Surviving the cold

Old timers will talk about months on end at -40, but last week’s blast of cold weather was enough for most people.

Here at the worldwide headquarters for Tumbler RidgeLines, I discovered that slow leak in my front tire was actually a crack in the rim, when the tire suddenly went all the way flat. Having got that dealt with, I have moved into production with yet another flat. Sigh.

Vehicle troubles seemed to be the biggest thing people faced. On Facebook, Sarah Lampshade said her coolant exploded and got all over her engine, and her car wouldn’t start for two days. When it finally did, the engine sounded “super gnarly and smelled like burning.”

Battery issues were one of the biggest troubles, so Damon Chaboyer was out with his jump pack, boosting people who couldn’t get their cars started.

Meanwhile, Dave Thompson had car trouble of a different type. He just sold his car, but needed to do some work on it before the new owner came to pick it up. And then the temperature went down to -40. “I needed garage space and Chris Leonard generously offered his garage and provided heat, light, tools, hot chocolate, and a friendly helping hand,” says Thompson. “It was still cold in the garage but it was manageable. We tore the engine apart and completed the job over the weekend.”

But more than the cold, Thompson said, it’s the people that made the whole exercise so memorable. “Pat Armitage provided an essential tool at the last minute. Mark Campbell lent a helping hand. Gerard Ferand, many friends, and especially my wife encouraged me all through the process and Tim Fenton made himself available if I ran into trouble. My family and friends in Vancouver ran around gathering the parts I would need last weekend and Yvonne Poulin carried them home in her luggage to FSJ on Tuesday. Wonderful community we have here in Tumbler Ridge, especially in times of need and challenging weather conditions!”

Finally, Amber-Lee Nelson says “My tire sensor said my tire was low when it wasn’t…other than that my truck started like nothing much to my disappointment and I had to go outside and to work.”

No stories of people’s furnaces stopping working, but Sue Hammond says her door froze shut and, even if she had wanted to go out, couldn’t, which was a bit scary for someone living in Hartford Court. Fortunately, her daughter, Karen, is in town and could rescue her if needed, but Karen wasn’t going out, either. “My dog’s ready to murder me for not bringing her for a walk,” quips Karen.

Speaking of walking dogs, my Husky has been loving the cold weather. In an effort to teach him not to run away from me, I let him off his leash when we get to the door, just to teach him that he doesn’t need to run away when he’s outside and off leash. He’s pretty good if he’s within 20 feet of the door.

And, it turns out, if it’s not colder than -30. Returning from a -38 walk the other day, I let him off the leash and he immediately said “yoink!” and ran out to the road.

He achieved his goal of internet fame that day, showing up on Facebook. I ignored him for a while, then took the truck out for a ride. He immediately came running over and jumped in, thinking we were going out into the bush for a run. We went for an eight hour trip to FSJ instead. When we got home, he walked nicely to the door, and, as I reached to open it, yoink!

This time I just started the car, waited for him to come back expecting another eight hour drive, and grabbed him by the collar to take him into the house.

Yesterday, I was smart and kept him on his leash. But as I went to open the door, “yoink”, he said, pulling the leash from my hand as I was transferring it from one hand to the other.

Sigh.

You know that “if you’re cold, they’re cold” meme that makes the rounds every year when it gets like this? Yeah, no.

The town’s OJ Tech guy Bret Wiseman (no longer in Tumbler, but still participating on some of the Facebook groups) says “Abnormal temperatures? When I moved to Tumbler Ridge in 1983 we had over a month of -40 or so. Each winter. It was always minus 30 or even lower for Halloween. It would be -45 at the pit and in that week with the wind chill on Quintette Mountain was the equivalent of -110. I am sure someone around has the has the old weather records from the mine. Probably be an interesting read.”

Barb Dostal says that radio station CJDJ gave out certificates one year saying “We survived -50.” That was back in the late 80s, she says. “It was much colder and lasted much longer.”

I suspect they had to walk uphill both ways too and from school, too.