Comments on: Winter, what winter?

By: Selwyn Nogood

Selwyn Nogood — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:46:12 +0000

Yes. And every winter when the temperature goes 1 degree below zero, Britain shuts down. The airports and roads close, the railways freeze over, and everybody goes to the pub for a good old whinge.

Meanwhile, in Scandinavia and Russia, they sweep the streets a few times, throw down some grit, and it’s business as usual.

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:28:45 +0000

The Brits are convinced that pretty much every weather pattern colder or warmer than damp and chilly with occasional drizzle is some kind of harsh extreme. There’s the eagerness to describe normal summer temps as a heatwave, as you say, but anything colder than hovering around zero with perhaps a little frost (a cold wind, for example) gets termed ‘Arctic conditions’ by the weater forecasters.

By: Max

Max — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:29:22 +0000

Take it from someone who insulates buildings for a living: Forget the walls. For now.
Insulate the attic. Not with the Pink Panther, the blown stuff. Don’t forget to plug the air leaks through the bypasses. Then line the dirt under the floors (unless its a concrete slab foundation) with 6mil or better plastic. Don’t cheat with the non UV protected. I know, its “dark”, but its amazing how LITTLE UV will destroy plastic sheeting! You have now dramatically reduced the humidity in that house and the same temperature will FEEL warmer. Also if you put cellular shades on the inside of the windows … Google “Mean Radiant Temperature human comfort” to see what I’m talking about. Oh, and the mold.

By: Ricky

Ricky — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:36:46 +0000

Nothing wrong with buttf@#king, is there? The only thing that depresses me about winters here, is how the bloody Poms made this country look like England.

By: Freddy

Freddy — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:33:31 +0000

Mate, depends where you go. Our summers are scorching hot and even an Italian like you would get toasted in summer. And depending on your destinations, our winters really aren’t that bad. If you live in Northland or Auckland. Maybe.
This, however, is a real shit winter, everyone agrees. The worst I’ve seen.

By: Freddy

Freddy — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:31:26 +0000

This is so true. I am sitting here in Tauranga, typing this message on a rather gloomy winter (oops) day, with the doors and windows open and rain pissing down just inches from my elbows, accompanied of course, by a very seasonable southerly. Still, while looking at the tropical-looking native vegetation surrounding my house, I am trying to convince myself that the snot running out of my nose and onto my light jersey is, in fact, sweat. You gotta love the tropics.

By: MrsDesperate

MrsDesperate — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:56:30 +0000

I just thought they bred them tough in NZ! I didn’t realise there was a nation-wide denial going on. The other day I saw a man riding a bike in the rain when it was 3 degrees in just a t-shirt and shorts. And no shoes. Amazing!

By: Poppy

Poppy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:17:20 +0000

So true! I cant belive the lack of heating/insulation in houses in nz. After moving here from England 3 years ago, I just can’t belive how cold everywhere is! Saying that, when I went back to England, I was wearing a singlet all the time because I was so warm!

By: Mortecattiva

Mortecattiva — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:02:22 +0000

I am from Italy too

By: Selwyn Nogood

Selwyn Nogood — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:00:00 +0000

***it ain’t a sunny hot tropical country with 9 months of good weather like South Africa..***

But then again, there’s not a lot of carjacking, random murder, or barely concealed racism.

Ok, maybe there’s a little of the last one, but we pretend there isn’t. We pretend hard.