JIM WELLER (1:123/140) wrote to ALL at 00:02 on 30 Jan 2008:

 JW> It was -44.5 C (-48 F) here today and will remain at -41 or colder
 JW> for at least another 5 days if not longer. That's the coldest
 JW> weather we've had since 12 years ago when it hit -51 C one night
 JW> during a week of -40 or colder and six weeks of continuously below
 JW> -35.

We commisserate.  It's not quite as cold here jn Whitehorse but a steady
diet of -39 does not make one feel good.  Fortunately my oil tank was
relatively full and my water line is heated with an electrical heat tape so
we have heat and water.  But a steady diet of this will not do much for me.


 JW> Furnaces in poorly insulated homes run continuously, without pause,
 JW> until a fuel pump or other critical part fails.

Our furnace does manage to stop but at $1.07 per litre, it's burning more
than I'd like. 

 JW> We had a 90 minute power outage last night and over a hundred
 JW> homes,including my own, have frozen water mains underground because
 JW> the re-circulating pumps on the lines were inactive. The steamer
 JW> guy had 100 calls logged by the time I called in and even though
 JW> he's running 24 hours a day he won't get to me for 4 days. So we
 JW> are showering at my daughter's place and lugging home 15 litres of
 JW> water a day for coffee and brushing our teeth and melting snow to
 JW> flush toilets. Laundry and dirty dishes will just pile up. 5 of the
 JW> 40 rentals I manage have similar problems. Non-essential service
 JW> calls like drippy taps and broken Jacuzzi pumps are simply on hold
 JW> indefinitely.

Yukon Energy has advised us that they're running close to capacity and may
have to fire up their diesels,  One hopes they will run.

 JW> Vehicles that have not been plugged in will not start even with a
 JW> boost and the tow truck operators are backed up 5-6 hours. Garages
 JW> are charging $100 to park cars overnight to thaw and have a three
 JW> day inventory waiting in their yards. Tires go flat spontaneously
 JW> and the repair shops are backed up 2-3 days.

I lost a tire this morning.  Painful! 

 JW> Oh, the joys of northern living!

Indeed!

Take care,

Steven Horn (steven.horn{at}northwestel.net)
Moderator, ALASKA_CHAT 
--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+