Too cold!

[altivo]

All right, I've officially had enough winter now. Could we please have some normal temperatures for a while. Even normal for February would be balmy.

Woodstove is going full blast, and I'm shivering. I noticed on the way home that we weren't the only ones who got flooded on Sunday. Many fields and yards are completely covered with mirrorlike, glassy ice. Looks perfect for figure skating, except that the temperature and windchill are much too bad for anyone to be out there in those flimsy costumes figure skaters wear.

If my teeth don't stop chattering soon I'm going to bed with three quilts and several plush ponies. Our farrier was scheduled for tomorrow morning but Gary called and postponed. We didn't want him to work even inside the barn with a predicted windchill of -35F/-37C. To tell the truth, neither of us wants to stand there holding the horses either.

Comments

[aerofox.livejournal.com]

*wraps the horse in warm flannel blankets to keep him nice and toasty*

I have March 20th circled on my calendar and am counting the days!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I feel betrayed. The groundhog lied to us. ;p

Flannel blankets. Murrr.

You wouldn't believe the list of ads that popped up in gmail along with your comment:

Figure skating dresses
Stay Put horse blanket
SL Sport horses -- Dressage
Horse blankets -- $19.99
Horse ringtones
Fleece blankets: H. Duty
Zuca Bags -- Free Shipping (???)
Dressage Lusitanos

And... more about...
Horse nutrition>>
Horse retirement>>
Lame horse>>
Old horse>>

Those last two are worrying. I think they know who I am.

[tinbender.livejournal.com]

So you're saying that we could have fun with your email ads just by the content of our comments? :D

*laughs evilly*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, in fact, it's possible. Not only that, but a message like this one that quotes the previous will produce positive feedback. I just got another stack of "contextual" ads about horse blankets, horses to buy, horse retirement, and old horses.

These are the fairly inobtrusive text ads that Google generates, in a narrow column down the side. I have AdBlockPlus running to stop the huge graphic kind that eat up my bandwidth. And no Flash.

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

Following a train of thought...

Horse nutrition>>
Horse retirement>>
Lame horse>>
Old horse>>
>Elmer's Glue...?

Interesting sensation, teeth chattering... weird feeling anytime the body acts on it's own, isn't it?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I don't think glue has been a byproduct of horse slaughter or corpse disposal in this country for some time now. As far as that goes, I believe Elmer's is made of milk byproducts (casein?) rather than hide. They do also produce a hide glue, used mostly by woodworkers and leathercrafters, which is made from cow byproducts (much more readily available.)

I don't like teeth chattering. Of course I was exaggerating a bit, it wasn't quite that bad last night. But I have been in that state, and it feels just short of hypothermia. The memorable occasion was the result of a 65 mile ride on a motorcycle at temperatures just above freezing. Obviously that produces a wind chill effect that I didn't take into account and though I was wearing down-filled clothing, it wasn't enough.

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

Ah-but you got the connection (yeah, I know Elmer's is horse free).

My last week in Pensacola, I had to sleep under a bridge earing nothing but shorts and a T-shirt. The cold came early the next morn and my teeth literally chattered for about an hour- and only stopped because I wandered into a walmart to keep warm. It's a strange experience, but if not for the cold, I'd find it fascinating. It seems the body can function to some extent without a train of thought running it.

[tinbender.livejournal.com]

Winter could go away any time now.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well I wish it would hurry up and go, then. I see vimsig is already working in her garden, and she's in Sweden, about ten degrees higher in latitude than I am. Here you couldn't get a seed into the soil without dynamite and a jackhammer.

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

*hugs a stallion to keep him warm*

It's the same here. I am sure spring will show itself soon.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*snuggles in*
Hugs always help, at least temporarily.

You have turned into your very own altivo tasting popsicle

[vimsig.livejournal.com]

zikes - that's siberian, just how do you keep warm in that. You need a sauna cabin and lots of peppared stews.

Re: You have turned into your very own altivo tasting popsicle

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's very abnormal for February. A day or two like this in mid-January wouldn't have been unusual, but we were having springlike weather back then. Now that things really should be starting to break up, the weather is arctic instead. No warm-up expected until Friday at the earliest.

Hope you are using your Wednesday Shield

[vimsig.livejournal.com]

what were the adverts concerned with my entry?

*curiosity gnaws*

Re: Hope you are using your Wednesday Shield

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Earlier ads are already gone. They only appear on the e-mail notification I get, and I delete the notices after I answer.

This one picked up on "shield" though, so I get:

Fabric shield (hurricane protection)
The New Installshield
Radiation shielding
The Shield ringtones
Blue Shield of CA lawsuit
Journalists' shield law
Blue Cross Blue Shield

Re: Hope you are using your Wednesday Shield

[chibiabos.livejournal.com]

No Anti-Ironhoof Shield? :P

Re: Hope you are using your Wednesday Shield

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I only worry about Ironhoof when I'm in burro form.

Re: Hope you are using your Wednesday Shield

[chibiabos.livejournal.com]

Burros, bigger than burritos. :P

Re: Hope you are using your Wednesday Shield

[altivo.livejournal.com]

But still full of beans. XD

[saythename.livejournal.com]

My son said literally the same thing last night.

"Can we stop this winter thing?"

I'm enjoying it!

Of course I qualify that the way Richard Adams did.
I can always go home and curl up in a warm fleece
blanket, or take a hot shower to make the aches
go away. Then some tea or hot chocolate and a book.

But oh those caves of ice!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Will you be enjoying it still when they find your frozen mummy 6000 years from now? ;p

Enough is enough. Maybe it isn't as cold there as it is here. Snow I can stand. It's the days and days of subzero wind chills that I can't tolerate. We don't usually get those here, but this year has been a recordbreaker for both snow AND cold.

[saythename.livejournal.com]

*imagines being unfrozen 6000 years from now
after falling in to the water and freezing
solid like concrete*

"Is the chicken still here?"

They nod.

"Damn!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGnh9Ma7EiM

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Chicken? Time to make stir fry. Asparagus and snow peas are on sale this week. Rice is cheap...

[saythename.livejournal.com]

Well, we had a different bird tonight, we
finally got the turkey thats been stored in
my sisters big freezer thawed and...

Don't you see the irony in that clip? I play
a fox and I'm being attacked by a chicken and...

XD

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I saw your own post that had something about a chicken in it but honestly I couldn't make any sense of it. I just assumed it had some connection to things that I'm unaware of.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

*sending warm weather to you* Fresh from the grill in Australia, oh and thanks for all the rain you sent earlier :) Although the flooding up north is getting a bit rich now XD

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Pffft. It's flooding here too. And we got another six inches of heavy wet snow last night.