COLD WEATHER GEAR

[Stanley]

COLD WEATHER GEAR

On Sunday I rang my friend Roger in Minnesota to ask how the weather was. (I got the time zone wrong and woke him from deep sleep at 06:30 local time! Sorry Roger....) He told me that the forecast low was -25F and since then I see that the temperature has gone lower as a big Arctic storm sweeps down from the North. On Sunday Roger told me that school had been cancelled state-wide even then, not because of the snow but the dangers of standing waiting for a school bus in extreme low temperatures. You can die simply because you're stood in the wind.
The forecast now for the States is for wind chill of as low as -50F and this got me thinking how lucky we are but also reminded me of something that happened when I was in Northfield in about 2000. Janet told me that she and Harry were taking the three children for a holiday where they could experience the cold and see snow. They live in Perth, WA and one thing that is a given out there is that it is probably one of the worst places in the world to go shopping for extreme cold weather clothing. In contrast, Minnesota was about the best because they expect bitter cold every winter. I told Janet I would have a furtle and see what we could come up with. I consulted Martha Paas and she said there was a lady in the town who went round the garage sales buying good second hand clothing, cleaning and refurbishing it and selling it on.
We went down to see the lady and I told her what I wanted, extreme cold weather gear for two children and a baby. She said she was sure she could do something and to come back in a week. When we went back she had complete outfits for all of them. The most impressive bit of kit was an insulated baby carrier like a very high tech sleeping bag. I asked her how much she wanted for it all and I think it was $50. I told her that this was ridiculous and gave her $100, it was well worth it. We Fed Exed the whole lot off to Perth and Janet was delighted. Working on my description the lady had got all the sizes right, even the boots! I added warm winter underclothing from my mate Bob Jacobsen's store.
So the moral of this story is that if you are in Perth and need extreme winter clothing, get someone in Minnesota to go round the garage sales for you!

SCG/06/01/14

[Tripps]

Now I understand what "globalisation" means.

[Stanley]

-28C with a wind chill down to -50C in Minnesota yesterday morning... I was once told that it had been a good winter as the frost had only penetrated 42" into the ground. No wonder they have warm clothes!

[Stanley]

Bumped on a morning when our temperature in Barlick is forecast to be at least 17C. We don't know we are born!

[Stanley]

Bumped again, a complete change but still worth remembering.