Ah, that Florida humidity...

Today, the heat index hit 101 for a 90 degree afternoon; it's taken almost 9 hours to come down under a 90 degree index at 82. Pretty miserable. The air clings and presses against you oppressively

I'd describe it as being trapped inside The Blob, but with a SCUBA tank and respirator so you're just miserable and not suffocating.

About the only way to make it worse would be to have one of our street-corner preachers carrying on right next to me as I'm walking outdoors. Bleah.

Song of the Day: Spring is Here, Suh-puh-Ring is Here!...

...and here's the ever-brilliant Tom Lehrer's "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"

Pic of the Day: Big Freeze

I've never seen ice like this in Pensacola. This was taken Wednesday morning, after nearly 20 hours of icy rain, freezing rain, and sleet. No snow, but plenty of ice blanketing everything. The National Weather Service estimated 0.2" of it by dawn Wednesday.

Every tree had ice weighing its leaves. One on my side of the house was leaning badly enough to grind its limbs against the shingles.

Every car's doors were iced shut...except for the X-11's. Any time it rains I have to run out to throw a tarp over the still-leaky sunroof. I could try to be smug about being able to open my doors, but the tarp was ice-welded to the roof and doors. Couldn't see, anyway, since the windshield wipers were frozen to the glass and their mechanical stuff was entombed in ice.

The rest of my car looked about like everyone else's--a heavy coat of ice on every horizontal surface, all exposed glass iced over, icicles drooling from overhangs.

Nobody went anywhere. I didn't even try walking on that road. There's enough ice there for a hockey game. Before everything finally thawed out sometime early Friday, I heard at least three cars coming around the curve too fast and sliding into the curb. Otherwise, it was deathly quiet, even on the Interstate a mile away. There were something like 100 traffic accidents, one 17-vehicle pileup on I-10, and a train derailment in that frozen 48 hours.

I managed a couple of photo-reconnaissance trips Wednesday and Thursday mornings, right when it was the coldest. I thought of Fort Pickens, which must have looked spectacular just then, but all the bridges in the area were closed even if I were fool enough to try driving the icy roads.

Brrrrrr!

National Weather Service says:

Fair

22°F

-6°C

• Humidity 38%
• Wind Speed N 13 G 18 mph
• Barometer 30.56 in (1035.3 mb)
• Dewpoint 0°F (-18°C)
• Visibility 10.00 mi
• Wind Chill 10°F (-12°C)

Last Update on 7 Jan 1:53 am CST

I says: too cold.

My brand-new oil-filled radiator heater is huddled on the floor, shivering pitifully and asking for a heater of its own.

Going to bury myself under an electric blanket and hibernate.

Pic of the Day: They sneak up on ya.

If only there were a way to...predict...the behavior of a hurricane, then the scourge of random attacks would end!

I blame Obama.

Pic of the Day: Summer's Coming.

I almost bought a window AC box last year, before the big artery blowout. Can't remember why I decided not to, but I regretted it soon enough.

I'm living in the same house as my mother and my sister (I'm supposedly the 'caretaker'...hah!). Both of them smoke and neither of them can leave the thermostat alone, so the place smells like an ashtray and it's always too warm (80?! Seriously?!) or too cold (65?!) because Mom can't make sense of the thermostat settings.

On top of that, my room stays hot year round because of my computer and a mini-fridge (no thanks to Hank--I got the fridge to keep him out of my food & drink stash). It's early spring and already close to 90 in here. Last summer was hell once all the health troubles kicked in. The AC box is my one splurge for the next few months, one thing I can do for myself right now.

In this, at least, life is good.

Didn't Snow, Didn't Snow, Didn't Snow.

So much for the 100% chance. It drizzled all night as expected, but almost all the snow happened north of the border up in southern Alabama.

Crap!

Pic of the Day: Everybody Panic! Pensacola Snow!

From the National Weather Service:

Tonight: Rain and sleet, mainly after midnight. Steady temperature around 38. North wind between 5 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Friday: Rain, snow, and sleet, becoming all snow after 10am. High near 37. Wind chill values between 25 and 30. North wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29. Wind chill values between 20 and 25. North wind between 10 and 15 mph.

Since I don't know whether Blogger will render the screenshot in a readable size (it's about 200kb), I've upped the pic to the Flickr account.

People are freaking out, buying up bottled water, filling up their gas tanks, all the same stuff they do for last-minute hurricane prep.

Me, I'm sipping hot cocoa and getting my cameras ready for tomorrow's Big Blizzard. I mean, two whole inches is a lot, right?

The last time it snowed, this is all I got:

My coldest Winter.

As I sit in a nice, warm room, watching the thermometer drop into the 20's (F, not C), I'm reminded of the coldest bike ride I've ever taken.

But--as with most of my scribbles here, we need some back-story.

It was January, 1996. Tallahassee. About 5 months before, I'd moved to town and took up a room in an apartment. The main tenant--let's call him Roomie--seemed friendly enough, but I quickly learned that he had some sort of deal worked out with his landlord. The rent would stay low as long as Roomie didn't ask for many repairs--especially to the heating/air-conditioning unit.

The apartment was basically a cinder-block box. I was forbidden from opening windows or even the drapes, because Roomie didn't want people seeing (and 'liberating') his computer. The place was a freaking oven in August. In January, it became an icebox.

...And that's when my car died, leaving me to get around town on a 10-speed. I was working for a nationally-known inventory company at the time, and for any job site within 20 miles of town we were expected to drive ourselves. Fair enough.

On the Coldest Day, my team would be counting a clothing store in Governor's Square Mall, beginning at 6 a.m. I woke up at 4:30. Painfully cold. It was around 17F with a wind chill below 0F. Very quick shower. Long johns, work shirt, pants, sweater, heaviest coat, doubled gloves, and I'm on the road...pitch black outside, the sun still sleeping...uphill on Miccosukee Rd to Georgia St...right on Hillcrest, left on Alachua, still straining uphill (the apartment rests in a bowl--getting out is all uphill)...right on Magnolia, finally seeing some street lights, but feeling as though there's never been any heat in the world...south on Magnolia, left on Simpson and finally, the Mall...a cluster of cars near one entrance, lucky bastards with their heaters...a pair of Mall Cops, here, and my hands are hooks on the handlebars, my feet aren't answering the phone, and I have no ears anymore...dismounting is painful, walking more so as feet wake up and call me back, ranting abuse...walking into the Mall, pushing the bike, starting to feel other forgotten body parts...I find the store.

I was on that bike for about a month and a half before the car--a 1976 Impala wagon--got replaced by the '83 Citation. But I was never that cold again.