Urban Survival - The Uglier Side of City Living, Wednesday, Period 2
"You know what's not cool? Freezing to death."
Okay, he'd been promising himself that he'd cover hygiene for weeks now, but with the weather that had been beating the crap out of a good chunk of the States, Sparkle figured that maybe a class 'keeping warm' wasn't a bad plan.
"I know this probably isn't going to be relevant for a few of you, since harsh winters aren't necessarily a thing where you're from, but for my own damn peace of mind, I'm going to touch on it, here."
God, he hadn't even gotten to shelter, yet.
"So, cold weather survival gear? Layers of clothing. Layers and layers and layers. Cover as much of yourself as possible, especially your head, and if you can get your hands on wool clothing, awesome. It insulates really well, even if it gets wet, so a bit of itchy yarn gets pretty quickly forgivable once the temperature dips below freezing," Sparkle explained. "Some people wad up newspaper to shove into their clothing as extra insulation. You might feel stupid doing it, but the more insulation you can get in there, the better. Blankets, foam pieces, even dry leaves will do the trick too, if newspapers aren't readily available where you're at. Uh, avoid that fiberglass insulation, though. This is the one time I'll stress not to do something because it's uncomfortable, because we're literally talking about tiny glass fibers and a risk of infection. Layer up some more. Plastic bags over your socks to keep your feet dry. Socks over your socks over your socks. And I can't stress having something to cover your head with enough. You've got important stuff up there; keep it warm, even while you're asleep."
And again in narrative for the ones in the back: Keep your head warm!
"Sleeping is another challenge. The ground has this really great way of just... conducting heat right out of you, no matter how warm your blankets or sleeping bags or how many layers you're wearing. In modern cities, there are sleeping pads you can buy... they're bulky, but they're kind of essential. If you can't get your hands on those, then sleeping on layers of newspapers might do the trick. There are plenty of free publications that you can pilfer from newspaper boxes, just so long as nobody notices you ransacking the Metro for everything in there. If your urban homelessness is actually a little bit more rural, then pine boughs can do the trick, too. I mean, you might get pine needles through your clothes, but it's a layer between you and the ground itself. Insulation is your friend. Not freezing to death is going to win out over discomfort any day of the week. Or it had better. If you freeze to death overnight because you don't like being itchy, nothing I say here can really help you.
"Eat before you go to sleep. Seriously. Hot food can help heat you up at least long enough for you to get under the covers, and fattier foods are gonna do better to keep you warm. Stuff like cheese, canned beans, hot soup... If you can get it, eat it. Bedtime snacks are a survival skill, now. You're welcome.
"If you're lucky enough to have some kind of shelter, like a tent or a car... don't leave it. Just, don't. You'll be letting the cold in and your body heat out. If you need to take a piss, have something to piss in, because the last thing you want to do in a deep freeze is to go outside and strip. You'll never get warm again." Look, this was practical advice. You're welcome, class. "Space heaters and electric sleeping bags are a nice thought, but they mostly just heat the outside, and they're too expensive to run unless you have a reliable source of power you can steal. Let's face it, you're homeless, you probably aren't going to be paying a power bill out there. It's going to come down to stealing. And within a lot of city limits, burning a fire is right out. So conserving your body heat is going to be a matter of life and death.
"If you've got things that don't take well to freezing, like laptops or water bottles, keep those under the blankets or in the sleeping bag with you. If you have the luxury of filling those water bottles with hot water before you go to bed, even better. That'll be a heat source that isn't you, at least for part of the night. I say do it. And those of you thinking about just heading in to a homeless shelter to escape the heat..." He gave a wry smile. "I mean, you can, and I'm not even saying you shouldn't, especially where the weather gets really bitter, but I'll get into some of the problems with those in another class. A lot of cities will go through the motions of giving you what you need in order to get by, but that doesn't mean you can rely on them without being smart about it."
Sparkle pulled in a deep breath, then scratched at his head and sighed.
"Oh god, there's so much more," he said, frowning. "Like how I cannot stress enough just how important it is to keep you and all of your things dry. Some nights you might have to stay up and moving around just to stay warm instead of going to bed, but you have to be careful about how warm you get, because sweat is a killer. Seriously. Not freezing to death is such a friggin' balance, which... is, like, at least half the reason why I keep shoving winter clothes at people who show up at Demon Marcus acting all surprised that winter exists. And guys, if you don't have warm winter clothes, stop by there on a Sunday, I'll hook you up. I mean that."
No being cold if you didn't have to, kids. Do it for Sparkle.
"No practical exercise this week, but go on and talk about ways to keep warm. And, uh, I brought some of those metallic survival blankets, enough for you to each take a couple? They're meant for, like, in case you get lost while hiking or keeping in your car or whatever in case you break down on the highway, I guess, but warm is warm. Help yourselves to a few. Never know when you might wish you had them, right?" That wasn't even remotely everything, but it seemed, at least, like the basics. Sparkle sighed, and then smiled and shrugged. "Any questions?"
[OOC: Open!]
Okay, he'd been promising himself that he'd cover hygiene for weeks now, but with the weather that had been beating the crap out of a good chunk of the States, Sparkle figured that maybe a class 'keeping warm' wasn't a bad plan.
"I know this probably isn't going to be relevant for a few of you, since harsh winters aren't necessarily a thing where you're from, but for my own damn peace of mind, I'm going to touch on it, here."
God, he hadn't even gotten to shelter, yet.
"So, cold weather survival gear? Layers of clothing. Layers and layers and layers. Cover as much of yourself as possible, especially your head, and if you can get your hands on wool clothing, awesome. It insulates really well, even if it gets wet, so a bit of itchy yarn gets pretty quickly forgivable once the temperature dips below freezing," Sparkle explained. "Some people wad up newspaper to shove into their clothing as extra insulation. You might feel stupid doing it, but the more insulation you can get in there, the better. Blankets, foam pieces, even dry leaves will do the trick too, if newspapers aren't readily available where you're at. Uh, avoid that fiberglass insulation, though. This is the one time I'll stress not to do something because it's uncomfortable, because we're literally talking about tiny glass fibers and a risk of infection. Layer up some more. Plastic bags over your socks to keep your feet dry. Socks over your socks over your socks. And I can't stress having something to cover your head with enough. You've got important stuff up there; keep it warm, even while you're asleep."
And again in narrative for the ones in the back: Keep your head warm!
"Sleeping is another challenge. The ground has this really great way of just... conducting heat right out of you, no matter how warm your blankets or sleeping bags or how many layers you're wearing. In modern cities, there are sleeping pads you can buy... they're bulky, but they're kind of essential. If you can't get your hands on those, then sleeping on layers of newspapers might do the trick. There are plenty of free publications that you can pilfer from newspaper boxes, just so long as nobody notices you ransacking the Metro for everything in there. If your urban homelessness is actually a little bit more rural, then pine boughs can do the trick, too. I mean, you might get pine needles through your clothes, but it's a layer between you and the ground itself. Insulation is your friend. Not freezing to death is going to win out over discomfort any day of the week. Or it had better. If you freeze to death overnight because you don't like being itchy, nothing I say here can really help you.
"Eat before you go to sleep. Seriously. Hot food can help heat you up at least long enough for you to get under the covers, and fattier foods are gonna do better to keep you warm. Stuff like cheese, canned beans, hot soup... If you can get it, eat it. Bedtime snacks are a survival skill, now. You're welcome.
"If you're lucky enough to have some kind of shelter, like a tent or a car... don't leave it. Just, don't. You'll be letting the cold in and your body heat out. If you need to take a piss, have something to piss in, because the last thing you want to do in a deep freeze is to go outside and strip. You'll never get warm again." Look, this was practical advice. You're welcome, class. "Space heaters and electric sleeping bags are a nice thought, but they mostly just heat the outside, and they're too expensive to run unless you have a reliable source of power you can steal. Let's face it, you're homeless, you probably aren't going to be paying a power bill out there. It's going to come down to stealing. And within a lot of city limits, burning a fire is right out. So conserving your body heat is going to be a matter of life and death.
"If you've got things that don't take well to freezing, like laptops or water bottles, keep those under the blankets or in the sleeping bag with you. If you have the luxury of filling those water bottles with hot water before you go to bed, even better. That'll be a heat source that isn't you, at least for part of the night. I say do it. And those of you thinking about just heading in to a homeless shelter to escape the heat..." He gave a wry smile. "I mean, you can, and I'm not even saying you shouldn't, especially where the weather gets really bitter, but I'll get into some of the problems with those in another class. A lot of cities will go through the motions of giving you what you need in order to get by, but that doesn't mean you can rely on them without being smart about it."
Sparkle pulled in a deep breath, then scratched at his head and sighed.
"Oh god, there's so much more," he said, frowning. "Like how I cannot stress enough just how important it is to keep you and all of your things dry. Some nights you might have to stay up and moving around just to stay warm instead of going to bed, but you have to be careful about how warm you get, because sweat is a killer. Seriously. Not freezing to death is such a friggin' balance, which... is, like, at least half the reason why I keep shoving winter clothes at people who show up at Demon Marcus acting all surprised that winter exists. And guys, if you don't have warm winter clothes, stop by there on a Sunday, I'll hook you up. I mean that."
No being cold if you didn't have to, kids. Do it for Sparkle.
"No practical exercise this week, but go on and talk about ways to keep warm. And, uh, I brought some of those metallic survival blankets, enough for you to each take a couple? They're meant for, like, in case you get lost while hiking or keeping in your car or whatever in case you break down on the highway, I guess, but warm is warm. Help yourselves to a few. Never know when you might wish you had them, right?" That wasn't even remotely everything, but it seemed, at least, like the basics. Sparkle sighed, and then smiled and shrugged. "Any questions?"
[OOC: Open!]