Why I want to live above the Arctic Circle...

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andberlin

Refugee
Joined
Nov 26, 2006
Messages
1,160
Location
35.15 °S, 149.08 °E
(...Or why I can't stand Sydney in summer)

It's 11pm and still pushing close to 30C (85F) outside, not to mention the fact that there is no breeze whatsoever. Gah! :crazy:
 
I live a few hundred kilometres below the Arctic circle.

Right now, it's 10am and still -27 C with wind chill of -38 C (almost -40F).

Still wanna live up here? :wink:
 
But there's the northern lights... I'd love to see them.
 
partygirlvox said:
But there's the northern lights... I'd love to see them.

Not if there's a blizzard of low clouds obstructing the view! :mad:

I doubt Michigan is anywhere near the arctic circle, but we average only TWO days with sun during our winter months. I don't think I have a single friend that does not experience some level of depression and anxiety during the winter because of the conditions. I have enough issue here; living in the arctic circle would in all seriousness make me suicidal.

30/85 is actually my preferred temp, with a bit of humidity to help w/ my thin hair and very dry skin. In June and August it's not uncommon for several weeks of 95-115 degree temps. That's a wee bit over the top, but I won't complain b/c I'd take 115 (even w/ no air conditioning in our home) over -25F any day!
 
I can't stand extreme cold. We do get sun in the winter, although not as much as I'd like. But I also can't stand extreme humidity. It's just disgusting, unpleasant and the air is awful. Makes it so hard for me to breathe - only time I've had to use a puffer was while running outside in the summer.
 
andberlin said:
(...Or why I can't stand Sydney in summer)

It's 11pm and still pushing close to 30C (85F) outside, not to mention the fact that there is no breeze whatsoever. Gah! :crazy:

:drool:
 
andberlin said:
(...Or why I can't stand Sydney in summer)

It's 11pm and still pushing close to 30C (85F) outside, not to mention the fact that there is no breeze whatsoever. Gah! :crazy:

Do you know what I would give for 30C right now? I was born and raised in South Africa - the climate is roughly the same as the climate in Australia, so I have a fairly good idea about what an Australian summer is like. Honestly, you don't know how good you have it.

I moved to Canada almost six years ago and I still haven't acclimatised to the weather here yet. And I'm not even in the coldest part of Canada! Newfoundland probably has the mildest winter in terms of temperature, once you exclude places like BC/Vancouver out of the picture. Do you know what walking outside in -10C with a windchill factor of -20C is like? Upon exiting your house, your eyes immediately start to stream. You walk out onto the road to reach your bus stop, only to realise that there is black ice on the road. You can't see black ice. So you slip. Then, when you get to the bus stop, you have to expose your hands to the frigid wind to get out your bus pass. Repeat this several times over a month. Your hands become dry, raw and eventually bloody, even with hand cream. Not to mention what happens to your lips! God forbid you forget your handy tube of Chapstick at home.

And that's just day-to-day commuting! Then you have shovelling your driveway to worry about. There is nothing glamorous about it, believe you me. The aforementioned annoyances are amplified ten-fold, because it usually takes between one to two hours to get your driveway shovelled. Then the bloody plough driver goes by and dumps even MORE snow into your driveway. Then you have to get rid of that. And, again, this is all in -20C windchill.

So in short, stop whining, you bloody Aussie. :wink: Go to the beach, play a bit of rugby, enjoy it! I'd give anything to be in your shoes at the moment.
 
1stepcloser said:
How can you complain about living in Sydney??!!

you guys aren't paying attention!!
last night i had a massive dummy spit on another message board at 10:30pm because it was STILL 32 degrees where i am. it was hot, humid, and so still.

today is hot, too. not as hot as yesterday, but for gods sake it is march! we get maybe 2 weeks of cold weather here. it's ridiculous. you guys who are complaining about the cold - it is precisely the opposite here. we need somewhere inbetween.

:heatstroke:
 
Angela Harlem said:


you guys aren't paying attention!!
last night i had a massive dummy spit on another message board at 10:30pm because it was STILL 32 degrees where i am. it was hot, humid, and so still.

today is hot, too. not as hot as yesterday, but for gods sake it is march! we get maybe 2 weeks of cold weather here. it's ridiculous. you guys who are complaining about the cold - it is precisely the opposite here. we need somewhere inbetween.

:heatstroke:

I'll trade you one :heatstroke: for one :frostbite:

:wink:
 
Angela Harlem said:


you guys who are complaining about the cold - it is precisely the opposite here. we need somewhere inbetween.

A lot of the US has both extremes. For example, I live in west Michigan and we get snow blizzards from October through the end of April and have as little sun during this time as places like Seattle. However, July and August are generally mid-80s but often get as high as 100s for several weeks. The past two summers we've had four weeks of temps 95-115. Not cool when no person in college and many many families don't have air conditioning. This past summer, the heat and humidity were so bad that all of the photos and art hanging in my room were damaged and my mattress was ruined with mold. The paint literally peels off the walls at that point. I don't get why it gets so hot "up" here, but I relish every minute of it. In the past year, we've had massive floods, tornadoes on my wedding day, an ice thunderstorm last week, freezing rain the other day, Lake Effect snow blizzards (often dropping several feet in a few hours).

The most humid conditions I've ever experienced (including summer in East Africa) has been camping in the Florida Everglades during the summer. I think you sweat off a pound of water weight every few minutes!

SoCal is the best - not too hot, not too cold, often sunny, no major weather extremes. Too bad I could never afford living there.

But I still prefer the heat over the cold any day!
 
Yeah, like Liesje said, we have both extremes. It's hell in the winter and then hell in the summer. We don't really have a spring to speak of, suddenly the snow is gone and it's humid out. Very strange.

Gibson Girl, you forgot about the constant snot pouring out of your nose in winter. That's my favourite part! :hyper: :|

I liked northern California as well. San Fran and area are way nicer than LA and SoCal, IMO. Expensive as hell, though. I can write the California Bar with my Canadian degree and I won't lie - I've thought about it!
 
anitram said:


Gibson Girl, you forgot about the constant snot pouring out of your nose in winter. That's my favourite part! :hyper: :|


But how can it pour out when it freezes solid before it even gets to your nostril? :mad:

Nothing like already having to deal with being sick and then having snotcicles in your nose.
 
Liesje said:


But how can it pour out when it freezes solid before it even gets to your nostril? :mad:

Nothing like already having to deal with being sick and then having snotcicles in your nose.

Don't you love how you're walking outside, then you get inside and in 30 seconds, it all pours out? Classy!!

The worst for me is the dry skin. My legs get leg dandruff. For real.
 
anitram said:


The worst for me is the dry skin. My legs get leg dandruff. For real.

Ditto, every inch of me gets flaky and itchy. I won't even look at my legs until May. The worst is the itchy scalp, since it's so irritating but obviously you can't go around scratching your head. Either that, or the constant nosebleeds.

I use the Olay body moisturizer you put on in the shower and it has helped a bit for most of my body. I don't like the smell much, but it lasts a lot longer than putting on regular lotion.
 
Try Miami humidity.

There are about 5-6 "cold" days a year. Everything else is 80 - 100 degrees, most of the time with an 80% or above humidity rating. As my friend says, "air you can wear."

I dare you. I triple dog dare any of you to visit here in September and work outside for a day, or walk a few blocks or anything. It feels like suffocation in your lungs. Your hair frizzes up beyond control. Everything...everything sticks to you. I've picked up pieces of paper with an open hand due to the stickiness.

On top of that, every single afternoon in the summer there is a thunderstorm. Miami is the lightning capital of the world.

Flooding because we are below sea level... :drool:

Hurricanes... :drool: :drool:
 
LemonMacPhisto said:
Central Florida isn't that much different.

:|

:up: I've been there plenty of times.

But your guys get a bit more wintery temperatures than we do. It's always a few degrees cooler up there.
My friends in Gainesville have several 40 degree nights a year. We are lucky if we get more than two. :(

I want snow. :( :( :(
 
Central and southwestern Ohio doesn't have all that much to offer, but well, the weather isn't as bad as it could be. We generally get all the seasons (although I bet people in northern states and countries scoff at our winters, and it's true no one here has ever really figured out how to drive in snow so even a dusting wreaks havoc on the roads) without getting too much of any one season. It does tend to be humid in the summer, and just about everyone who lives in the SW part of the state (at least) develops sinus problems, but even that humidity isn't as bad as the states to the south of us. And at least part of the state is prone to tornadoes.

Oh, and the state name has only four letters, so it's really easy to spell. Gotta look at the good points (often they aren't all that easy to find...). :)
 
LemonMacPhisto said:
Central Florida isn't that much different.

:|

I only ever go to southwestern Fla, but camping in the Everglades this past summer was the closest I've ever come to passing out from heat. The bugs were so incredibly bad we had to wear pants and full jackets with hoods on if we left the tent. Once I went out for a few minutes to get something from the car and came back soaked through and through, panting and very dizzy. I still love camping there though, the humidity is a welcome relief, just not during the bug season!
 
Re: Re: Why I want to live above the Arctic Circle...

GibsonGirl said:

So in short, stop whining, you bloody Aussie. :wink: Go to the beach, play a bit of rugby, enjoy it! I'd give anything to be in your shoes at the moment.

Rugby? Pfft. The REAL football started last weekend. There are no threads dedicated to Rugby in PEUP.
 
GibsonGirl said:

...So in short, stop whining, you bloody Aussie. :wink: Go to the beach, play a bit of rugby, enjoy it! I'd give anything to be in your shoes at the moment.

My driveway just melted :combust:

That rant was so great, I’m going to start calling you MercerGirl.

Winter in the city is not fun at all! St. John’s is encased in snow and ice at the moment, the place where GG and I live. It’s like an Olympic bobsled course here...with giant snowbanks obscuring the view of what’s around the corner. Whether you’re driving or walking, you just pray that everyone else can see you when you make your move.

I actually don’t mind the cold and snow...as long as I can play in it. I’m originally from a smaller town, where we’d ski and snowshoe in the winter. It’s harder to do that here...I’m just shovelling instead of playing. On top of that, I’ve somehow managed to land myself a role as the official shoveller-for-older-people on the street. I miss home :(

If there’s an upside to living in an ice world, it’s that you do end up appreciating the warm whether when it finally comes. It’s probably also character-building. I keep telling myself this.
 
After reading through this post, I think I'm in love with the weather we have... :ohmy:

(I've just found out that we have about the same latitude as Hawaii)

OK, I tend to forget the bloody heat we have in the summer during the winter, in August you'll hear from me complaining the weather ! :no:
 
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