And... They cancelled it! Cold snap blues

[Sherlock77]

Technically, it was actually postponed by one month, the songwriter circle that is... It is an evening of -32 Celsius, slightly icy roads, and a four day cold snap, but I would have gone still, I did go there and the cafe was closed, thankfully it's not too far from home

The host posted this on Facebook (I only saw it after I got back home):

"I hate to do this, but it seemed a bit ridiculous to encourage people to come out tonight. Stay home! The guests, staff, and I will also follow that advice. Dave and Orlando will be rescheduled. It’s too good of a lineup to not make it a night people will want to go out in!!! Apologies."

Are people afraid of winter weather and a cold snap? I have a healthy respect for cold weather like that, you have to be like that here in western Canada, but I'm not one to let it ruin my life (over statement perhaps ) ... I'm sure lots of other events happened tonight, and will still happen this weekend, that didn't get cancelled (errr... postponed)...

And I will go for a cold weather walk or two (at -28), but I do it carefully with a strategy, and often come away with great photos...

 

[Xinyta]

Are people afraid of winter weather and a cold snap? I have a healthy respect for cold weather like that, you have to be like that here in western Canada, but I'm not one to let it ruin my life (over statement perhaps ) ... I'm sure lots of other events happened tonight, and will still happen this weekend, that didn't get cancelled (errr... postponed)...

I cannot say for everyone in the world. But it is like this here in the USA.

A cold snap caused by a polar vortex? Panic!!

A large severe weather event on the horizon? Panic!!

A wide spread illness that maybe a minor inconvenience at best? Panic!!

I wish I was joking. People have been panic buying certain items lately due to winter storm systems and the polar vortex that's going to make things frosty here in the mid-west US.

I sware. I think the 'virus that shall not be named' scare screwed everyone up.

 

[Au Naturel]

We don't interact with the outdoors like we used to. Modern people are unconnected to nature. When I was young (greybearding here), we had weather like that every January. The world didn't stop. Because you always had to go outside for various reasons, you acclimated. You put on warm clothes, made sure your car was "winterized," and got on with life. One might go skiing or skating or ice fishing or snowmobiling.

I think that has a lot to do with seasonal affective disorder. People don't go outside to enjoy the world. Instead, they stay bottled up inside and wast away mentally. We called it cabin fever.

When I was ten, I'd walk a quarter mile to the bus stop and wait ten minutes. Or I'd be a little late, the bus a little early, and I'd have to run. That was right at sunrise, the coldest part of the day. You get used to it. Of course, if I could catch a ride with my father on his way to work, I would. He worked a swing shift at a factory 50 miles away, so I only caught him one week out of three. Icy/snow packed roads were a way of life.

If the roads hadn't been plowed, they'd declare a snow day with no school. (Yay!) That didn't stop my father from having to get to work.

The world has moved on. Most of us live indoors, in environmentally controlled luxury. Hot-house plants. Such tolerance of cold weather exists mostly in the rural north and is much less common than it used to be.

 

[Slime_Punk]

I sware. I think the 'virus that shall not be named' scare screwed everyone up.

Everyone has the exact opposite response to that one around where I live. Most of them don't even believe it exists!

 

[Au Naturel]

Everyone has the exact opposite response to that one around where I live. Most of them don't even believe it exists!

Last numbers I saw, almost a hundred million people had caught it, and a bit over a million had died. That's a 1.2% fatality rate. I have a niece who died from it.

My wife's best friend lost her sense of taste from it and is going through a kind of therapy to recover it. She says everything tastes like dog poop. (I'm not sure how she knows how dog poop tastes.) I know people who wandered around in a mind fog for months from it. Nasty side effects in nonfatal cases greatly outnumber the deaths.

Humans have a stunning ability to live in a pretend reality.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

This phenomenon is a result of a combination of (1) media hype/attention grabbing, "If it bleeds, it reads" (2) "ambulance chasers"/lawyers, and liability (3) social media giving voices to hyper-reactive individuals with a negativity bias, making "mountains out of molehills", that love to create chaos and controversy.

I've lived long enough to remember that 6 inches of snow, 20 mph winds, and temperatures below zero where just called "light flurries". There was no talk of businesses and schools closing, or "Winter Storm Warning!!!". I can only remember a few times when we had seriously critical weather, like 12, 18, 24 inches of snow, high winds, and -10, 20, 30* temps, then it might be called "a storm". The weatherman would say that we have "a chance of 4-8 inches of snow tomorrow", straight-faced, no hype, just the facts. This was back in the day where we drove rear-wheel drive cars with heavy V8 engines up front, no snow tires, and we simply accepted the fact that we were going to slide around on the road. We just adapted to the weather and went on with our lives. Children walked to school in deep snow. We dressed appropriately. We all showed up. We played out on the playground in our snowsuits. Now-a-days children are not allowed outdoors without a parent chaperone and God forbid it's cold outside.

There's A LOT of weakness and fear in our society. We don't tolerate discomfort any more. We also perpetuate negativity at a societal level. People don't just accept, adapt, and overcome like they used to. People don't want to be accountable or responsible, or even to think. Our days appear to be numbered.

It's not the physically strongest or the most intelligent who will survive over time, but rather it is those who adapt and overcome. I am thinking we need a catastrophic, extinction-level, environmental event to sort out the winners and losers.

 

[Sherlock77]

I cannot say for everyone in the world. But it is like this here in the USA.

A cold snap caused by a polar vortex? Panic!!

A large severe weather event on the horizon? Panic!!

A wide spread illness that maybe a minor inconvenience at best? Panic!!

I wish I was joking. People have been panic buying certain items lately due to winter storm systems and the polar vortex that's going to make things frosty here in the mid-west US.

I sware. I think the 'virus that shall not be named' scare screwed everyone up.

I think it's media panic too

You will hear on the news, even from authorities, that people should stay home because it's dangerous, not to say that it's completely safe either... If I go out for the evening and have very brief exposure to the outside air, I will probably be fine with the right precautions... It's assessing the news and interpreting what they they say...

But the media just panics instead

 

[Sherlock77]

We don't interact with the outdoors like we used to. Modern people are unconnected to nature. When I was young (greybearding here), we had weather like that every January. The world didn't stop. Because you always had to go outside for various reasons, you acclimated. You put on warm clothes, made sure your car was "winterized," and got on with life. One might go skiing or skating or ice fishing or snowmobiling.

I think that has a lot to do with seasonal affective disorder. People don't go outside to enjoy the world. Instead, they stay bottled up inside and wast away mentally. We called it cabin fever.

When I was ten, I'd walk a quarter mile to the bus stop and wait ten minutes. Or I'd be a little late, the bus a little early, and I'd have to run. That was right at sunrise, the coldest part of the day. You get used to it. Of course, if I could catch a ride with my father on his way to work, I would. He worked a swing shift at a factory 50 miles away, so I only caught him one week out of three. Icy/snow packed roads were a way of life.

If the roads hadn't been plowed, they'd declare a snow day with no school. (Yay!) That didn't stop my father from having to get to work.

The world has moved on. Most of us live indoors, in environmentally controlled luxury. Hot-house plants. Such tolerance of cold weather exists mostly in the rural north and is much less common than it used to be.

Technically I'm not working today because of the weather, but that's because my job is outside at a construction site, I worked yesterday at -31 with not that many heated buildings on the site... So took the option of a day off

But I plan to head out to lunch with a friend today, yes, driving my car in the cold on icy roads, not exactly nature but still getting out... And maybe a brief walk after that...

 

[Xinyta]

I think it's media panic too

You will hear on the news, even from authorities, that people should stay home because it's dangerous, not to say that it's completely safe either... If I go out for the evening and have very brief exposure to the outside air, I will probably be fine with the right precautions... It's assessing the news and interpreting what they they say...

But the media just panics instead

That's what I mean though about that pandemic scare messing people up.

Not to say that the media didn't have a dark underbelly before 2020, but it definitely has made it far more normal to scare monger than present common sense logic. So few news outlets are common sense based anymore. But I think that also is a symptom of a problem that has been degenerating the USA, and other parts of the world, since then.

Though the problem with power and politics has always been there as a worldly problem, well before this.

 

[Shevek]

The cold can be hard on cars, but it sure improves traction. I'm "celebrating" by staying home and moving into one room to save heat. So , I feel camped out in a mess, and I'm recovering from a major computer crash too.
My first winter here, I assumed all weather was normal, so in the middle of a 50-yr blizzard, I was wondering why the hardware store was closing early. It actually took me years to get familiar with the negative temperatures more refined than "really cold." Finally, when masks became fashionable, I hacked one so that I can wear it outside without fogging my glasses, and walking around is much more comfortable.
If we'd had that six-week heat wave in July, it would have been a killer.

 

[Sherlock77]

I've had lunch with a friend, a 13 minute walk in a local park, at -32 , saw two other people walking dogs otherwise very quiet

Enjoying a coffee indoors before heading to another park for more photography at -32...

Then home, I go batty if I'm inside at home too much

More cold weather to come all weekend

 

[Shevek]

Even with my mask, today was hard to take for a ten minute walk, However, I did go back out to clear the sidewalks for the local dog walkers and kids. Most other pedestrians walk in the street.

 

[Sherlock77]

Even with my mask, today was hard to take for a ten minute walk, However, I did go back out to clear the sidewalks for the local dog walkers and kids. Most other pedestrians walk in the street.

I can be very driven sometimes, it's also about getting steps in (ie. exercise), even in weather like this, within reason...

 

[Shevek]

I get most of my winter exercise on a bike rig, but I should do more stretching and lifting.

 

[Toirtis]

Are people afraid of winter weather and a cold snap?

No, but extreme cold (as low as -50°C with wind chill) poses issues around equipment functionality (lots of businesses closed Thursday and Friday due to problems like frozen waterlines, etc), and safety issues for staff.