[at-l] Keeping warm in "cold" weather warning (especially for"newbies")

[nealb at midlandstech.edu (William Neal)]

After receiving a reply on an earlier posting, I began thinking about the
time Wally World tried protecting it's outdoor garden centers by having
someone stay outside all night.  Back then, they did not have many stores
(if any) that stayed open 24 hrs. a day.  So the stuff stayed outside; open
to the elements and casual shoppers.  

I had to stay outside with the beginning of gardening season (to Wally World
that meant Feb.) through to the end (which was early June).  I had no way to
get inside to warm up, but the store manager grudgingly gave me a broke
Kerosene heater after an asst. manager pointed out the potential problems
for me.  And I fenced in an area with a tarp, but I could not fence it in
close enough to make a good sauna.  Also, I was expected to water plants
(when they came in) and wash down the sidewalks and parking lot where things
were kept.  So I got wet.  And I had to get out in wide open areas to police
the whole lot in front of the store and the grassy areas next to the store.
I got cold.

Now most of the time, the temp. was not all that low: We actually had a mild
winter and early spring.  BUT I almost "froze" several times because I had
no reliable way to stay warm and to really warm up.  Once the inside was
locked, the employees could get out, but I could not get in.  And in either
case, opening (or even bumping) the door set off alarms outside that could
be heard a long ways off, alarms in the local PD, and alarms in the home
office's main security office.  Thus my body's internal temp kept dropping.
When I had the money, I would sneak over to HARDEE'S and get warm.  Of
course some nights, it closed early and opened just before b'fast.  So I
never got warm.  A couple of times I had to jump up and down in front of the
garden center door to attract the attention of the crew inside.  Then I told
them or whoever was in charge that I was headed home.  I usually warmed up
some by vigorously hiking the 3 miles back (I usually carried an Alice Pack
loaded with purchases, books, a thermos...)  And this was in weather that
was not all that cold -- 50 degrees to 60 degrees.  It was just that my body
temp could not stay where it should.

THE MORAL? Don't assume that you are warm or going to be warm just because
the temp is a mild temp.  At night, particularly, you body's temp can drop
dangerously low.  And in the daytime, it can also drop low under the right
conditions -- sat a steady wind that further drops the body's temp.  It does
not have to drop to 32 degrees F for you to be in danger.  Especially if you
get damp and have no way to warm up -- such as having to hobble slowly along
with a sprain.  So take precautions and think before hitting a wintery trail
or even a summer's trail.

William, The Turtle