Winter…GRRRRR!!!

[rusty_armour]

I’m thoroughly and heartily sick of winter! I’m sick of the wind chill, the wind burn, the chapped lips, the dry red hands and cheeks, the runny nose, the numb extremities, the tiny cracks in my fingers, the trudging through snow and sludge, the climbing over snow banks, the slipping and sliding on ice, the feeble attempts to fight off hypothermia while waiting in frigid Markham for a TTC bus, the struggle to yank myself out of my nice warm bed in the mornings, the depression, the constant whining...Oh, wait. Those last two are from me...Well, I don’t care! I’m sick of them too!

Yes, I know. Compared to other parts of Canada, Toronto has it easy. I mean, we haven’t had wind chills of -46 C for one thing. Still, there are days (between November and March) when I have to wonder what the %#@! my grandparents were thinking coming here from Britain. Yeah, okay, my paternal grandparents didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter, as my grandma was four and my grandpa was a baby. However, my maternal grandparents were in their twenties when they left Oldham. And, yes, I realize it was the Depression and they were looking for better opportunities elsewhere, but did they not think to themselves: ‘Oh, Canada’s that rather big place under the Arctic, isn’t it? Sounds frightfully cold, what?’ And my maternal grandparents never spoke that way in their entire lives, but that’s so not the point. The point is that there are other Commonwealth countries, warmer Commonwealth countries, my maternal grandparents could have emigrated to, like Australia. I’ve been receiving an education in Australian slang and songs from tazzles, so that’s something, right? Of course, if my maternal grandparents had emigrated to Australia, I’d probably be bitching about the heat right now instead of the cold. Actually, come to think of it, if my maternal grandparents had emigrated to Australia, I never would have been born. Even if my parents had somehow managed to rendez-vous in Sydney or Melbourne, the timing and circumstances would be off. I’ve seen and read enough sci-fi over the years to know how these things work.

Oh, well. Hopefully, there’s only another 6 to 8 weeks of winter to go. Yay.

Comments

[smithereen.livejournal.com]

I mean, we haven’t had wind chills of -46 C for one thing.

HOLY WOW! I always think I'd like to move to Canada until I remember the weather. And then I get scared because that sounds sooooo unbearably cold. I've enacted my own personal "no snow banks" policy. *G*

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Well, it hasn't been -46 C here in Toronto, thank Herne, but still...BRRRRR! Yes, I think your "no snow banks" policy is a very wise and sound policy. ;-)

[puckrobin.livejournal.com]

Yes, but how do you know the space-time continuum hasn't already been altered? Perhaps your now-erased-from-the-timeline toasty-warm Australian alter ego was destined to discover an extra-dimensional gateway and foil an invasion from rejects from the Hilarious House of Frightenstein (although being Australian, this alter-you wouldn't have known that the aliens resembled monsters from the Canadian national nightmare).

Unfortunately, this means that while you're freezing your butt off in Markham, the aliens are due to invade and kill us all.

On the other hand, it would almost be reassuring to think that all the crappiness in our lives is due to alterations in space-time continuum.

Or we could just move to a warmer climate.

Allen

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

You do bring up a valid point. I really don't know whether the space-time continuum has been altered due to this post. You would think that Live Journal would warn people about the possible repercussions of speculating about such things as possible alternate timelines in an LJ entry. Who knows what kind of damage I may have caused? On the other hand, why should my now-erased-from-the-timeline toasty-warm Australian alter ego get to be all toasty-warm and...Australian? I mean, I'm the one freezing my butt off in Markham! Why hasn't she come to save me instead of selfishly focusing on some grand scheme to rid the world of rejects from the Hilarious House of Frightenstein. Personally, I think we could do with more Grammar Police and I'd be thrilled if there was a way to bring Vincent Price back to life.

Hmmm...I think I'll follow your second suggestion and blame all the crappiness in my life on alterations in the space-time continuum. If I had the money, I'd happily move to a warmer climate.

[espirk.livejournal.com]

Come on! You're a Canuck! Buck up, buck up, buck up ;P Hang in there -- I'm in the same boat. And oy - what a day to read your post! I have yard duty tomorrow morning... *ugh* I find visualization exercises to be useful in this situation. Example: Dean, bound and gagged in "Hunted". LOL

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know. It was just a temporary...fairly temporary bout of insanity, I assure you. *g*

I'm sorry you had to read my post the day before yard duty at the school. You might need to engage in a few visualization exercises, though sometimes a little can go a long way (e.g. picturing a bound and gagged Dean in "Hunted"). ;-)

[tazzles.livejournal.com]

Hee hee. It's gonna be 38 degrees on Sunday and Monday. Am not looking forward to it.
Reason not to live in Australia: there's no bloody water! Except in Darwin (of all places!) where they have heaps. Send it down here you buggers.
Hope you like the music.

You can always come for a holiday at this time of year.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Yikes! 38 degrees is a little too warm for my taste, though I'm sure I'll feel differently next time I'm outdoors. *g* I'm sorry about the water shortage. If there was a way to beam snow to Australia, I'd totally do it! Hell, if there was a way to accompany the snow to Australia, I'd definitely go Down Under for a holiday!

I'm hoping to download that software tonight and listen to at least some of the Aussie songs in that file. I'm sure I will like the music. :-)

[eldanna.livejournal.com]

You know, we all bitched about global warming when it was nice for the first half of January. And now that it's finally gotten to normal temps for the winter, we're bitching about the cold. But gods I hate the cold. Especially when one has to walk the dogs in it.

As a blessing, at least it hasn't snowed in Oakville for awhile. I am not looking forward to the next big snowstorm. I hate shoveling the driveway more than anything. Except maybe scraping the ice off my car.

No idea why my great-grandparents came here from England either. If they'd just stayed there I'd be a British citizen and mumbling about constant rain instead. Maybe it's a trade off, but I'd rather have the rain.

Hopefully it's 6 weeks! At least we are not alone in our suffering.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Hey, eldanna! Nice to hear from you! :-) Considering how mild it was in the first half of January, I really shouldn't complain. We've had it easy compared to previous years. Still...it's bloody cold out there!

I sympathize with you having to walk dogs in the cold, shovelling the driveway and scraping ice off your car. I don't have to worry about any of those things. Well...I sometimes help my parents shovel their driveway if I'm paying a visit and I helped a co-worker scrape ice off her car one night when she gave me a ride to Don Mills Station.

I'm sure that if I were a British citizen, I'd be complaining about the rain too. In fact, in some ways the rain would be worse for me because I seem to be sensitive to changes in barometric pressure, etc. In fact, I have a strong suspicion that I might suffer from some form of SAD...or maybe I'm just a hypochondriac. *g*

With any luck it will all be over in 6 weeks. And, yes, there is some comfort in knowing that we're not alone in our suffering. :-)