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It’s going down to -31C (-33F) here tonight. This morning with the wind chill it was -51C (-60F). Three guys came to work and framed outside with me all day, the other three thought it was too cold and didn’t show up. Do you think I should get rid of the wimps?
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what did you guys get done?
blue
*Heres what I'd get done.8:00 Am Get out of truck and start putting on my clothes.9:30 am finish putting on clothes- oh great it's coffe time.9:30 start fire for break. 11:30 break over.11:30 bend over and nail one nail. Spend next thirty minutes trying to stand up, in time for lunch.1:30 lunch over- head to the fire bucket to warm hands, oh yeah, I've been sitting next to the buket for the last 2 hours.Okay, we better hit it hard now.Bend over and put that other nail in. Immediately start trying to get back up. I don't want to miss my ride home!Head over to the bucket and hug it until it's time to go.4:30- head home, a job well done!And if you decided to fire me, I'd be the happiest camper!blue
*Fred has a good point.I think that whole wind chill index is for wimps. They are always trying to make it sound colder than it is.Of course it never actually gets cold here in Portland Oregon. I worked out side today in jeans, flannel shirt and denim shirt. Tried working in the unheated shop this morning with flannel shirt and qulted shirt and got over warm. Must have needed a wind chill to need the quilted shirt.Now if you ever want to know everything there is to know about working in the rain then just ask.For the record the coldest day I worked outside was -6 or so with the wind blowing about 30 knots.joe d
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It always pisses me off to here the weather forcasters and theyre "wind chill" I dont believe in it. How come they never mention the warmth of the sun? Lay em off!
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Uhh guys
Ross and I don't know one another, but he is probably working about 45 miles or so east of where I am. You'll have to trust me on this. .. windchill "factor" or not it was
b INCREDIBLY BLOODY FU**ING COLD HERE TODAY!!!
And I know, I worked out in it too. . . for almost 1/2 hour.
Get stuffed joey :}
-pm
*Windchull you can quibble with ... so what was the standing air temp? Below about zero you can feel the heat just fleeing your body. I'm with the wimps -- make them work extra hours when the temp rises.
*Working outside in deep cold is just about the most miserable experience I can imagine. I was outside a couple of weeks ago in -50 (air temp not windchill) insulating under our new addition, and I hated every minute. I've always thought that at some point it's just not worth it- even if you're the most careful, conscientious craftsman, when your nose is white and your hands are painful blocks of wood you are not going to have the careful attention to detail that you should!-Olav, Fairbanks AK
*I am fortunate not to have to deal with incredibly cold temps where I am, but we still have a work situation known as "Inclement Weather Conditions"If it is too cold, raining hard, too hot, or too windy, then we don't work. Different trades have different scales for each, but -35 degrees (F) is too cold to work. You cannot be productive, and your labor will cost you more than they will make you. I get miserable in anything less than 40 degrees, but if I know I can accomplish a days work, I go for it. If I feel that I will be turning my wheels and make no progress, I stay home.How do you guys actually work in extreme cold? Unfortunately, I have to deal with extreme heat more than anything (usually 45 to 60 days a year with 100 + temps, and high humidity) We learn at a young age how to deal with the heat and not wind up with heatstroke. It still sucks though.Just a thought...James DuHamel
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Ross,
I know, this is anal, but -31C is -24F. You nailed the wind chill factor, tho. Here's a simple way to convert: C=(F-32)*5/9 or F=(C*9/5)+32
I'll probably get it for using an algebraic equation... oh well :) I'm not as far north as Olav, but here in Southcentral AK, when it dips down below -10F or so, that's just too cold, even for us. I have seen crews doing framing in low temps, but a guy has to decide what and when is enough. Gotta stay safe. I've spent my share of time working in subzero temps, and while I find it much easier than anything over 80F, it still sucks!
One advantage to cold over heat, tho; it's easier to add clothes than to take 'em off. Working in snow is easier than rain. And a hot shower warms you up more than a cold beer will cool you down.
Olav - move down south here: are average temps in the winter are around 15 - 20F, much better than your frigid Fairbanks! :) I spent some time there - don't see how life can survive it. The fishings better here, too...
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Temp today hit 3. That's unusually cold here. I'd still rather have cold than hot. I can put on a second layer in the cold. In the hot, there's nothing I can do but complain.
Like I said, it's unusual for it to get that cold here. Spent the day inside a nice warm shop pulling the engine on my truck. My wife called and said that black smoke was comming from her car when she started it. I went home and checked it out. The coolant had frozen to a stiff gel...water pump wouldn't turn...she burned the belt off the engine. "Didn't you hear the belt slipping?"..."It sounded kind of funny but I figured it just needed to warm up."
I guess I better add alittle more antifreeze.
*Ryan, I'm with you, this morning it was -10*, fortunately,we're all in our late forty's and no one feels the need to prove their manhood.Having had a great year doesn't hurt either, no one feels guilty about taking a few days off.Vince
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Actually, when you know you're heading out for the day into incredibly cold weather, you end up getting so prepared that it's almost enjoyable. My wife bought me a nice warm face mask, great for holding up banks, so with a scarf and three hoods that keeps the head warm. Six layers on the top half, three layers on the bottom half.... but I'm going to Belize for a two week honeymoon in a couple of weeks, I'll be ready for the tropics by then! Imagine, barefoot, no shirt, laying on a beach... ahhhhhhhhhh....
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On the cold hands "like blocks of wood" -- what i hate is when they warm up again and feel like they're on fire! Yeow!
*Why is it that all the hairball questions, unbelievable tasks and other off the wall stuff comes from "GUEST USERS"?3 guys framing all day in -60 weather. My ass.
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Andrew,
up here, that fire is known as "frostbite", or the early stages, anyway :) We also have a saying up here: Alaskan's don't tan, they THAW. Ross - you might want some SPF 200 to protect those white legs while in Belize...
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gee Pete, you're your usual friendly self today... I used just my first name, so "it" called me a guest, and minus 60F is the debatable wind chill (they were calling it minus 51C on the radio), it was a sunny -24F on sawdust's conversion scale. Been out there all week myself, plus those three guys, and the other guys got over their Monday morning fear of the cold and joined us... Canadians are tough enough to handle it, buddy! wanna make something of it?
*Sawdust-I lived down in Seward and Homer for a while last year, it's nice down there but a bit too crowded. And Seward can be chilly too (the only time I've ever had my snot freeze into a horizontal icicle from the bone chilling wind!). As for fishing, true that we have less and smaller fish, but on the up side you don't have to fight your way to the river and risk a Pixie in your eye...Alaska is the only place I've lived where there is a distinct building season- if you're not closed in by September (and are prepared to quickly finish up) you might as well take the winter off and drink beer and watch Xena reruns!Andrew- I know that pain pretty well. If you REALLY want to experience thawing, enter a ski race and freeze your unit, go into the men's room and warm it up with a hand drier- now THAT's pain...Stay warm, Olav
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Hey Ross
You must live near here.....eastern Ontario and bloody cold these days....even my dogs were prancing around lifting their paws off the ground.
Are the guys who wimped out skiers??? My guess is that if they were on a ski trip and it was -30, they'd probably still be out there doing it!!!
My sweetie is a firefighter, and I gotta tell ya, they have it the worst in these temperatures during a fire, soaked to the bone standing out on the street....wind chill or no wind chill.....
As for getting rid of the wimps.....I guess it all depends on their track record.
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Hi Donna, I'm about 20 miles northwest of Perth, we're practically neighbors!
*I notice Donna is smart enough to be an INTERIOR designer, which suggests to me she works mostly INSIDE. :)Sawdust: thanks for the frostbite tip. I wondered why my fingers kept falling off. (Fortunately I'm just a 3-finger typist.)Olav: thanks, man, now I've got a mental picture.... Any kids? Did it turn black and fall off?
*It's 1F right now, and I'm supposed to leave for work. Screw it. I'll fire the diesel up in a couple of hours or so.Below 5f, the guns just get too cranky, and the fire bucket is just too inviting. I might as well wait till the temp hits 5F.Wimpily yours,Blue
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Olav -
I still say you gotta be tough or crazy to live up there - that's extreme in every season! Hot summers, cold winters - I gotta stay coastal! Not all of our fishing is better - the best grayling grounds in the world are up that haul road! As for "hand warming" the unit... uhhh... you're on your own there.
Andrew - are the fingers falling off or breaking off? It may just be the leperosy acting up again... (bad joke - my dad helped re-wire parts of the mission on Molokai, HI.)
I gotta say I'm with Blue here - I have a point of "not worth it", so Olav, pass me a cold one and lets watch some Zena (and the Man Show)!
*About 25 years ago I spent a winter working in Yellowknife, NWT. I learned, with some - let's call it encouragement - from the boss, to hammer with both hands (not at the same time, though). You see, you can't handle a small thing like a nail with mitts on and you aren't being paid to stand around and wait until your hand warms up before you pick up another nail, so, you wear a thin glove on your nail holding hand and a mitt on your hammer hand and trade hands when you must. That's the gist of the explanation I got though it was delivered in such a way I concluded the boss didn't have my self-esteem uppermost in his thoughts. I remember that thawing out pain, too, and I'm willing to testify that pounding on your hands with a framing hammer doesn't help one bit. You don't feel it much during the day, but later, when you're warming up... I worked with a drywall crew that winter, too, on Yellowknife's first skyscraper - 14 storeys and a couple of theatres. We were hanging the ceilings so fast we were ahead of the curtain wall. 12, 13, 14 sroreys up, slapping up big sheets of 5/8 board right out to the edge and no walls up yet. Just carrying around all the clothes you have to wear to work at -40 is a day's work. I must have been out of my mind Since then, since I've put on a few years, I have realized that I eat every day and my kids are warm and they get to eat, too. I don't need to do that shit anymore. Though money wasn't driving me back then either.
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Er, what was driving you, masochism?
*Testosterone."Be a man, suck it up, quit your bitchin'."Good news is, you feel like you're the only one who can work in those temperatures, or carry that much weight, or drink that much.Bad new is, twenty years later... the frostbite has permanently damaged your circulation, your back and knees are trash, and your liver looks like a map of Texas.Question is: Now that You're boss, do you do the same stupid stuff to your crews?In the words of Roberto Duran: "No Mas."
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You got it, George, dead on.
To answer your question, I'm not the sort who sits in the truck with the heater blasting while yelling instructions out the window. If there's any truck sitting that has to be done, we all do it.
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Okay, who said wind chill doesn't matter.
I left the house this morning, and didn't think it was too bad.
The thermometer in my truck read -13F.
Since I'm carrying the generator, I gotta continue. I get to the job and it's a very pleasant -2F. It's the nicest morning of the whole week!
Wind sucks! Yesterday, it was +20F, and I'm freezing my ears off. Today, it's below zero, and I don't have to put on an overcoat! And none of those longjohns either!
I do keep a firebucket burning though. I can't take any moisture on my gloves, so I keep them dry by dipping them in the fire every time I walk by to get more lumber.
The fire is great for heating up our lunch too.
Snow sucks! Everything I touch, puts a bit of moisture in the gloves, then my fingers crack (probably from the acid rain).
Loving the MI winters.
blue
*................man this sucks ...I got thrown off 3 times trying to post this......well..what was my point...oh yeh...Blue...have you tried "Protein hoof and hand treatment"it's called "Straight Arrow the Hoofmaker" and it sure took care of my cracked hands and split fingernails....better than Bag Balm...wife won't let me wear it to bed though, says i neigh in my sleep.....but my hoofs don't have any splits either...course yu member why yur here framing ...its cause yu idn't line up those 3 kitchens did ya dummy...so hurry up and get it under roof and windowed in so you can hide out in March...told ya ta stay in school son...but no ...you wanted to be a carpenter , noble profession..here..here's a doz. of my favorite knit cuff brown gloves...cut the tips off your nail glove and fold yur hand inside when yur not nailin....stop cutting up the studs for fire wood dammit...if the wind picks up we'll hat up...in the meantime we'll work the sun around the house...my favorite part is fallin asleep with yur face in the mashed potatoes as soon as yu hit the warm ...OK...don't forget ..we gain another minute of daylight every day now...man ..somebody shoot MrCheerful will ya..
*Bleui "Okay, who said wind chill doesn't matter."????Some poser/lawyer wannabee who sits behund a desk all day in a temperate climate!!!-pm
*I don't know PM who?I said the wind chill index is for wimps. They are always trying to make it sound colder than it is.Wind chill index is a system of quantifying the increase of cooling caused by air movement at low tempertures. As such i don't like the system. Prefer people tell meA: how cold it is in degrees.B: how hard the wind is blowing in knots, miles or kilometers per hour.Just in case I'm the who; you can call me joey, you can call me a yahoo, you can say i live in a temperate climate, you can call me a poser if you like being wrong, but i ain't no freaking lawyer so don't call me one.Now if your calling out andrew then please accept my mumbled apologies and your next drinks on me. Not that i want you to call out andrew, just that it is not my business.Must be some Irish poet or three born today too, how about a wee dram of Irish whiskey?joe d
*...skating here ...on the sidewalks...but the sun is out , so who cares (and no wind)..18" in NC....baby...better them than us..
*Hey joeyT'ain't you bro.. and I'll gladly belly up to a round of Jameson's.. .straight, no chaser!!-pm
*There you go Patrick,Obviously this round of drinks belongs in the Tav but, we all rememeber when drinking at the job was Okey Dokey. Now all the Tav's got now is some Old Bushmills will that do? We'll serve it up straight as a pin in a nice sized tumbler. Some wee short fellow drank up all the Jameson's like he was all hollowed out. He said something about being ready for some tossing of some kind as he stumbled for the door.joe d
*Well I used to do the Arctic Chill dance. "Never to cold to get the job done!" Then after a couple cases of frostbite, some thinking on productivity and looking at my checkbook I don't do that any more. In fact Hawaii or Cozumel, or better yet Fiji look better and better. Was thinking of Aussieland but from the news it seem they have developed a habit of leaving folks out on the reef when the tour boat returns to port.
*Any wind at all is awful. Wet cold hands are awful. i don't know how you guys do it. But c'mon, they have all sorts of fossil fuel heaters out there now ... I park a little propane radiant near me if i can, though it's not working so good since I dropped that rafter on it.
*Thankee JoeFriggin Adrain, yaps about Scotch, but inhales all the Irish. ..typical Cape BretonnerNow that we're comfortable perhaps you'd explain why you'd rather know the wind speed and do yer own calc. for windi chill, rather than just take the i givenwindchill and dress accordingly. For you that would be shorts,or not I guess!!If it was rainin (somethin I know you can relate too(o)), what would you rather the guy on the radio told you, as you were munchin down on meal one, "The rain is dropping at a velocity of 46mph, 47 degrees horizontal with a coverage of 1.675 drops per square inch."i or"It's rained 3 feet in the last six hours.. . time to break out the hipwaders." Me, I'd rather be spending my time figurin out where I left the gas for the outboard, than figurin whether I'm i gonnaneed it to get to work or not, and then wonderin where the gas is.. .ya get my drift?????I'd rather let the info that there's some serious, or not, windchill happenin along with the 10F(regardless of precision), percolate through with the coffee... I'm not real good with the higher math stuff first thing in the mornin!!!Fillerup!!-pm
*Yeah, up here a Reddy heater really comes in handy. I have a friend who builds log houses, he hitches one up behind him like a little sled so it goes with as he moves around his mill. Even with that, he quits when it's -30 or so...-Olav
*I keep my "ready" heater going too! The old five gallon bucket is always ready!And no I don't cut up studs. Doug fir joist work much better. Cut them into 12" blocks and split them into sitcks. Then put a couple of metal "t-braces" across the bucket and viola!, we're ready for hot soup!Actually, since I hate wet gloves more than I hate commies, I use the fire buckets to constantly keep my gloves dry. The obvious other benefit is warm hands!But there is nothing more comforting than filling your sweatshirt with a blast of hot firebucket air, on a cold winter morn!By the way, we had a heat wave yesterday, close to 20 degrees! Two of us were down to their undershirts (turtlenecks of course).blue
*Armin Gollannek Munising Mi. Who cares what the wind chill factor is. Once the temperature dips below 10 degrees its to cold to think let alone work. I live on the south shore of Lake Superior, it gets really cold not to mention 200 plus inches of snowfall. When I moved here 20 years ago I was all fired up to work through the worst of it, which I did (for awhile) now I do what the locals do when it gets to cold to work--go ice fishing. Enough said.
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It's going down to -31C (-33F) here tonight. This morning with the wind chill it was -51C (-60F). Three guys came to work and framed outside with me all day, the other three thought it was too cold and didn't show up. Do you think I should get rid of the wimps?