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Date Posted: 00:09:27 01/30/05 Sun
Author: No name
Subject: Allison's replacement?

Is this what passes for journalism in Wilkes-Barre? Allison's legacy? My God.

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/10742770.htm
Posted on Thu, Jan. 27, 2005


Baby, it's frigid outside!
Nasty wind-chill estimates inspire caution
By ISABELLE HOOLEY
ihooley@leader.net
Today's frigid air might bring back those memories of when you were a kid walking uphill to school, barefoot, in snow up to your neck.

It is indeed cold, but not as cold as it was on Jan. 21, 1994, when the temperature hit a low of 21 below zero in Avoca, the lowest recorded temperature since 1955 for this area, according to National Weather Service records.

Today's expected high of 13 degrees (with some wind-chill factor estimates between 15 and 35 below zero) might not seem like anything to joke about. But we have to have some fun, right?

When it gets this cold, when the wind whistles through your teeth and freezes the gunk in your nose, you can deal by playing certain cold-weather games.

For example, ask your friends and co-workers how much money it would take to get them to run across Public Square five times in a bathing suit with ice cubes in their armpits.

Or roll down all your car windows on your morning commute and yell, "Oh, it's so HOT out! I'm dying here. Somebody get me a Pina Colada!"

OK, maybe not.

But seriously now, there are things to be mindful of when the temperature goes this low.

Dr. Ann Yezerski, a physiologist at King's College relayed the message that human skin can freeze almost instantly at 50 below zero. With the wind chill perhaps getting down into the minus twenties, you'd be well-advised to cover all exposed skin.

And there's always that old cold-weather plumbing problem.

"God bless 'em, there're going to be people waking up tomorrow with frozen pipes," Gary Slusser, of Slusser Brothers plumbing in Wilkes-Barre, said Wednesday. He recommended letting your water trickle continuously if you usually have a problem with your pipes freezing.

Many area plumbers are frantically busy. (Tried getting one on the phone?) When you finally reach one, you could be paying hundreds of dollars or more, depending on the damage, Slusser said.

Along with the usual side effects of cold come some less obvious but equally horrifying perils of frosty air.

Floppy, numb lips can fling saliva and obscure normal communication. (Watch for slurring and telltale phrases such as, "Thee-ya later.")

So try to stay inside. If you absolutely must venture out, wrap a scarf over your mouth. Whatever you do, stay away from Public Square. Unless you really need the money and look halfway decent in your bathing suit.

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