FROZEN TOES, TIRES, AND HAPPY ENDING CAR REPAIRS
Thursday, December 22, 2022
Today is day #2, winter 2022-23; fall is already a distant memory, locked away till next September.
Yesterday, at -28C, our wind chill was -40C.
We’ve started this season opposite of anything resembling global warming.
Most years, our seasons flip by with barely a hiccup as we shift from a little warmer clothing to multiple layers of warm clothing until hope springs long before spring arrives, causing us to doff those layers. That’s normal here; we live in this cold northern country with six months of winter and six months of construction/bad ice. We have a hardy nature every Canadian has earned, one winter at a time.
We are large in land, big in heart and well stocked with toques and mittens; and speaking of a warming trend, I read yesterday that, in Canada, the inflation rate has slowed …
No kidding.
So has everything else.
But inflation has trouble getting overheated when it is this cold.
It was so cold the ketchup wouldn’t pour, summer tires rendered useless climbing any slope while cold parked vehicles developed a squared bottom profile …
I understand the pressure on the peak-load power grid is near critical levels, not so much from running home appliances as plugging in cars, strings of lights, and constant-running furnaces are burning up those KWhs.
Everything is frozen, as my vehicle was for two days; guys at the shop referred to it as a hockey puck, rigid and stiff in every respect. Once inside, though, my Pathfinder warmed to the attention and gratefully received some replacement of failed parts/sensors; it enjoyed the installation of new filters, clean oil, a long overdue servicing, and injections of fresh grease pleased its chilled stiff nipples.
I’m on the road again, yay! Not counting ‘work yet to be done,’ this visit constituted a not so timely for my budget wallet-echtomy. Inflation rates at the shop seem high too, an economic message driven home, and then underscored further at every shopping stop made yesterday.
All kidding aside, Murray, Bruce and their crew at Midnapore Auto have taken good care of me for the last 23 years; we do our part to keep my wheels out of the landfill (240,000 km), playing our role in saving the planet by keeping my money in circulation by supporting Japanese parts makers and keeping Canadian mechanics in grocery money.
The economy is grimacing through this bitter cold, and our collective efforts keep our cash in circulation, making the world go round. My shopping is nearly done; it’s three days to go, and the stores still have merchandise; gentlemen, it’s time to start your Christmas shopping …
P.S. – I recall a great winter lawyer joke, often attributed to Johnny Carson but told by many: “It was so cold last winter that I saw a lawyer walking down the street with his hands in his own pockets.”
Reader feedback:
Hello Mark, Well that was quite the discourse…often if I see this length of prose, I might skip it if busy, but glad I didn’t today as I learn so much! You sure have your finger on the pulse of our history, present and future! I just hope, nah! Not point in that, but maybe at some point a leader will emerge who gets more right! Merry Christmas, again!, SF, Lethbridge, AB
You wrote: “ I could write much more about the government’s stupidity in dealing with telecom, 5G, etc., but I’ll save that for another day because this piece is long already.”I hope I don't miss this one! Have a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas. Talk next year!, SC, Chestermere, AB
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