Friday, November 23, 2007

It's hard to work hard.


I've tried to tell my girls that working hard isn't a bad thing, but it sucks when you have to work hard when everyone else is off. It is also not a great thing to work hard for someone else to get all the benefit of your work.

I'm thinking this is how Nicki is going to feel when she gets home tonight after working both of her retail jobs on Black Friday. Pac-Sun from 6 AM to 11, then over to a different mall and her new job at Forever 21 from 1 to 9.

It's a character builder, I tell ya.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

What's the wind chill factor for 85 mph?

It's the day before Thanksgiving and my wife took the day off to do some errands. So I rode my motorcycle to work. Not a bad thing this morning, the temperature was about 65. But the forecast called for a cold front to come through mid-morning. So I was prepared and packed up some extra clothes for the ride home.
I purposely didn't check the temperature before I left. Co-workers and friends were telling me all day how crazy I was; that I was going to freeze. The forecasters had all been talking about Thanksgiving Day being 35 degrees colder than the high on Tuesday of 84. So, I'm thinking there will be some lowering of the temp as the front comes through. That is normal, but really, how bad could it be?
I bundled up before climbing on for the ride home. I had on a turtle neck under a long sleeve t-shirt. I had on my socks from when I played softball. They go up to my knees. I had on a thermal hoodie (we used to call them sweatshirts). and my denim jacket. leather "thinsulate" gloves. a wool scarf wrapped around my chin and tied. googles. helmet.
I can tell you that it really wasn't that cold when I went outside. It wasn't bad riding toward the freeway. But then when I got on it, the biggest problem wasn't the temperature. It was the wind! 25 mph wind with 30 mph (or more) gusts just isn't that fun on two wheels. Being a north wind, it meant it was in my face almost all the way home. So when I was riding 65, the effect was that of doing 90. THAT was cold.
So, the answer to the question is 33. That's the wind chill for going 60 into a 25 mph wind. But of course, I went a bit faster at times.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. I appreciate you.