of the moment..

But by gawd you drink my last dr pepper and i'm gonna kick your ass.
:D

a disturbing trend...

Reply #29 – December 02, 2007, 09:22:46 PM

Quote from: Thunder Chicken;190692

it's extremely cold (coldest day so far this year, -12c out, 40MPH wind, -30c windchill),

Holy that is cold!, the coldest it has been here so far is -12 with the windchill (I hate that word!!!)

I feel for you Carm, that is too cold!:toilet: