[RightWhale]

While there are alcohol thermometers around here, they don't get much use outdoors. Mercury neither now that you mention it. We can get 80 below sometimes, lots of broken thermometers, but my indoor-outdoor alcohol thermometer is still going probably because the outdoor bulb is metal rather than glass. Those garden coil-spring thermometers because are popular they will make it through the winter. When I buy a spring thermometer, I will pick the one closest to average from the store's selection, there's a lot of variability.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Ha, I remember as a kid wishing someone would ban those rectal thermometers. Definitely a disincentive to playing sick to get out of school!