A Rough Month

Well gang, it's been a few weeks since I've broken radio silence.  I'm not ignoring you, this isn't some complicated tough love experiment.  Without turning this into a (yet another) woe is me missive, I shall endeavor to merely describe why I've been negligent in my blogging duties. 

Starting the weekend after Christmas I've been knocked flat on my keester with some manner of "digestive" issue (yes I'm trying to be delicate here).  Multiple trips to the doctor and many diagnostic tests have been unable to ascertain exactly what the problem is, and I've gotten slowly better.  But there are some lingering issues and my doctor has me on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet that includes avoiding chocolate, spicy foods, acidic foods, fatty foods, anything that tastes good...and worst of all coffee.  Sigh. 

The good news from the bout of who-knows-what is that I've lost a lot of weight and am reveling in my new svelte figure.  Please bear in mind though that this is NOT a diet program that I would reccomend. 

On top of that we're experience transportation woes here at the homestead.  It's finally time to put the 1992 Toyota Camry out to pasture, and last night on our way to the UND basketball game a stupid high school girl who was driving too fast (and probably texting) lost control of her car, slid across two lanes of traffic and the median and smacked into our only remaining drivable vehicle.  More hoop jumping, phone calls, and annoyance.  But we're both OK, though our only mode of transport at this point is deaf-dogsled, we'll let you know how that works out. 

So to take our minds off our various worries, let's watch a clip from an old South Park episode, yes Petey the Sexual Harassment Panda.  I dare you to not let this song get stuck in your head.

Polar Vortex, Historic Cold

I know that in winter I post a lot "jeez look how cold it is here" kinds of things.  These posts are only slightly meant to be an outlet for my complaining about the weather.  Mostly they're about cool weather related stuff that until we moved here 5 years ago, I'd never conceived of. For instance, I'd never heard the phrase "polar vortex" until this week. 

A polar vortex is a gigantic semi-permanent cyclone that hovers near each of the Earths' poles and can bring significant cold air to other areas during weakening/oscillation.  Essentially we'll have the weather that should be at the North Pole here in Grand Forks for a few days.  I won't tell you how much time I've spent browsing scientific websites reading about polar vortices (plural of vortex), but it's been quite fun.

As an accountant and numbers person, these numbers are fascinating to me.  These are numbers I never even would have thought possible until I moved here,  And granted, these are just the actual surface temperatures, this doesn't factor in the wind chill, which is expected to be in the -50, -60, even -70 range today through Tuesday - that's just plain crazy!!  Local news and the newspaper has stated that weather this cold "Hasn't been seen in the area in decades".

Weather forecast picture from the Grand Forks Herald.

Fourth Coldest December on Record

It's been a cold stretch here over the last month or so, dang cold.  We've had the kind of cold that literally takes your breath away when you step outside, makes you mutter expletives, and forces you to strongly rethink your life decisions.  How cold?  The fourth coldest December on record since some crazy ass pioneers settled here and started measuring the temperature and writing it down in 1890. 

You can read the full article here in the Grand Forks Herald, but here's the relevant piece:

"Jeff Makowski, meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Grand Forks, said December 2013 was the fourth coldest December in the area since 1890. The average temperature was 0.6 degrees."

Yes you read that correctly, the average temperature was 0.6 degrees. Average.  0.6 degrees.  And we've got four months of winter left to go.