Sissy stuff to keep warm with during the "VORTEX"?

[Betty]

It's eerie. Going on day 5 without seeing a single bird in my area. Haven't seen squirrels, other wildlife, or even some of the area's outdoor cats in weeks. My home workspace, bedroom, & kitchen windows are in back. I have a view of back yards to over a block away since the trees are bare. It's been completely dead & motionless out there except for bare branches swinging in the wind, & the snowflakes. Not a footprint or animal print in the back yards anywhere. No bird prints on the rooftops either.

One of the things I always loved about my home workspace was all the trees & wildlife visible while I was working. It been like looking out at Antarctica or Siberia these days. I have no view of the street because I live in the back of the building. My breathing & COPD has been worse than usual for almost a week so I've been staying inside. I haven't been called for any work outside my home either. I haven't seen any other living thing except my 2 cats in a week (and on TV). I hear my neighbors in the apartments next door come in & out. So I know there's still life in my building.

My cats stopped going to the windows days ago because there's nothing out there but bare white snow & ice.

It will get up to 27F (-3C) Wednesday & maybe 32F (0C) Thursday. That will feel like a heatwave compared to these near zero (-18C) or below temperatures & wind chills. We'll see if the local wildlife comes back out by then or if they all died.

[Sisiam]

Cuddle those kitties, Betty and stay warm & healthy!

[Betty]

We're trying to. My heating gas bill is about 1/3 more than it was the month before. It's also up about 1/3 more than last year... & that's just keeping things to a minimum & not wasting energy.

I wear layers of clothes indoors to keep the house in the 50s in the day, & in the 40s at night. I'm also keeping 1 whole room in this small apartment sealed off & unheated.

Under the blankets at night it's very warm so I can keep the heat down pretty low without being uncomfortable. I have several radiant heaters (square & dish-shaped glowing reflector types), to quickly warm specific spots I'm hanging out in or spoil myself with a little extra heat once in a while. Very handy when I have to go to the bathroom right after I get up in the morning when the apartment hasn't warmed up above the 40s yet... just point it at the toilet, & the whole area is toasty in seconds. It's also nice for getting in & out of the shower or bath... it feels extra cold when you're naked or wet. By the time I dried off the top of me, the little electric heater has dried my legs.

It's not cheaper to heat with electricity than with gas, but it is a lot cheaper to warm up the small area you're in, than the whole room, apartment, or house.

The kitties don't seem to care about the cold at all... except when they're sleeping. Then they curl up with me at night. During their day naps they curl up with each other or in my lap. Cats, like people need it warmer when they're sleeping. We generate less of our own heat when we're not active, or relaxing.

They're as big as my old cats now... much bigger than any of my sister's or friend's cats. My cats always grow larger than other's cats... even though the other cats eat much more expensive cat food, & they have larger play & exercise areas than my cats.

I think because I'm more interactive with my cats, play with them more, & I rotate what they eat instead of feeding them the same stuff all the time makes them grow more.

Anywho, because they are big, both can't really fit in my lap. So they pile on each other to squeeze in. Frequently I'm typing with the keyboard on top of a cat in my lap. They don't care & sleep right through it.

When I'm stretched out, or laying down, they go end to end on me with 1 cat's head or front paws on my belly stretching down to almost my knees, with the other cat's head on the first cat's butt or belly, stretching down to my ankles. When I'm asleep at night in the fetal position, they're either curled up at my belly, my legs, or against my butt.

Just like the last cats, they don't sleep all night though. They'll get up several times a night to do their rounds, & poke around. At least they've grown to learn to be quiet about it most of the time when I'm sleeping to avoid getting yelled at or squirted with the water spray bottle... which I keep right at the bed side. But at the slightest hint of light outside the windows, & they're walking all over me & make noise. I stayed up late last night online blocking & banning lots of spammers & crackers trying to get in.

Also just like the old cats... why do they spend 10-20 minutes making lots of noise digging & stirring the litter box just to take 10-20 seconds to pee or poo? Seems like a lot of waste of time & energy just to use the kitty toilet for a few seconds.

I see the footprints of a single bird on a rooftop this morning. Also what appears to be squirrel prints leading to under the back porch next door, so there's at least 2 survivors of wildlife in my neighborhood.

It's not just freezing to death that they have to worry about, but with this cold it takes more food to keep warm too. Everything's so frozen solid for so long, it makes it difficult for wildlife to rummage for food. Usually when they break through the thin layer of frozen ground, there's soft ground underneath to rummage for food. With this cold, for long periods, there is no soft layer underneath. Underground water mains buried many feet underground are freezing & bursting all around the area.

The wildlife can't even rummage through the area's garbage cans & dumpsters for food because anything thrown out freezes solid in a minute or 2. Below 20F, ice gets a lot harder... as hard as rocks. Animals that can gnaw & chew through very hard stuff may survive, but at a cost of permanently wearing down, damaging, or breaking their teeth. There are no birds in my area that I know of that can peck or claw through solid ice, frozen food, or frozen ground.

It looks like it's not gonna hit the 30s F tomorrow after all. Maybe next week.

Brrr. It's still -1F (-17C) outside. Usually an hour or 2 after the sun comes up, it gets a few degrees warmer, but not this morning.

[Betty]

Good morning from the beautiful Allentown Arts district on my tiny part of the planet. Good afternoon, evening, or night to the other continents of the world.

We're finally getting a little warmer today here in the colonies. -10C (14F) this morning here... that's toasty compared to most mornings we've been getting recently. And they're expecting a hot -2C (29F) this afternoon!

But the east coast of the USA is getting severe ice storms, & some snow where they're not used to any, or just a little. With the heavy weight of ice, they're getting a lot of downed trees, & power lines. Almost 400,000 people are without electricity in S.E. states.

http://www.goes.noaa.gov/GSSLOOPS/ecwv.html

Up north, where we live, that storm would be nothing, we're built for stuff like that & more, but they rarely if ever see weather like that down there. Last week we got 10" of snow. It didn't slow down or stop anything here. It was like, "Oh wow, we finally got more than a couple inches... how pretty & fun!"

But this severe cold is killing off wildlife. Even this far north, they're not used to so much cccold for so long. Although it's a little warmer down south throughout the rest of the USA, it's still much colder than usual for a long time. So wildlife there, that's not used to it, is dieing off too. Down south, they also grow crops, & livestock food year round. It's been killed off too.

There goes our food prices world wide. Although many countries depend on producing their own food, they all import food too. The USA exports a lot of food cheaper than anyone else in the world except China... but who wants that dirty poisonous Chinese food?

A decrease of the world food supply will drive up prices for everyone.

Update: Just heard on the news that some of those southern eastern states MAY get up to 18" of snow or ice! Those states usually only get 0-3" of snow so won't be able to deal with it. Infrastructure, power lines, & rooftops down there aren't designed to withstand the weight of all that snow & ice. Trees don't grow there able to handle it either, If they or their breanches fall, they bring down power lines, homes, other structures, & vehicles with it.

The northern edge of the storm just hit NYC. It's snowing about 1" per hour, & heading to the N.E. states coast. I'm far on the other side of NY state, so we'll only get a sprinkle of the storm.

Meanwhile, the Olympic games are thawing & melting.

[Betty]

We had a few warmer days last week, but now we're getting yet another polar vortex.

Enough already! WTF!

Meanwhile, in Anchorage Alaska, they're currently having highs in the 40s F, & lows in the 30s F.

[Betty]

Brrr. Got colder plus we had 5 inches MORE snow yesterday. They're predicting 36F for Saturday afternoon, but by that night it will get extra cold again at least for another week!

[ballucanb]

Betty is your area in the strike zone for the new storm, in the place I live they are hinting around 15+" by the time it's over.

Living anyplace down south is sounding better.

[Betty]

According the the maps I'm looking at, a portion of that front will hit far north of us (maybe Toronto), & another portion of it will hit just south of us Saturday evening... probably our southern suburbs, as usual. It looks like we'll only get a couple inches from the edge of it right in the city so far, unless the winds change.

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/index_loop.php
http://www.goes.noaa.gov/GSSLOOPS/ecir.html

Not too concerned about more snow. I can deal with more snow. More worried about starving or getting evicted into the ice cold streets because I can no longer afford these higher heating bills. It's never this cold continuously for days or weeks in a row around here in the past. When we get a break, it's only for a short time  before another wave of a week or more of extreme cold again. Can't turn my heat down any lower without risking my & my cats health. Already keeping the place in the 40s F overnight, & around 50-55F in the day to cut heating costs.

Won't be wearing any very short dresses soon.

These regular extreme low temperatures aren't normal for around here. We've had extremely cold days before now & then, but never before did we have so many, & never so many in a row. My budget can't handle it. This is way too much cold for way too long.

Since I've been laid off, I've been self employed. But nobody's calling or contracting out extra work because they're too busy paying their heat bills or absorbing other business losses due to the extreme cold. So it's a double whammy for me. Higher bills than last year, & a lot less work than last year. I have fair credit, but that only goes so far before there's no credit left.

I'm actually surprised they haven't shut off my phone yet. When the weather breaks, my bills go down, & I get more work. This arctic freeze can't keep going on anymore, or I'm in big trouble.

[BillieJo]

Yeah, I know what you mean about high heating costs. I just got my bill yesterday and I haven't had one that high in about three years. I do manage to dress though but then again I keep my house at around 65 to 66 degrees.  Don't worry though Betty. Today is the first of March. Normally our groundcover is gone around March 10. That doesn't mean we still don't get snow though because some of our biggest snowfalls occur in March but they usually don't last long this time of year. Last year was an exception because we still had groundcover going into the early part of April. One thing I like to think about is that month after next is May! Stay warm!

[ballucanb]

Quick update on the big storm coming here, it looks as though it's gone south I couldn't be happier.

Instead of 15+, we are set for as little as 2 inches, now I hope they are right.