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Winter is coming

blog.42floors.com

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Re: Winter is coming

#101

Post by matwood »

jwn wrote: post #39
fein wrote: post #11

Complaining about the winter in SF? Really? I understand seasonal depression, but that can't even hold a candle to the bullshit we see up here in the Great Salted North. I wake up and bike to work during the winters here... It's pitch black until after 8 AM. After work? Darkness and cold by 5 PM. This is for around 5 months of the year up here. Sure, shit gets annoying during the nastiness of November through March,…

Why does it really matter if it's NY, SF, or anything in between? His SAD is due to a lack of sunlight and not cold temperatures. It also affects some people much more than others. I seem immune to it and don't miss daylight a bit during the winter months, while my wife must have a lamp for 15 minutes a day or else depression starts to set in.

His SAD is due to a lack of sunlight and not cold temperatures.

I also need sunlight. When I lived in Denver I loved the winters. It got cold, but the sun was shining bright almost every day. It was refreshing to walk out in a nice chill while the sun blazes down. I've talked to friends who lived in the midwest and it sounded horrible. Months of overcast and cole weather. No thanks.

Re: Winter is coming

#102

Post by mixmastamyk »

gruseom wrote: post #80
threedaymonk wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never stop being surprised by just how far south everyone lives in Canada. London gets about 7 hours and 50 minutes of daylight on the shortest day; in Scotland it's less than 7 hours.

Yes, we're almost all huddled in a narrow ribbon against the southern border. I never stop being surprised y how temperate Western European climates are at equivalent (or higher!) latitudes to ours. "Surprised" is a bit of a euphemism—"pissed off" might be more like it :) One compensation where I live is that even when the days are cold and short, they are usually brilliantly sunny.

Yep, the gulf stream.

Being in California I was very surprised on a trip to Kansas City once, went from beach weather to snow drifts. A warm ocean nearby makes a huge difference.

Re: Winter is coming

#103

Post by cesarbs »

robotmay wrote: post #32

I have a somewhat opposite problem; I can't work at all during the summer. I can't deal with heat well and can barely think straight if I get even slightly too warm. This summer in the UK was unbearable in my new flat, which appears to have been designed as the most effective greenhouse in the world. I always look forward to autumn and winter. I get to wear clothes I like, nobody's outside as they're all whinging abo…

I'm exactly the same. Back in southern Brazil, where it's "summer" during most of the year except for a few occasional weeks of ridiculously cold weather - the temperatures drops then rises again very sharply - during the "winter", I felt physically ill most of the time. The actual summer, which goes from December to April, was unbearable - imagine months straight of very warm (100F+) and extremely humid weather, with torrid sunshine during quite long days. My wife has the same problem and so does my father-in-law, for whom the problem is so critical that heat might be fatal to him.

Now I live in Seattle and it's much more bearable. The summer is still kinda too warm for my taste, but at least it's much shorter than it is in Brazil. Besides, night are cool.

I have a really hard time understanding people that enjoy warm weather. I just can't relate to it at all, can't put myself into their shoes. Heat makes me ill, grumpy, depressed.

I love cold weather. It makes me feel alive. My productivity goes through the roof when it's cold. I actually like the sensation of really cold weather on my skin. Sometimes its 32F outside and I go out with a T-shirt just to feel it on my skin. My wife and I open the windows when it's cold outside. And I can't understand how people don't enjoy it. Maybe we have really odd physiologies?

Re: Winter is coming

#104

Post by palidanx »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #96

Interesting post. If he's that affected, he should move to Los Angeles, where he'll get ~11.5 months of happiness and productivity per year.

Except for the ridiculous time of June gloom. For those not in LA, we get no sun from 8am-1pm mostly the entire month of June.

What ends up happening is I see most people sad in the mornings until 1pm. I used to make fun of those people when I realized I was one of them.

Re: Winter is coming

#105

Post by davidw »

sdoering wrote: post #15

Living in northern Germany (read Hamburg) I can only agree. That last winter here was very difficult for me, too. Especially the long, grey and dark weeks, without so much than a glimpse of sunshine. Not very good for me. What has helped me, at least a little bit, was, that I started dancing again. Having someone else, who's "training" depends on you makes it less likely, that you do not go. And dancing is quite actu…

> So hibernating is not an option

I've been complaining about this lately. I would love to just wake up in March, walking out, blinking, into the sunshine.

Maybe I'll try one of those lights, that looks like a good idea.

Re: Winter is coming

#106

Post by secstate »

Just finished commenting on the post about the failure of science. Can't help but comment here on a post about SAD. And I am by no means making light of things. I myself struggled with SAD while in college for a few years. It's no fun at all.

That said, you know how I get through winter now? I live a lifestyle that is surprisingly similar to how my Northern European ancestors would have. And a big part of that is diet:

1. Seafood 2. Pastured animal meat/fat

Along with being a software developer, I am also a hog breeder. If you raise animals, but especially hogs, on open pasture exposed to the sun, their lard becomes saturated in trace elements like vitamin D3 [1].

1: http://www.vitamindwiki.com/%22Free+range%22+lard+has+500+IU...

Re: Winter is coming

#107

Post by calinet6 »

fein wrote: post #11

Complaining about the winter in SF? Really? I understand seasonal depression, but that can't even hold a candle to the bullshit we see up here in the Great Salted North. I wake up and bike to work during the winters here... It's pitch black until after 8 AM. After work? Darkness and cold by 5 PM. This is for around 5 months of the year up here. Sure, shit gets annoying during the nastiness of November through March,…

Try moving to New England from San Francisco.

Part of the difference is that you don't realize it's winter in San Francisco. New England winters make you very aware that it is in fact winter, and thus very legitimate about how you feel during said winter (crappy, lethargic, cold).

It also makes you supremely appreciative of life, spring, summer, and the fall that precedes it. I truly believe living in a place with seasons has made me a better, more self-aware person.

I have no doubt that SAD can strike you anywhere, but seriously, I highly recommend moving somewhere with a real winter. It will harden you and give you an invaluable perspective, and surely SAD will not strike you again in California.

Re: Winter is coming

#108

Post by calinet6 »

arethuza wrote: post #29
ChuckMcM wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that Jason isn't complaining about the Winter. He was pointing out that it affects his state of mind. Surprisingly, a number of people don't recognize this. Now I'm not particularly affected by seasonality, my daughters are sometimes the opposite, they love the winter because it is when they can go skiiing. But that aspect of it (the looking forward to it) I found is a behavior modifier. If you find yourself a…

"you pre-anticipate the goodness" That's pretty much exactly how I feel about skiing at this time of year - even though I'm in my 40s I still get a childish level of excitement looking out for snowfalls and trying to work out when we can go skiing first (which here in Scotland can be anytime between November and January).

Seriously! Just find something wintry you can enjoy (and with skiing, enjoy more than almost any other activity) and you'll never dread the great white winter ever again.

Re: Winter is coming

#109

Post by dholowiski »

Obligatory mental health comment:

Depression is very real, as is SAD. The article has some great suggestions on how to alleviate symptoms. However - as hackers all to often we get stuck in a 'I can hack it, I can fix it' mentality - even when it comes to our own brains.

Sometimes it's just 'the blues'. Often you can 'fix' it. But sometimes you can't.

If you are suffering and nothing you do seems to fix it - please - please - see a doctor. This isn't always something you can fix on your own. We can't afford to lose another hacker - not even you.

Re: Winter is coming

#110

Post by bovermyer »

kyro wrote: post #94
fein wrote: post #11

Complaining about the winter in SF? Really? I understand seasonal depression, but that can't even hold a candle to the bullshit we see up here in the Great Salted North. I wake up and bike to work during the winters here... It's pitch black until after 8 AM. After work? Darkness and cold by 5 PM. This is for around 5 months of the year up here. Sure, shit gets annoying during the nastiness of November through March,…

Thanks for putting this into perspective. I say the same thing when people complain that diabetes is an issue that needs to be addressed. Sure, it's not a good thing, but what about cancer? People with cancer would love to trade it for diabetes. I firmly believe that everyone working on non-cancer research should quit their jobs and work on more meaningful problems. Also, people working on social apps are wasting the…

So all seven billion people need to be working on keeping all seven billion at the same general health level, rather than anything they might personally be interested in or skilled at?
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