utterly inanely COLD...

there are a lot of quirky things about americans that i either find strange or am simply amused by their enthusiasm for all things seemingly 'cool' or in the particular case i am referring to... FREEZING... or perhaps subZERO Farenheits...

minneapolis/st-paul (currently only minneapolis) has a light-rail system that actually works in encouraging people to use the public metro system... (one would have liked the train system and networks of rail lines to have been more sophisticated in this country... alas, it is rather spartan here compared to the intricate connections on the european continent). in any case, there are little muses that could be found at each light-rail stop for passengers waiting either in the heat or in sub-zero temperatures... 'weather-permitting' as inscripted on the gadgets that either resemble a huge electric switch which you flip up and down or a spring-device that you pull and release to send a wee plastic ball flying through a metal tube which then passes a flap that mechanically turns on a section of a pre-recorded tape or video to be played for your listening or viewing pleasure...

a few days ago, i was waiting at the stop in front of the hospital for the light-rail to arrive to take me closer to home... and i was freezing and bored... if you don't time it right, a 10 minute wait in temperatures around -10degC or lower is pure torture... even with ski-trousers... you think to yourself during these 10 minutes of agony how on earth people have decided to settle in this part of the world and why you've joined them in this madness etc.... such thoughts don't really and can't quite occupy 10 minutes of your mental attentiveness and i was so bored i flipped the 'muse' switch for a bit of entertainment.... and if only to distract me from thinking about the cold...

i was treated to an anecdote of how a californian-born girl studying in minnesota is proud to be wearing four layers of trousers and calls her dad up to tell him how cool it was... and the poor father thought only that his daughter probably didn't have enough pocket money to heat up her apartment... and all she was deliriously raving about was "4 pairs of pants!"

... i wasn't sure if i really empathise... i was starting to freeze even in my ski-trousers... and we are talking about -10degC... feeling like some -18degC with the wind chill... this is insanely COLD... and sometimes you are left standing in the cold to wait for the bus for about 20-30mins... i think this is highly unethical... certainly the XYZ?!-ReviewBoards have overlooked such issues in approving construction work... we need some scientific 'proof' (no one sensible will be a volunteering subject unfortunately) that it is a health hazard to stand in subzero cold for more than 10 mins!!! who ever designed the bus and rail shelters really haven't got much common sense... they fixed the heaters on the ceiling with a gap between the roof-structure and the top of the miserable plastic shields that are supposed to block the wind... the heat intended to warm the waiting passengers is chilled by the wind and sinks onto you as chilled air... you are never really heated... and all the energy is spent wasted! utterly brilliant!

in any case... here's the weekend forecast from weather.com...

i need a space-suit...

posted by ~overacuppa~ on Friday, 17 February, 2006 at 00:08 hrs