Is it too Cold to type?

[Arnie]

Hi! Yall,

I take it this fierce winter and deep snow is causing you all, except Bill, to stay indoors.
What a time to communicate with everyone.
I won't say I know what you are going through cos I have forgotten.
My youngest daughter has had enough of the heat here and is about to join her older sister in New Zealand. She would rather suffer the threat of earthquakes every week or so than the tremendous heat in Western Australia. 37 Centigrade today. Will get slightly hotter before we come into our Autumn.
Anyway, let's have you all telling me how you are enjoying the snow. Oh! to be in the Harz Mountains with a good pair of skis and something to wrap up well in.

Get writing and lets us all know how you suffered the coldest you ever experienced.

Arnie and Brenda wish you all the best.

[JOHN LYALL]

Good day Arnie!,

I envy you. 37 degrees, sounds fantastic. Up here in the great white north, we had a dump of snow, again, this morning, and we are expecting another dump of snow tonight. I believe we have endured 3 polar vortexes this winter, where the temperature has dropped to the minus 40 area, and in some areas was even colder. My son just got back from Mexico, where it was 30 above every day in Cancun. I am encouraging him to do that as often as possible! The senoritas, the sun, and the beaches with some beers is well deserved. The winters here suck, just like our Prime Minister! Soon, however it will be spring and the good weather will return and I can crank up the bar be cue. The cold weather has reached Los Angeles, which is further south, and created havoc with our American neighbors, which is good because their electric cars are all in the ditch, IF, they could get them to move! They are also experiencing flooding, so apart from electric cars, now they need amphibious cars! Yanks, I don't feel sorry for them. Their government can spend 115 billion dollars on someone else's problem, but they won't help their own people!

Not sure what Bill's up to? Could be chasing his neighbour's dogs and cats around his neighbourhood!
Pinky's probably digging himself out of the snow, wishing he had a beer!

All the best Arnie,

JL/

[Bill Bentley]

Just a quick reply, only 30 pages ...

My coldest memories were, strangely, in the desert. There the difference between day and night can exceed 50 degrees Celsius. That's about 4873 F !
When you're on duty with only the clothes you are wearing, the rest being hardware it's hard to find the ideal atire.
We used to dig into the sand with our bare hands, then bury ourselves with the warm sand. Each hour later diging deeper and repeat. ln the morning we were lucky to get out of the hole that we had excavated.
l didn't enjoy the desert !

We are very busy setting up our new garden. It hasn't rained for almost a year here.
l now have a 600 Liter water-tank inside my minibus ... needed to sustain our many new trees etc.
Still l'm optimistic that rain will come, why else would l build a 12,000 Liter storage ?

Stay safe and warm,
but not too hot or cold !

Best wishes from Bill & Rahi

[Pinky]

Howdy,
My coldest exercise on Soltau was in 1985 it got to -21 I think. Rum ration was out, beers were placed around the edge of fires to thaw. Coldest I did at BATUS was -29 1n 1995 on OPFOR with 2RTR. The word BALTIC was used lots.
I recall a New Years Eve here was -39, gladly we hosted the party that year........2018. Remember with the wind factor it was colder.
We've had lots of snow again and woke up this morning to a -12. Been here 20 years and still dislike the winters.
Oh happy days......

Pinky

[JOHN LYALL]

Hello Pinky,
Yes, I remember those winter exercises in Germany as well. The Chieftain didn't have any heaters, so I use to lift the transmission decks and sleep in an upright position inside that compartment. Noisy yes, but warm!

Good luck with the garden Bill. Relaxing but rewarding. My wife and I miss our garden. Best fruit and veggies ever. Will you be using water pumps or gravity fed? Honda puts out some good water pumps as does Fluentpower. I've used them, and they never let me down.

Hey Arnie, sounds like you need to mix up some water and baby lotion in a spray bottle, spray it on you and it brings on the tan! People will think your from the middle east!

All the best,

JL/

[Arnie]

John,

sometimes I think I AM in the Middle East or Asia somewhere, what with all the Burkas, escorting their myriad children, around the Shopping Centres. I only recently noticed the phenomenal amount of Indians too. I don't know how the Sub-Continent population is growing year by year when they all seem to be coming here. I have some idea of what the Aborigines must have felt like when all the whites kept coming and coming.
I gave up chasing a tan a long, long time ago. In old age, my skin is like tissue paper, and now tears with the slightest knock.

Pinky,

my coldest exercise was a 1 nighter with HQ 7 Armoured Brigade, somewhere in the Teuterburger Wald. It only reached -27 Celcius.
We moved 7 times so no sleep was possible despite the cold. The following morning the OC of the Signals Company, accompanied by his CSM came around trying to bolster our spirits. He only asked once, "Had we all done our ablutions?" He was answered, very surprisingly, by his CSM, "You must be Fucking joking!"

Get your snow shoes out and enjoy yourself.

Arnie and Brenda Stay safe and well

[Bill Bentley]

Luckily up on the mountain behind us, still on our land, there is an ancient ruin and that's exactly where the track officially ends. So I am siting my main domestic water tanks inside the walls of the ruin on a new platform. From there it's all gravity fed, as low tech as possible ! That said our Solar will be set up across the front of the tanks providing them with shadow. It's the perfect site for the solar 100% free skies all the way down to the Med. I have a secondary rain water collecting tank just off to the side of the ruin and that also gravity feeds my other irrigation water tanks. At the moment I'm having to top that all up from a 600 liter tank which I have fitted in my minibus ... still waiting for rain !

Y'all take care ...

PS: I've just found a bunch of pm's in my mailbox which seem to have resolved themselves with time, thanks guys !

[Pinky]

Lots of snow.........too much shoveling.
Might be off these means for while.......lol.

Pinky

[JOHN LYALL]

Polar Bears will be heading North next week Pinky, it's going to be above zero!

[Arnie]

Bill, my hobby, nowadays, is watching other people work. It is fascinating.
I have been following a guy on Youtube for five or so years His site is Red Poppy Ranch. It is in SE Idaho. 10 foot of snow in the mountains where the Ranch is at the moment.
He seems to be like you, Bill, only more so. Submits weekly videos which cover everything he has done during the week. He built the house, single handedly, possibly got help with a few, very few, things. He keeps goats and chickens, he also built a huge workshop, sauna, play house for the kids and a small cabin somewhere in the back of the 49 acre property. Plans to spend the odd W/E there, though he never seems to have the time.
He has a huge following on the site, hence whenever he needs any purchases of machinery, vehicles or tools, he seems to have unlimited money from the Google or whatever.
He was a plumber by trade but he and his wife decided 7 years ago to live debt free by working and working damned hard for himself and his family. Does everything himself nowadays, plumbing, electrics, solar panels. He changes engines in hours if the one he bought with his snowplough turns out to be not powerful enough.
Sit here idly on the computer, wishing that I should have done something like it.

I remember now you don't indulge in Youtube or have you succumbed to temptation? But the site is well worth watching.

What do I know????

Stay safe and well

Arnie & Brenda