HATE THE COLD? Then why do you stay in Minnesota? (Duluth: health insurance, construction)

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by xandrex

For me it's definitely the lack of sunlight that takes the most toll. I am in an office where there are two windows (plus a glass door for the entry around a corner), but those aren't visible from almost anyone's cubicle. So especially in December, I'd wake up and get to work when it was fairly dark and walk out when it was pretty much sunset, having seen the sun almost not at all. I ended up specifically leaving for my lunch hour just to get out and see some light.

Thankfully, the days seem long enough that I'm no longer having mid-winter blues. If only we could shake the sub-zero temps for any reasonable time!

Can you take your breaks near those windows? That would be hard to deal with all winter long-heck, in the summer too.

I don't mind the clouds if there is snow on the ground. Today, for example, it's cloudy but there is a lot of brightness from the snow, etc. so it seems "sunny". Yesterday the clouds were darker and gloomy so it felt cloudy.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Can you take your breaks near those windows? That would be hard to deal with all winter long-heck, in the summer too.

I don't mind the clouds if there is snow on the ground. Today, for example, it's cloudy but there is a lot of brightness from the snow, etc. so it seems "sunny". Yesterday the clouds were darker and gloomy so it felt cloudy.

Unfortunately those windows are actually in cubicles. It's a horribly-designed 1980s-style cement building. I usually just get my sunlight by frequently taking my lunch break out of office. So far it has worked fairly well. Since the position I'm in is a year-long one (AmeriCorps), I don't have too many more months before I can search for a place with a few more windows.

[Ghengis]

everytime I pull in to the garage during the winter and see the lawn tractor and misc yard tools sitting there all dejected and unused, I snicker and thank King Boreas.

[Minnesota Spring]

Originally Posted by xandrex

For me it's definitely the lack of sunlight that takes the most toll. I am in an office where there are two windows (plus a glass door for the entry around a corner), but those aren't visible from almost anyone's cubicle. So especially in December, I'd wake up and get to work when it was fairly dark and walk out when it was pretty much sunset, having seen the sun almost not at all. I ended up specifically leaving for my lunch hour just to get out and see some light.

Thankfully, the days seem long enough that I'm no longer having mid-winter blues. If only we could shake the sub-zero temps for any reasonable time!

It looks like tomorrow morning should be our last sub-zero crap for a while. Close to 40 next week here!

[Beenhere4ever]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

everytime I pull in to the garage during the winter and see the lawn tractor and misc yard tools sitting there all dejected and unused, I snicker and thank King Boreas.

Yeh, summer yard chores always seem more useless than plowing snow.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by xandrex

For me it's definitely the lack of sunlight that takes the most toll. I am in an office where there are two windows (plus a glass door for the entry around a corner), but those aren't visible from almost anyone's cubicle. So especially in December, I'd wake up and get to work when it was fairly dark and walk out when it was pretty much sunset, having seen the sun almost not at all. I ended up specifically leaving for my lunch hour just to get out and see some light.

Thankfully, the days seem long enough that I'm no longer having mid-winter blues. If only we could shake the sub-zero temps for any reasonable time!

True that.
However it's not a physical geographic concern. It gets dark early and light late for much of the country in the winter. I can't stand the cold stretches and I'm ready for them to b done!

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

Try going "up-north" for the MN summers. We will be living at our lake home and the temp and humidity is not the same as in the Cities. You might need to turn on the air about 2 weeks total. Disclaimer: over the last couple of summers, air was needed for several weeks. But that's not typical. The bugs are still bad especially in northern MN.

I just saw the forcast in MN. No thanks. Today it will be sunny and 70 here in Phoenix. We are going on a pontoon ride overlooking the cannons at Apache Lake in the Mesa area (see https://www.google.com/search?q=apac...w=1236&bih=577 ) . The extreme MN cold problem has been officially solved!

I lived in Duluth for about 2 1/2 years & experienced 2 1/2 Duluth summers. Woah, what a difference. Most of the time people will ask how the winters were there -- The winters there aren't too much worse than here in the Twin Cities. It's just a little longer and a tad colder. I never shut my windows in the summer time when I lived in Duluth. They were always wide open, night and day, all summer. There was never a real need for AC. Maybe a couple of times it got real hot and humid but only for a few days. I lived 2 blocks from Lake Superior and that was a natural AC.

[wauzoo]

I love the cold. Keeps the week away - I hang out with the strong.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by knke0204

True that.
However it's not a physical geographic concern. It gets dark early and light late for much of the country in the winter. I can't stand the cold stretches and I'm ready for them to b done!

But the further you go north, the shorter the winter days are (and the longer the summers). I'd probably be fine if I had windows to the outside. I don't mind the cold most of the time.

[VanSensei]

I don't hate the cold, I hate the extreme cold - anything cold enough to warrant closing school. Other than that, it's not bad.