Author: Steve Cavers

Winnipegians are a hearty folk with antifreeze running in their veins. The temperature is somewhere around minus 35 degrees. That’s without the wind chill factor. With wind chill, it’s about minus 50. Fifty degrees below zero!

With such balmy temperatures, the local corner stores do a brisk business in slushie drinks. I’m not kidding here — the convenience store at the Husky station had a giant sign on the sidewalk that advertised their ice-cold “Cold Sucks”.

Here I am with my brother, Doctor Destructo, relaxing in the back yard with our slush drinks. It’s thirty below in a sheltered spot. At least our slushies won’t melt before we finish them.

Today, I embark on a perilous journey to the frozen wasteland known as Winnipeg. It’s a flat, barren place of snow, dirt, and bison (much of the first two being located on top of the last one). Endless squares of farmland stretch to the horizon under a think blanket of snow, and where the rivers meet, in the city, one can buy knicknacks, interesting snacks, and miniature souvenir canoes. Polar bears roam freely through the city streets, sushi is scarce, and cattle farmers drive snowmobiles up and down the frozen river, beer in hand, with shouts of “whoo hoo!”

Whoo hoo, indeed.

More reports to follow.

Image: The weather report for Winnipeg.

Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.

Please allow me a moment to whine openly about RSI. Recently, my left wrist began to ache. Then feel numb. Now it’s quite weak and hurts all the time. I’m a lefty mouser, and I basically trashed my left wrist by sitting at a computer for most of the day.

So I switched hands. Now both wrists hurt, and I can barely do my job, which requires constant typing and mousing. Basically the only thing one can do to fix the problem is to stop using a computer. Yeah, like I can just stop eating and paying my bills for a while too. I’m sure the bank will understand, right?

Let this be a lesson to all you young whipper-snappers out there who thing it will never happen to you. It will. Stop using your computer now, or you’ll lose the use of your hands.

Ow.