When you’re in a place where every parking spot has a block heater plug, you know you’re in for some serious shit. I’ve rarely experienced the REAL winter of this country but hoooooooly shit I never would care for it again. I like it hot.
They took us on a school French trip to Quebec in February for some inexplicable reason, and the whole time we were there highs were about -20*C and lows were around -30*C. I’m from Michigan and we flirt with subzero temps but that was close to a week of really brutal cold while we were doing all sorts of outdoor activities. We had a great time but I think 3 or 4 kids got at least a little frostbite.
Heated shops. But for real... you'd pull into the local grocery store and the parking lot is full of running cars. Even when I was working in pulp and paper mills in Alberta (Athabasca, Hinton, etc), I'd show up and rent a car and they'd say "don't shut it off... leave it running, AND plug in the block heater overnight at the hotel." "What if someone steals it?" "You're fully covered." And every hotel has parking lots full of outlets for block heaters.
Went on a ski trip to Sunday River for NYE weekend one year. It was -40F with windchill. We would do a run and then warm up in the lodge. Probably got only 6 or 7 rounds in for the day. That wasn’t very fun.
The reason given for shutting off your engine during refueling is to reduce the chance if static electricity igniting fumes. In reality static electricity is easily mitigated and not really an issue unless your stupid. Not exactly the same, but it's clearly visible in th aerial refueling video below
During that winter hell in the Peg, it was so cold I remember not being able to let the dogs out without putting on Sorrel boots first. Like, you could not have your skin exposed for the time it took to open and shut the door. How do we keep the vehicles on that long? You keep them running or you plug them in. All prairie vehicles have block heaters and all parking lots have a plug for each stall.
“F is for Family” captures that perfectly. The 80’s too. I remember three-wheel ATV’s, construction sites being used as playgrounds and lawn darts. The real lawn darts. The perfect lawn darts. My favourite memory is how you could just give your eight-year-old kid a poorly written note and they could buy your cigarettes at the corner store. Literally: “GIVE HIM SMOKES, SIGNED, HIS MOM” was a regular carry for my friend next door every day.
Or being told to go outside and play and then getting yelled at for being too late after dark. Now, kids can't walk to school without being escorted without being ratted out to the cops. And get the fuck off my lawn!
I grew up in rural Appalachia. As a kid I spent a lot of time running around the mountains and woods. Today I live in suburbia and honestly I'm more concerned about letting my son roam the neighborhood.
I also grew up in Appalachia and now live in suburbia. My single greatest fear is that my kids get hit by a car. Because cars don’t pay attention and my kids don’t either. Sometimes I think about how awesome it would be to move back to Appalachia. Then I remember how much I like high speed internet, education and access to nice grocery stores.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older or people are more assholish than they used to be, but I used to be able to walk my road and feel safe. Now, I never know if some speed demon is gonna move over a little for me or the dog (there’s only so much room in the shoulder of the road) or purposely see how close they can get without hitting us. It should come as no surprise if the dog or I get creamed someday. People driving aggressively and distracted is more the norm than driving safely or with some semblance of courtesy. Appalachia, suburbs, wherever.
Social media infected into the real world not unlike Agent Smith did. Now the world is everyone’s message board: except in the real world, there are REAL consequences when you fuck with the wrong one. Perfect example:
He already explained to the media that he will not rest until he’s fucked every single woman in the food service industry.