2003-01-23 - 11:59 p.m.

The Cold

After getting a big pile of snow dropped on us a couple weeks ago, the part of the world I'm in is currently experiencing record-breaking low temperatures. In the evenings it's getting down to 15 degrees below zero, never mind what that feels like with the windchill.

Well, let's look on the sunny side: when it's that cold it can't snow! At least I think it can't. Guess if it snows I'll know I'm wrong.

This nasty weather would be more of a hardship if I spent more than an average of three minutes a day out of doors. As it is when I went to pick up the comics yesterday I actually had to make a conscious decision: did I want to try to fumble for my keys, etc. with my big old warm gloves on or did I want to maintain my manual dexterity at the cost of getting freezer burn on my paws? Decisions, decisions.

When it's this cold one suddenly becomes aware of the fact that a house is only a box, and even a well-constructed box can have a leak or two. The biggest leak in this box is in the library/hamster room where there seems to be a black of cold air issuing from the cabinets on the north side of the room. It's a good thing that the cabinets are full of stuff that can be used for insulation.

While I'm sitting here typing I'm fully dressed wearing heavy socks, shoes and a sweater and STILL my fingers are almost numb from the cold. The thermostat says 70 degrees - why does this feel so much colder than the seventy degrees it read in October?

For the most part, the weather is kind of a trivial annoyance, but this cold is having a bad effect on my business - this week may be the worst in years, even worse than the weeks with the big snowstorms. Comic books may not keep you warm, but they keep ME warm - won't someone come in and buy some? Please?