Brrrr
I'm on call this weekend, and because of where slides for the weekend's cases are and where the surgeons are operating I'm spending the morning northside at Unity and Mercy. It meant an early start, leaving before a gorgeous sunrise. A couple of bright planets were in the sky too.
It was minus 17 degrees this morning at 6:45. Fahrenheit. Ugh. After two hours at Unity the truck started right up, but the steering fluid was almost frozen solid. That made an interesting drive the first couple of miles towards Mercy. Now, at noon, it's about minus ten and sunny.
We go through a couple days of this every year, and this is our time. Last year it was in early February and I went flying in 55R to see what happened. Jet-like climb rates happened (dense air gives more engine power and better wing lift) but it was uncomfortable. The year before that we hibernated like the unacclimatized fools we were.
But I remember a trip here, almost exactly 20 years ago to the day, when I vowed I'd never move here. I interviewed at Mayo Clinic for medical school in early 1988, taking a Northwest 727 from Oklahoma City through Minneapolis to Rochester. The base temperature that day was about the same as today; the wind was howling, and the wind chill calculations they used back then gave a ridiculous -50 F number at MSP and a scary -80 F at RST. The door wouldn't open at Minneapolis, trapping us in the plane for a while. And in Rochester the gangway froze in place, the fuel truck in front of the right wing stalled, and the fueler, truck driver and truck disappeared in a cloud of snow as the plane went into reverse thrust to go to another gate. I can visualize that like it was last week. Miserable.
On the way home, stuck in Memphis for a snowstorm, I told Dad I was NOT coming here, whether I got accepted or not. That made him less than happy. I made alternate at Mayo, not bad with only 40 per class, but having acceptances elsewhere I didn't wait out the list, so the theory that I'd turn down Mayo was never tested.
I'll never live there....
So, here we are. It'll be 25 degrees warmer by Tuesday, a balmy 10 degrees. By next month it'll be in the twenties, perfect for skiing and tubing. Bring on the jokes. I'll likely be laughing at you come summertime.
It was minus 17 degrees this morning at 6:45. Fahrenheit. Ugh. After two hours at Unity the truck started right up, but the steering fluid was almost frozen solid. That made an interesting drive the first couple of miles towards Mercy. Now, at noon, it's about minus ten and sunny.
We go through a couple days of this every year, and this is our time. Last year it was in early February and I went flying in 55R to see what happened. Jet-like climb rates happened (dense air gives more engine power and better wing lift) but it was uncomfortable. The year before that we hibernated like the unacclimatized fools we were.
But I remember a trip here, almost exactly 20 years ago to the day, when I vowed I'd never move here. I interviewed at Mayo Clinic for medical school in early 1988, taking a Northwest 727 from Oklahoma City through Minneapolis to Rochester. The base temperature that day was about the same as today; the wind was howling, and the wind chill calculations they used back then gave a ridiculous -50 F number at MSP and a scary -80 F at RST. The door wouldn't open at Minneapolis, trapping us in the plane for a while. And in Rochester the gangway froze in place, the fuel truck in front of the right wing stalled, and the fueler, truck driver and truck disappeared in a cloud of snow as the plane went into reverse thrust to go to another gate. I can visualize that like it was last week. Miserable.
On the way home, stuck in Memphis for a snowstorm, I told Dad I was NOT coming here, whether I got accepted or not. That made him less than happy. I made alternate at Mayo, not bad with only 40 per class, but having acceptances elsewhere I didn't wait out the list, so the theory that I'd turn down Mayo was never tested.
I'll never live there....
So, here we are. It'll be 25 degrees warmer by Tuesday, a balmy 10 degrees. By next month it'll be in the twenties, perfect for skiing and tubing. Bring on the jokes. I'll likely be laughing at you come summertime.
posted by The Minnesota Sheltons | 9:51 AM
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