Wednesday, January 15, 2014

A Visit From The Cold And Aunt Flo

In case the title doesn't already indicate, this post will have a tad bit TMI. Believe it or not there are a handful of gents that read messy mom and I would hate for them to not get a fair warning.

First off, after our holiday trip to Texas we were welcomed back with some dangerously cold weather that kept the schools shut down two days in a row.



 Having surprise days off is always a treat so I hate to whine about it, but the bitter sub zero days are nothing like the fluffy white snow days where you can play outside. So we went from being trapped in a car on our way to Ohio to being trapped in the apartment.  

It wasn't so bad. J had made a big pot of chili and being in the apartment felt spacious after being together in the car for 24 hours. The trouble hit when after two years of no period (thank you pregnancy and breast feeding) I started my cycle. Of all the times, it was the morning that the inclement weather hit. When the dangerous weather was predicted we got food, we got diapers, we made sure we had plenty of toilet paper. What didn't we have? Pads. So first thing that Monday morning I had to send J out into the freezing, windy, icy warfare for one thing and one thing only (but lots of it)! He did have to phone a friend call me from the feminine hygiene aisle while he stared blankly at the endless boxes of pink, but he managed to stock me up. Man of year I tell ya, Man of the year.

So back at the camp J and I were discussing the actual temperature verses the "feels like" temperature. 



You know what I am talking about. On the news or your weather app, or whatever, it will say the temperature outside is 45 degrees, but feels like 32. Or this one is called "real feel" (which I had never heard before).




Where does this "feels like" temp come from anyway? A quick search on google tells me it is

 “the temperature at the reference humidity level producing the same amount of discomfort as that experienced under the current ambient temperature and humidity”. 

Um, yeah right. You can get all scientific if you want, but I think I know what's going on here. It's the same way I got 7 hours of sleep, but because all 3 kids were in the bed it FEELS LIKE I only had 4. Or, I know I had a full breakfast, but I am a busy nursing mom, so when I pass by dunkin donuts it FEELS LIKE I am still hungry. I can just imagine the hard-nosed meteorologist that came up with this. He's sitting outside all bundled up in his winter coat and he mentions to his intern "Whew, it's got to be like 20 degrees out here!" The nerdy intern responds, "with all due respect sir it's actually only 37". "Yeah, well it FEELS like it's 20 and I am putting that in the forecast!". 



Whether it's sleep, hunger, or the forecast the "Feels Like" is almost never for the better. It's always something like 90 degrees, but FEELS LIKE 108.



 Very rarely do I think or READ that it's 95 degrees outside, but don't worry it feels like 80. Then again when I am on Pinterest and I'm short on time because I need to be cleaning it somehow FEELS LIKE I have all the time in the world. Speaking of which, I really need to get off the computer. This has been a fun discussion though. Stay warm friends. 


2 comments:

Sarah said...

Yes, this "feels like" thing could come in handy, couldn't it. There are so many things that could feel like something they may not actually be. Convenient... We had that really cold weather too, and now this week it's in the 50s. Feels like spring. I keep reminding myself it's only January.

{amy} said...

Such a bad time for Aunt Flo to visit! Cheers to J for picking up supplies! I've wondered how they come up with the "feels like" temp, but I never thought to look it up!