It is -38. With the windchill it is -51.
So...naturally, today I'm working from home.
And this may sound crazy, but I actually had to bicker a bit with my supervisor as to why I should be able to stay home to work on some computer and data work I was going to do on my work computer today. If I lived out of town it would be OK for some reason, but being in town...well everyone *else* is coming in, so why not me? Bah. I'm still not sure if they'll make me take a sick day or holiday day or not...but frankly I don't care. It's minus fifty one freaking degrees...and it will get colder as the day goes on before warming up overnight. I have to walk 15 minutes in this and then wait for a bus, which may or may not be running to get to work, to do things I can easily do at home today on the computer. And I honestly am working hard here at home (OK I'm taking a coffee break now). I actually am getting more done, strangely enough, as there's noone bugging me.
As far as I'm concerned, -40 is my "I'm not going in to work unless I have something critical to do" temperature.
If I could die going in to work, and my car (even while plugged in) barely started with the tires feeling slightly squared when J went to work...well, I'm staying home. And I really defy them saying I shouldn't.
Sometimes we get so caught up in working and doing things that we forget that maybe when it's so cold you could die...you should just take the day off. I mean in BC and Ontario if it snows they get a snow day. What does a blizzard with arctic temperatures the next morning fall under? It's gotta be worth something.
It's warmer here at home..
I've got coffee and work and a cat on my lap. And honestly - I have nothing in the lab planned that couldn't be postponed for a day.
So - opinion poll? Do you readers think I'm being whiney and should have gone into work, or is a cold/snow day justifiable?
7 comments:
You wuss.
No, I think it is understandable. I'd probably do it if I had the appropriate winter gear to protect my eyes and extremities, but I am on good terms with Old Man Winter. (unlike some ungrateful souls I could name...)
"Frostbite (congelatio in medical terminology) is the medical condition whereby damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. At or below 0° C (32° F), blood vessels close to the skin start to narrow (constrict). This helps to preserve core body temperature. In extreme cold or when the body is exposed to cold for long periods, this protective strategy can reduce blood flow in some areas of the body to dangerously low levels. The combination of cold temperature and poor blood flow can cause severe tissue injury by freezing the tissue. Frostbite is most likely to happen in body parts farthest from the heart, and those with a lot of surface area exposed to cold. The initial stages of frostbite are sometimes called "frostnip". Mountains or high altitudes with snow are most dangerous to cause frostbite."
From our friends at Wiki
I think you're better off not losing an appendage for work.
You are lucky to be able to work from home rather than just taking a sick day.
I agree totally though, walking for 15 minutes and then waiting for a bus that may or may not come and that may or may not make it all the way to where you want to go? No question, I would stay at home.
You should have asked the boss if your insurance would pay for cosmetic surgery to replace any thing that falls off due to frostbite!
you are in the right, and the warm. They often go together, I find, especially in almost-February.
i think it's important to have boundaries with work - otherwise it's too easy to slide into "work" thinking - whether it's corporate or academic (are those still separate categories?) After all, you are taking good care of one of their valuable resources.
and if all else fails give em a good ole bill the cat pttthhhhhh.
Hell, the Bag Lady doesn't want to go in to work today, and she works at home!! Seriously, when it's this cold, if you can work productively from home, where's the problem? The Cowboy has been off work since the cold snap started here - 3 days now. His equipment out in the bush wouldn't start.
Holy frozen piles of crap! Next time I am tempted to complain about it being cold here, I am coming back and reading this post again.
Dude, if it ever got that cold where I lived, the only reason I would leave the house is to catch a plane to somewhere warmer. LikeAntarctica.
(I was going to ask if that was Fahrenheit or Centigrade, and then realized that at -40 it actually doesn't matter.)
I remember walking through -40 at BBC. It was the day before I left for BC for the Christmas break and there was a blizzard. I had the full beard, parka and goggles. I had had dinner at your Principal's house (I forget his name)and walked back to my dorm. When I looked in the mirror I could see ice hanging off of my beard and moustache. I thought to myself, "Holy Crap, I look like Kurt Russell in The Thing!"
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