I want off the polar vortex's wild ride
this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2026
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Worst weather I ever felt in my life was -60F windchill. It hurt to breathe even through layers of scarf and coat covering my face. I called my work that morning and they said in no uncertain terms that I was to show up or be fired.
I had to yank my car door open that morning to crack the ice that was covering it. The radio said you can't have ANY exposed skin for more than 2 minutes or you risk frostbite.
Amazingly my car started and I drove in to work. At Perkins. Where not one customer came in the entire day.
I love blue collar work where the company really respects you.
When I was about 19 or 20, we had a cold snap where it got down to -100F with wind chill. It was so cold out that the alternator belt on my car shrank and broke the welds holding the pulley onto the shaft. This happened while I was at work, doing the closing shift at a now-defunct retail shop in a shitty mall.
That night, I had to commute about 30 miles to get home, and didn't realize what had happened to my alternator (beyond the sliding/grinding noises) until my headlights started to get reeeeeaaaally dim about 15 minutes into the drive. I had to stop twice at two even-smaller-town gas stations to beg the clerks for a jump to top up the charge on my battery every time my lights got a little too dim. By the time I got home, I had completely lost headlights, but the engine never shut off. Score one for antiquated 1980s caveman cars with ECUs that are really just there to provide suggestions and don't actually control anything important.
that's amazing and also super scary. that could easily have gone really badly for you but im glad your car held out!