From: none@none.com99   
      
   On 2/19/2025 5:38 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:   
   > "Bob La Londe"  wrote in message news:vp3bqn$1utuo$1@dont-email.me...   
   >   
   >> I must be getting old, or more likely rode hard and put up wet one to   
   >> many times.  Used to be I wouldn't quit until the job was done, but   
   >> not today. I'm the one that's done.   
   >   
   > You're lucky you can do anything outdoors. I have plans and incomplete   
   > projects waiting too, but snow > rain > deep freeze have locked   
   > everything outside into a glacier here. I barely cleared the car and   
   > shoveled a path to the road in the brief gap between the rain and   
   > freeze, now it's a struggle even to bring in firewood.   
   >   
   > TV weather: "It's like 2 below with the wind chill."   
   > This isn't the best time of the year to import wind from Canada, please   
   > wait for July and August.   
      
   I spent a grand total of one winter in cold and snow.  That was enough   
   for me.  I've heard people say you can dress for cold, but you can't   
   dress for heat.   
      
   Well, that's kind true, but...   
      
   You can dress for cold, but it can also restrict your movement.  You can   
   walk down the driveway to check the mail if you have plowed the snow out   
   of the way first, but that implies you can dress for cold, but not snow.   
     In real cold you lose dexterity.  Either from gloves, the cold, or   
   frost bite.  If there is ice, you can dress for cold by wearing cleats.   
   Yeah, I can walk on ice with ordinary shoes too, but it takes more care,   
   and may limit other things I can do.   
      
   Growing up I had summer jobs "chopping cotton," and working in the grape   
   harvest.  I wore a loose long sleeve shirt, jeans, and a hat.  Under the   
   shade of the packing shed I could get away with lighter gear, but in the   
   sun those who did now have a higher risk of skin cancer.  Some   
   overheated and dropped.  On a hot summer day I have also lose dexterity   
   when work.  I either wear gloves or tools and materials laying out in   
   the sun will burn my hands.  You can also get conditioned (to some   
   extent) for the heat, and learn good practices.  Drink water before you   
   get thirsty.  When you actually get thirsty and push through you are   
   dehydrated and pushing through can make you dangerously dehydrated.  It   
   may not be cool in the shade, but a little shade and some water for a   
   short break is all you need if you are conditioned to tolerate the heat.   
     To get conditioned you have to work in it.   
      
   In the end I can work more effectively on a 110F degree day in SW   
   Arizona more effectively than I can on a 5F day in Northern Ohio.   
      
   However those aren't extremes.  On a 115-120+ day in Arizona (yes we   
   have them fairly often) You really need to limit your exposure, and be   
   aware of conditions that are even worse than the ambient temperature.   
   Pulling wire in an attic is so dangerous I used to limit myself to no   
   more than 5-10 minutes at a time up the ladder.  Working in a hot black   
   asphalt parking lot is nearly as dangerous.  I say nearly, because you   
   can always jump in your truck to get out of the sun for a few minutes.   
   You can't get out of the heat in an attic except by getting out of the   
   attic.   
      
   I've never had to work in 20F below, but as restricted as I was a 5F   
   above I imagine its just as limiting as work in a 120F+ degrees in the   
   desert.   
      
   I brag or show off my winter time weather, but you won't hear much   
   except complaining from me if I have to work outside in July and August.   
      
   As to conditioning... kids are stupid.  My friends and I used to play   
   outside in the desert all summer long.  Many a time I imagine somebody's   
   garden hose saved us from closer to dangerous dehydration than we knew.   
   We also got conditioned to the heat.  Not impervious, but conditioned to   
   tolerate it and knowledgeable about how to manage it.  Riding my   
   motorcycle back across the Sonoran desert to get home there was more   
   than once I pulled off at any sign of farming to dunk my shirt and my   
   helmet in a canal to cool off.  It dries out quick, but it adds 30 miles   
   to your range.  Nearly as much as a drink of cool (not cold) water and a   
   few minutes break in the shade.   
      
   The thing I never learned to manage was hot and humid.  If there is a   
   way I can't fathom it.  In Northern Ohio I saw what I called 90/90   
   plenty of days in the summer.  Over 90 degrees and over 90% humidity.   
   That was just miserable.  When I saw temps approaching 110F my   
   grandmother said read the obits in the next few days and you will see   
   many older people without air conditioning who succumbed in their homes.   
     I could work for a little while, but because I had no natural cooling   
   at those high humidities I had to take twice the breaks to recover.  I   
   can't imagine living and working in the old south where they see 110F+   
   and 90-99% humidity routinely.   
      
   See, you got me all wound up again Jim.  I want to get outside and get   
   more work done before summer.   
      
      
   --   
   Bob La Londe   
   CNC Molds N Stuff   
      
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