Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Overdressed

I had to go into the city on Monday to conduct an inspection. There is another large demolition, remodeling and construction project on the University of Chicago and we have a small part of the work on that. I had to go document the state of one building as they are ramping up demolition.

Well, the wind made the temperature feel like -25 I think is what I heard. So I decided, since I had to put gas in the car and walk three blocks to the job site, I best dress for weather.

Now, I grew up in this stuff. At some point, I'll post some of the photos I have taken in the 1970's which show snow the likes of which we haven't seen since the mid 1980's. I have friends who live in places where that kind of snow is routine. We'd dress for snow and cold and go out in it. I remember when girls weren't allowed to wear pants to school except under their dresses from December through February. We had to take our pants off once we got to school. Yes, this was a public school. When I was in 7th grade, the school board decided girls could wear pants during the day, too.

So, yesterday morning, I put on heavy socks to wear with my snow boots and a heavy pair of jeans. I don't have long-johns anymore. It wouldn't be a good investment if I did buy them as I'm not out in the cold that much. I did put on a pair of knit shorts under the jeans. Then, I wore a t-shirt and this sweater. I guess this would be termed a "ski" sweater. It's pretty heavy duty knitted. I don't remember where I got it, I've had it so long.

After that, it was time for the rest of the outfit. I wore earmuffs, gloves and my Iowa Hawkeyes Starter jacket. This jacket is probably close to 15 years old. We got this coat, on sale, for Carole. Supposedly, it was a $100 jacket and we got it for $40. She wore it for 2 or 3 years and then moved on to a different coat. I took it when she didn't want it. It's down-filled and has a hood. When you put this on, you feel overstuffed, regardless of what you have on beneath it. It is only waste length so you need to be prepared for your tush to be a bit chilled.

But the whole idea is to keep your core, your internal organs, warm. I was so hot by the time the inspection ended, I was sweating. I stood in the foyer of the building, flapping my coat to cool off before going back into the chill. When I got to the car, I took off the coat and tossed it on the front seat, driving back to the office in just street clothes. I did put the coat on to go from the car to the office, simply because I didn't have an extra arm to carry it and I knew I'd need it when I left for the night.

This has been one of the best coats ever and certainly worth the $40 we paid for it.

Beverage: Irish Breakfast tea

Deb

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