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The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death (1997)

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Re: The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death (1997)

#41

How old is this article? It seems to use the old Fahrenheit temperature scale. I'm sure my grandfather would understand those temperatures but for myself I had to convert each one into modern units. Eventually I couldn't be bothered and stopped reading.

You know Fahrenheit is used by the entire United States, right?

Switch to metric system USA!

Re: The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death (1997)

#44
Read this a while back but this passage:

"In 1980, 16 shipwrecked Danish fishermen were hauled to safety after an hour and a half in the frigid North Sea. They then walked across the deck of the rescue ship, stepped below for a hot drink, and dropped dead, all 16 of them."

Damn!

Re: The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death (1997)

#46
post #39

Living in Michigan, this is one of my biggest fears. Due to the massive lakes that surround us, we frequently get a blast of warm, wet air that causes rain, and of course that warm wet air is being pushed off the lake by a cold front, causing high winds and sub-freezing temps. This combined with large stands of farmland and no trees for windrows means wind blows right across the road and freezes the rain instantly, s…

> no cell service, or the cell service is only for Verizon phones I remember reading somewhere that emergency calls can use any network.

The Verizon network is CDMA, which is incompatible with most other phones (GSM).

Re: The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death (1997)

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming the exhaust pipe is clear isn't the best assumption when you're in a ditch in the middle of a blizzard. Even if the pipe is clear, rust from the all the salt on the road or damage from going into the ditch could easily put a hole in your exhaust.

So what is the best play then? Wait in the car without the engine running?

About.com (not the best resource, but I googled the answer since I don't know it) recommends running your engine for short periods and cracking the window open.

I'm hesitant to actually agree, since cracking the window open doesn't seem like an awesome idea in the middle of a blizzard but... eh.

http://weather.about.com/od/winterweather/a/winter_survival....

Re: The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death (1997)

#48

How old is this article? It seems to use the old Fahrenheit temperature scale. I'm sure my grandfather would understand those temperatures but for myself I had to convert each one into modern units. Eventually I couldn't be bothered and stopped reading.

Frankly I'd rather use a system where 0 degrees is "fucking cold" and 100 degrees is "fucking hot", but neither fatally so, with 100 different steps in between.

Re: The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death (1997)

#49
post #39

Living in Michigan, this is one of my biggest fears. Due to the massive lakes that surround us, we frequently get a blast of warm, wet air that causes rain, and of course that warm wet air is being pushed off the lake by a cold front, causing high winds and sub-freezing temps. This combined with large stands of farmland and no trees for windrows means wind blows right across the road and freezes the rain instantly, s…

> no cell service, or the cell service is only for Verizon phones I remember reading somewhere that emergency calls can use any network.

If you have a phone you can make an emergency call from it as long as there is service. The different networks have different frequencies and if your phone doesn't have the antenna its not going to work. This is more than just CDMA vs. GSM, although not sure about GPRS.

I was a big fan of the Android phones that had AM/FM radios awhile back. At least you'd be able to hear broadcasts to have a general idea of where the storm is heading. I grabbed one of those survival kits that have matches, a knife, first aid, etc.

Re: The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death (1997)

#50

How old is this article? It seems to use the old Fahrenheit temperature scale. I'm sure my grandfather would understand those temperatures but for myself I had to convert each one into modern units. Eventually I couldn't be bothered and stopped reading.

New Fahrenheit is the same as old Fahrenheit. In other words, it never changed.

Unless you are joking, I think he was characterizing Fahrenheit itself as old, not saying there was a separate, "old Fahrenheit" scale.
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