Is It Cold Enough?

The last week or so delivering papers in the morning has not been the greatest. Of course it has been cool outside, but I dress warmly and the cold doesn't bother me that much. Actually the temperatures have not gotten that bad yet either. Heck, I don't think it has been down to -40C (with the windchill) yet. Once the temperatures hit -60C then we'll be talking on the cold side :)

What really does peeve me, is when I'm out doing my morning walk and I'm dressed appropriately. That means wearing a balaclava and some kind folks decide they want their diesel to warm up so they crank it up and let it run for a couple hours while they are slurping their morning coffee. Diesel fumes stink and really bother my breathing.

I don't remember the problem being so bad when I lived in the city, but then maybe I just got used to all the junk in the air. However, since moving out to the small town I really do pick up on odours a lot quicker. While walking in the morning, I actually can smell someone out on their back porch having their morning smoke when I'm 2-3 houses away. For some reason the odours just are more noticeable in the cleaner (?) air in town.

Now when I'm walking and I have to deliver the morning paper to a house where they have their diesel vehicle gobbling up fuel and just sitting there getting zero miles per gallon, I try to hold my breath. Especially if there is no wind as the cloud of diesel smoke just hangs around the vehicle. Of course I have to breath and for some reason the smell gets lodged in my throat and I almost gag. The reflect is to try and cough it out but with a face mask on, it is hard if not impossible. Then you have to try and lift your mask with your gloved hands that have a hard time picking up anything as there is no feeling in the fabric of the gloves.

I'm thankful when I get past the house and get to walk in the cleaner air once again. After a few nice deep breaths of the air I'm usually okay to go again. But then I really truly appreciate the fellows that decide they are going to check every street in town bright and early in the morning. They drive up and down the streets to make sure our town was safe overnite and/or to warm up their vehicle which is better than letting it just sit there getting 0 mph. Of course they tend to drive a diesel and the vehicle exhaust just hangs in the air over the streets they drive.

My only recourse is to try and breath through my mouth, but then I'm back to trying to lift up the ski mask with my clumsy gloves on. Then my face starts to freeze over because it has been in behind a face mask and now is nice and moist and warm from my breathing. The ice usually eithers starts to form immediately or if there already was ice, then it starts to melt. Either way, it is not a very comfortable feeling.

Wonderful, just wonderful :(