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To: rlmorel

I work outside. Suffice it to say there is no novelty for me in being out in the rain.


39 posted on 08/21/2022 4:14:39 AM PDT by TalBlack (We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: TalBlack

LOL, two different things, no doubt. I wouldn’t expect the same reaction from roofers who might be out in the burning sun or volunteers filling sandbags in a driving rain near a flooded river.

I have done various jobs in my life, but my outdoor work was largely confined to my military service, where working outside was part of the job, and often unpleasantly so.

When I was in the Navy, I worked in an attack squadron that deployed on aircraft carriers, and there were times I did not relish working in the elements at all.

We did a deployment up above the Arctic Circle for a while in October/December time frame, and I recall having to change a Constant Speed Drive on one of our planes as it sat on the flight deck, and my hands were frozen. The wrench slipped, and I put a pretty good gash on one of my knuckles, and it just wouldn’t bleed. The wound remained a stark white color. No blood was going there! When I went below and warmed up, I began to bleed like stuck pig, and it began to really sting.

I recall one time in the Southern Mediterranean in July, it got so damned hot on that flight deck covered in that black non-skid that I felt like I was being roasted from both above and below, never mind the hot jet exhaust that played over you on top of it.

My feet got so desperately uncomfortable (felt to me like they were getting blistered, but they weren’t) that I ripped off my boondockers and cut rectangular holes in each side of them right around the instep.

LOL, didn’t help a bit. I saw someone else do it, so I figured it worked, but...it didn’t.

Point is, I love NOT being required to work in the elements. I can do it if I have to, and I feel that I am knowledgable enough to prepare myself to function in most environments by wearing appropriate garb.

I am just glad I don’t.

But I enjoy feeling what the environment is. When it is cold, I enjoy being able to dress and go out in it, no matter how cold. I just treated myself to a new woolen peacoat. The thing is the heaviest coat I have ever owned, and it isn’t even close. It is also the most expensive I have ever purchased. My Navy peacoat lasted me for years, until it was destroyed during a trip to Buffalo, NY in a bitter February a few years back.

So I bought another one, and it totally sucked. Nowhere near as warm or well built as my Navy peacoat, even though it somewhat looked like it. The new one? The first time we encountered sub-zero weather that winter and it got down to about ten below zero, I had to go out for a walk to see how it held up. It was magnificent! My legs were freezing after a while, but if I had decided to really dress, I have thick woolen pants that have some kind of plastic liner in between the layers that interrupts the wind.

But with all that...no. I enjoy working in an office, cool in the summer and warm in the winter. And it isn’t something I will take for granted, ever.


66 posted on 08/21/2022 9:19:30 PM PDT by rlmorel (Nolnah's Razor: Never attribute to incompetence that which is adequately explained by malice.)
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