It got down to the low 40′s here last night, which is about as cold as it gets here in the Silly Cone Valley. I turned off the heat before going to bed and relied on my electric blanket to keep me warm. That it did — getting up in the morning was a reluctant thing, because I was nice and toasty under the blanket (and the quilt on top of it), while it was in the low 50′s in the house. And BTW, the cats like it too, they were both toasting their toesies on top of the quilt when I woke up this morning.
Still putting together the rest of my gear for my trip. One issue is boot socks. I forgot that I had some, and bought some more. Oops! Also getting some more polyester t-shirts, cotton kills in the cold (it gets wet, damp, clammy, and leads to hypothermia). Also found a cool little 1 ounce LED tent/area light powered by a single AAA battery called the eGear Splashflash. It makes about as much light as my ancient Coleman deck-of-cards tent light (that they discontinued long ago and you can’t get one like it anywhere, for any price), but the Coleman takes three AA batteries and weighs much more. Of course, now that I got it, they’ll discontinue it. That’s how it always works. My head light? Discontinued, replaced by something inferior. Same deal. Sigh.
- Badtux the Preparing-for-winter Penguin
Winter came to Phoenix last night…low of 42, high today should be about 62. I know the folks further north will unpack their tiny violins at this news, but for the thin blooded around here, this is cold. The good news, of course, is that we’re gonna be back up to 80 by mid week…
I’m living in my MIL’s house currently. In Massachusetts. Her strategy for the use of the heating system is, just keep the pipes from freezing.
I bought a heated cat pad, which was discovered and loved almost immediately. One funny thing I’ve noticed is, when I unplug it just long enough to iron my shirt in the morning, the occupant notices and complains.
I guess I need to iron my shirts elsewhere.
I need to get one of those heated cat bed thingies. Menken is getting old and his bones ache, he tells me (by complaining all the time). TMF is getting old too, but he keeps warm by snuggling up against me wherever I’m sitting or lying down, so I guess he already has his strategy…