Snow day in Chiberia!
Note: I didn't make that word up. It's a thing. It's currently -24°C, -41°C with wind chill factored in, and colder than the south pole (though that's not entirely fair, since right now it's summer there).
softlykarou and I (and a lot of my friends too, including some who work in retail) have the day off today due to incredibly low temperatures. If you live in America, this is not news to you. If you don't, imagine something like this:
It's a bit like how I imagine the zombie apocalypse would be. Except for one car every few minutes, the only sound outside is the howling of the wind. It was especially loud last night, but I went and climbed up and down the apartment staircase a few times for some exercise (and because it was warmer than out apartment in there) and when I was up at the top near the penthouse floor, there's a window looking out onto the roof. The sky looked really peaceful--it's a brilliant blue without a cloud in sight--but the wind was blowing hard enough outside that most of the steam coming from apartment heating was traveling horizontally.
Going into the staircase and then coming back was a bit of an adjustment. You'd think that after living in an unheated, uninsulated house in Japan for three years that I'd be used to ambient cold, but you'd be wrong. I suspect that's because in Japan, softlykarou and I would huddle under a kotatsu with a space heater next to each of us, which changes the context a bit. Here we have radiator heat and it's not that bad, but it's still chilly. But I'm not going to complain any more because I got to stay home from work, unlike quite a few people who had to go in.
softlykarou has tomorrow off as well, and while I might, work's emergency website anticipates being open. I wouldn't mind a day off, but I wouldn't mind going in either. I did just get back from a huge vacation so I'm pretty rested.
softlykarou and I (and a lot of my friends too, including some who work in retail) have the day off today due to incredibly low temperatures. If you live in America, this is not news to you. If you don't, imagine something like this:
It's a bit like how I imagine the zombie apocalypse would be. Except for one car every few minutes, the only sound outside is the howling of the wind. It was especially loud last night, but I went and climbed up and down the apartment staircase a few times for some exercise (and because it was warmer than out apartment in there) and when I was up at the top near the penthouse floor, there's a window looking out onto the roof. The sky looked really peaceful--it's a brilliant blue without a cloud in sight--but the wind was blowing hard enough outside that most of the steam coming from apartment heating was traveling horizontally.
Going into the staircase and then coming back was a bit of an adjustment. You'd think that after living in an unheated, uninsulated house in Japan for three years that I'd be used to ambient cold, but you'd be wrong. I suspect that's because in Japan, softlykarou and I would huddle under a kotatsu with a space heater next to each of us, which changes the context a bit. Here we have radiator heat and it's not that bad, but it's still chilly. But I'm not going to complain any more because I got to stay home from work, unlike quite a few people who had to go in.
softlykarou has tomorrow off as well, and while I might, work's emergency website anticipates being open. I wouldn't mind a day off, but I wouldn't mind going in either. I did just get back from a huge vacation so I'm pretty rested.