Brrrrr! Minnesota is cold today. In other news, people are breathing air. Every single winter it gets cold here. Frigid, some would say. Yet every year, people seem to be shocked at the chilly temps. And then they’ll inevitably say something like “It’s soooo cold! Why do I live here?!” Sheesh. It’s not like it’s snowing in July, people. It’s winter, it’s Minnesota. It’s going to be cold.
I say that, however, after talking nonstop about how cold I was at work today. Some fluke accident thing happened and we had no heat all day. It was in the low 60s inside our office. But since it was INSIDE that was so cold, I can complain all I want. I wore a sweater, fleece, jacket, blanket, hood, and mittens for most of the day. Note: It is difficult to type emails in mittens.
Typically, Winter and I tend to get along just fine. I’m not a hater. Yes, every single task takes longer. Driving can be a nightmare, and downright scary sometimes, but I don’t have to shovel any sidewalks or driveways and I’m typically chauffeured around the town by means of public transportation. So, most days I am unaffected. Plus, I love chili and that’s only socially acceptable to make in the winter.
There was this one winter when I cursed the weather, the gods, the snowplows and everything else “Minnesota Winter”. It was when I lived alone in Uptown Minneapolis. There was a ginormous bizzard, that pounded the city with roughly 100 feet of snow in like 5 minutes or something like that. I had a parking spot in the lot behind the building. I also had an automatic car starter. So, I peeked out my window 15 minutes before I had to leave for work, pressed the little button on my keychain, and my car started right up. Yay! So, I threw everything in my purse, pulled on my snow boots and trudged out to my toasty car.
Okay, so I must explain something here. When you have an auto-starter, the car turns on and runs without the keys in the ignition. When you are ready to go, you put the key in the ignition, turn it half way and you’re off. However, my car also had this Auto Lock “FEATURE” that would engage after being started with the key.
So, I put the key in, turned it, and popped out of my car to brush off the top and back windows real quick. I shut my door so I didn’t let any snow in, and heard the car lock. While it was still running. I peeked in the passenger side window and saw my purse sitting there, with my phone and apartment keys inside it. I had locked myself out of a running car while it was still blizzarding. I, dear readers, am an idiot.
Long story short, I used a strangers phone to call Maintenance, who came and unlocked my apartment so I could get my spare car keys and could finally get in my car. It had been running for about an hour, and I had used like 1/4 tank of gas. Whoops! Sorry, Earth! But! It was definitely WARM inside. I used my phone to call work and explain what had happened, and that I was on my way through the treacherous roads. At that time, I learned that the weather had knocked the power out at work so I didn’t need to go in. I COULDN’T go in, as a matter of fact. Cue the cursing of winter weather.
Outside of that one stupes mistake, I feel like I’ve had a pretty drama-free relationship with the cold weather. I say that NOW, of course, right at the beginning. I give myself 3 weeks until a blog ranting against the ridiculous cold comes up. Feel free to set me straight at that time.
No comments:
Post a Comment