3rd January 2009

How cold is it?

posted in Alaska, Wah, Weather |

Our plumber, who we had to call in again because, while we had heat, it was very anemic, was afraid that our pipes had frozen somewhere.  Eeek!  But, no–whew!–it was the pump on the heating system.  Still quite pricy, but a hella lot less pricy than the alternative.  The plumber reported that they had been working endless days thawing out people’s heating systems because it’s been so cold, for so long, that normally well-insulated systems have given up the ghost.

The water in the chicken coop was frozen yesterday night.

Our kitchen door is freezing shut; we have to aim a heater at the door for a few minutes to loosen things up to the point where a few good whacks against the wood will jar things loose.

All our windows have chunks of ice at the bottom.  (We are trying to find a dehumidifier, but every store is sold out, hah!)

The poor dawg is having serious problems when he goes outside to do his thang.  It’s funny, but sad, to watch him try to poop while holding first one paw, then the next, up in the air.  By the time he’s done and we’re at the bottom of the stairs to go back to the kitchen (having thumped the ice free to open the door to let him out to…), he’s a miserable puppy limping along.  Time to go buy doggie boots and hope like hell he’ll wear them.

We’re in the fifth day of the cold snap; it’s been below zero here in Suburban Alaska all five of those days, while Big City still reached above zero on the first day.  The cold weather is forecast to continue until Friday, with “highs” of 5 below zero.

Suburban Alaska has postponed its Alaska Statehood Celebration, which was scheduled for today.  The commentary on the story was full of Rough Tough Alaskans sneering at the weeny wusses who “can’t handle a little cold!”  OmegaMom raises her hand:  that’s me!

Right now, it’s 26 below zero here.  It was 30 below zero in the middle of the night.

The end result is that my brain is frozen.  I have ideas for posts floating around in my head, but nothing coalesces.  Bear with me:  the brain will defrost sometime soon.

There are currently 7 responses to “How cold is it?”

  1. 1 On January 3rd, 2009, preTzel said:

    How cold is it? Too cold. Oh my goodness, I don’t know how you stand that cold. That is the kind of cold that freezes your nostrils together and when you go inside you get a runny nose from the sinuses dethawing. ;) For humidity you could put a large pan of water on the stove and get it boiling then turn it wayyyy down to maintain the heat level just enough to release some humidity in the air. I’m hoping your doggy will let you put booties on him so his pads don’t freeze. Stay warm!

  2. 2 On January 3rd, 2009, youknowwhereyouarewith said:

    I have a dog who ALWAYS raises one foot when she poops (and only when she poops). We call her tripod. It’s ridiculous.

    Sending you some warm vibrations.

  3. 3 On January 3rd, 2009, D2 said:

    26 below zero. That’s cold. I remember it getting this cold where I grew up in Germany on rare occasions - but here in the Pacific Northwest? Teens count as “scarily cold”… teens ABOVE zero, that is…

    Sending warm thoughts.

  4. 4 On January 3rd, 2009, kris said:

    i know they pay a lot for people to work in alaska but frankly, you could not pay me enough to live there. there really is not enough money in this world to get me any place where weather like that happens. good luck and try not to freeze.

  5. 5 On January 3rd, 2009, Miss Cellania said:

    Oh man, I got cold just reading that!

  6. 6 On January 4th, 2009, Omega Unk said:

    The forecast is for 95F here tomorrow.

    Unk

  7. 7 On January 4th, 2009, Dina said:

    Gads, that’s cold! Do you have a woodstove, or do you depend on your heating system entirely?

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