WTF Go Away Winter

 

Not sure who told Winter to come callin early this year but whomever it was needs their a$$ Beat. Good thing I started collectin up fire wood back in early October rather than waiting until November as I usually do to get it all prepped up. Thing is I have plenty of wood now but I just wasn't splittin it up and moving it to the burn stacks all that fast. According to my calculations I had enough ready to go to last until almost Christmas for a usual Winter (figuring on needing about half what I usually needed for the Furnace anyway) and it hasn't even made it to the end of November.

WTF?

This has easily been the coldest November I can ever remember. I am not overly worried as I have plenty of wood cut and cured but I need to spend a full day or two now splitting it. I was going to do some more today but not only did I spend most of the day trying to combat 18 MPH winds with temps in the low 20's all damned day and half of what I still had on my trailer was still stuck in Ice that was snow Tuesday morning.  

Solid ice in mid-November that lasts for days? Again WTF?

Generally Fall and Winter have basically three stages for me.

Stage 1 - Is what I call the kindling stage because I am constantly starting fires. Every morning I get one going usually from the coals left from the night before. Go to work and the Wife will usually feed it once or twice as she needs it after I am gone. I then sometimes start another fire in the late afternoon that I feed a few times until bed. This stage usually lasts until mid or Late December when I move to the next stage.

Stage 2 - Winter end of December until mid to late February. Can pretty much count on keeping the fire going all day and over night. Sometimes we get a false Spring in February my most favorite time of the year if it happens.

Stage 3 - Alberta Clipper watch during stage 2. These suck. Teens and low single digits. Turn the outside water off, start the inside pipes dripping and prepare to be cold. Usually only happens one to three times a year during January and February at most.

Stage 4 - March. Basically a repeat of Stage 1 until about the end of March. Sometimes Stage 2 can carry over into the first week or so but generally the uncomfortable parts of Winter are done by then and we even see some early flowers pushing through by Mid-March.

Whatever this is for November is a cruel joke.

I read a longer term prediction that suggests this is a front loaded Winter. I hope that is true cause it has already been cold enough and we ain't done yet with lows already into the teens tonight and tomorrow night being predicted. 

And of course as busy as I am with this unseasonably early Winter I get a massive Factory dump of cars left for me this afternoon. Means I gotta work on Saturday for sure tomorrow. 

Scuttle butt from the couriers suggests things are getting downright dismal with less than two loan applications going out a day for the last month. If true that is almost apocalyptic-ally bad. Enough to make anyone begin to question their employment chances going forward. Most of my coworkers are probably living barely paycheck to paycheck as it is as slim as they have had their own margins cut. 

I hope things improve soon or this is going to be a very uncomfortable Winter for many.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!