# Christmas shopping at 40 below! HO, HO, HO! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 21, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158 "2008-12-21T04:41:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/21 "2008-12-21T22:23:45Z")
It’s in the teens here, but we just cleaned off the second foot of snow from our driveway in two days. I’ll take the snow any day. Brr! ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/22 "2008-12-22T00:58:16Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > I know; that was the point. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/23 "2008-12-22T04:37:19Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > This will cause the locals to freak out, buy all of the milk, bread, and toilet paper in the stores, and schools to be closed. The best comment I ever heard (I think it was on these boards) regarding people running to the store to buy milk, eggs, bread and toilet paper in any “emergency” was “what are they planning to do, make French toast and get diarrhea?” I admit it, I LOL’d. (-28 with windchill here, -6 F regular. Thought I’d walk half a mile to the store…SO COLD) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/24 "2008-12-22T04:50:41Z")
As a Northerner myself (Iowan), my admiration for Canadians’ hardiness in the face of curl-up-and-die winter temperatures and winds never ceases. The Ferguson Brothers, Canada’s noted satirists, speak of a temperature called “too cold to go to the mall.” They then note that it is “entirely theoretical.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/25 "2008-12-22T04:55:10Z")
Well, I walked a mile to the store today in -31C just for the exercise (and butter), and I am throwing my beret into my halloween costume bag. I feel quite affronted by a hat that did not keep my head warm like a toque would have. I know how to dress to exercise in cold weather; I won’t make the mistake of putting on a beret instead of a toque again (I was just fine other than that). ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/26 "2008-12-22T04:56:54Z")
I have a cheap crappy apartment and while it’s nowhere near the negative degrees some of you Canadians have posted it’s not exactly warm here in Wisconsin right now. It is positive 4F according to NOAA but it’s only 53F in my apartment (desktop thermometer) with the heat on all the way. Also, I don’t have a bed and sleep on the floor. Damn it. At least I have the SDMB to keep me warm. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/27 "2008-12-22T05:00:18Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > \ > The Ferguson Brothers, Canada’s noted satirists, speak of a temperature called “too cold to go to the mall.” They then note that it is “entirely theoretical.” 😃 It only becomes a reality if your car won’t start. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/28 "2008-12-22T05:56:07Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > All temperatures in Canada are Celsius (C). If there is a windchill given, it is also in C Right. Actually, I was participating in QED’s little joke. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/29 "2008-12-22T14:24:45Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > 40 below? Fahrenheit or centigrade? Both. ETA - Yes, I see a few people beat me to that. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/30 "2008-12-22T20:41:17Z")
It was 16F (-9c)this morning when I went to work. My co-workers were lamenting and gnashing their teeth. I just told them they should wear more than a hoodie and runners in the winter. Note: I don’t wear anything much warmer than that, but after so long in the arctic and prairies, I’ve got antifreeze for blood. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/31 "2008-12-22T20:58:55Z")
Today it is a balmy -20C (-4F) or -33C (-27) with the windchill. The jobsite I’m on is three blocks of exterior renovations on the downtown LRT line which I get to walk up and down a few times a day to ensure everyone is behaving themselves. It’s cold as a mofo out there! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/32 "2008-12-22T22:53:17Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > It was 16F (-9c)this morning when I went to work. My co-workers were lamenting and gnashing their teeth. I just told them they should wear more than a hoodie and runners in the winter. Note: I don’t wear anything much warmer than that, but after so long in the arctic and prairies, I’ve got antifreeze for blood. Did you see last week’s “How I Met Your Mother”? Robin from Canada is sitting out on a stoop having an ice-cream cone in short sleeves while everyone around her is bundled up like Nanook of the North. 😃 (We’re not _that_ bad, are we?) ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158/33 "2008-12-22T23:05:51Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > (We’re not _that_ bad, are we?) That’s what the people around me think we’re like. “You must love the cold! You must feel like home!” Dude, nobody loves the cold. And no, this isn’t at all like home - there’s no Chinook and people are acting like idiots because of a _threat_ of snow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-shopping-at-40-below-ho-ho-ho/478158.md?page=1)