#winter psa

Hi this psa is brought to you by my boss nearly killing us via carbon monoxide poisoning.

Heaters like this are labelled for Indoor/Outdoor usage, however that indoor label is misleading af.

Indoors in this context means a drafty garage or car port, not your living room or bedroom. Unless the room you're in is well ventilated with fresh air, don't use this fucker indoors.

BE CAREFUL ON ICE

YES, EVEN IF YOU ARE ONLY WALKING. When a fresh wave of ice comes in, 90% of my mom's ER isn't car accidents, it's people w/trauma from falling on their way to the car.

LOOK FOR ICE. Mostly in the morning, but Be Looking. Ice manifests suddenly in strange places.

You cannot get friction on an unbroken icy slope. No power of will or special stance will change this. Either wear treads to dig into the ice, or find a non-icy path.

Never be afraid to drop on your butt and scooch across ice. If you aren't sure if you can safely cross an ice patch or get down off a icey hill, then get on your butt. It is 10000% safer to help you not slip, and also if you slip. Yes you might look silly, looking silly is better than head trauma.

Penguin shuffle if needed. Little baby steps keeping your center of gravity centered. This only works if you aren't on a slop. If you are on a slope, see the above.

Walk on the grass. I cannot stress this enough. If the sidewalks aren't cleared or you're unsure, any grassy section nearby will be a safe alternative. Even if it means walking on someone's lawn.

1) Cover your windows!! The best insulation would be to tape cardboard or styrofoam around the edges and glass of the windows. If you don't have either of those, nail blankets or sheets over them works as well, but do not sacrifice your blankets for sleep to cover the window.

2) Get yourself, your kids, your family members, your pets, whoever all into one room, preferably a room with no or few windows and no or few exterior walls. Living rooms work for this, so do bathrooms, even bedrooms if they don't have a bunch of windows and only one exterior wall. Huddling for warmth is your best bet for staying comfortable and alive during a deep freeze. Get blankets, sheets, sleeping bags, whatever, and try to spend most of your time in that one area.

3) If you go out to buy food to prepare for a storm or snow in, get food that doesn't require any amount of heat prep. Bread and peanut butter, granola bars, canned fruit, chip, jerky, anything you can eat straight out of the container without needing to heat it.

4) If you need to go out on the road during this time, drive slowly, carefully, and remember to pump the brakes, not slam them. If at any point you're driving and see a road and think "I can't drive that" do the smart thing and turn around or find a different route.

5) Stay dry. Wet layers must come off as soon as you're somewhere warm and be dried completely before you wear them again. Your outermost layer must also be waterproof, even if it's just a rain poncho thrown over you. Snow melts into water and water in freezing temps becomes ice and you don't want to be the temperature of ice.

I used to have a job that required a good amount of outdoor work. Once, in Boston, early March, it was awfully cold but the wind was putting it over the top. I grew up on the east coast, I thought I knew what to expect and how to dress for the weather. Wrong.

My face was simultaneously leaking like a faucet and having all of the moisture ripped from it. I was slowly accepting that I'd have to say goodbye to my lips. Then I got an idea.

When we took our lunch break I ran to the 7-11 across the street and bought a knit beanie; the quality what you'd expect from a 7-11 hat. I hacked the top off with my pocket knife, singed the ends with my lighter so it wouldn't unravel, and that on-the-fly neck gaiter saved the day.

DO NOT move to Colorado IF you’re only interested in the marijuana culture. Yes, this is what Colorado is most famous for right now, and it makes sense. Since its legalization, marijuana sales have boosted state revenue by more than $50 million. And that’s just revenue on taxes and medical licenses. It doesn’t even begin to cover revenue from sales.

However, this isn’t the most important thing about Colorado or even the most important cultural influence. That honor belongs to its history as a skiing hub. People forget that marijuana legalization is a relatively recent development and its popularity is only relevant to middle class and lower class citizens. Which makes sense—if you’re rich, marijuana has ALWAYS been legal for you, let’s be real here. For the 1%-ers and, really, anyone making more than a few million a year, Colorado is most famous for its ski culture. I’m talking ski resorts, snowboarding, lodge getaways. THIS is the culture of Colorado, Utah, and the surrounding areas.

And maintaining that ski culture is INSANELY expensive. That might be fine if I just meant that skiing and related activities had jacked up prices, but I mean that EVERYTHING in Colorado is expensive. Our entire state economy reflects the price tag of the wealthy’s obsession with skiing here. For example, I live in a trailer park. The national average to live in a trailer park (not including cost of living, utility expenses, etc., just the plot of land and the trailer itself) is about $200. A plot in my trailer park in the Vail Valley area costs $1200. And, for here, that is CHEAP. Renting a one-bedroom apartment can be up to $2000. Renting or buying something more extravagant? You’re looking at $3000+ easily.

What I want people to know, then, is that, if you plan on moving here exclusively for legalized marijuana, you need to have a solid plan in place. You need to have a steady job lined up. You need to have AT LEAST one roommate who also has steady employment. You need to plan your finances VERY carefully.

On a non-financial note, I also want to mention that, while Colorado has a fairly large queer culture, it’s very much underground. Like all big cities, Denver’s queer culture is much more open, but mountain towns are very much small towns. In other words, even if the town’s or county’s government emphasizes inclusivity and equal rights, and non-profits or Facebook groups centered on localized queer events, there’s still a significant chance that queerness is something that people just ignore. It’s not actual acceptance, it’s, “You do what you want, but we aren’t going to talk about it.”

Similarly, mountain towns have a very high rate of suicide. We’re an isolated area. No matter how introverted or antisocial you are, this will eventually get to you. If you don’t have a good support system and a steady stream of people you can talk to, depression and anxiety are very likely to crop up. Marijuana use can help, depending on your medical history and health status, but you cannot and should not rely on it as a fix-all. Because of this, we have a pretty decent healthcare system, especially for mental health concerns, but you need to be prepared. That being said, since the pandemic (actually about 2~ years before the shutdowns occurred) a bunch of mountain communities have really stepped up and started making mental healthcare more accessible. You would have to do your own research, depending on which ski town you end up moving to, but believe me when I say they exist and the people running the funds and non-profits really, truly care. Like, for example, if you plan on moving to Vail, Colorado, there’s a scholarship fund known as Olivia’s Fund that pays for up to six therapy sessions.

With winter in the mountains comes the beautiful yet dangerous snow. Which, if you have a car, means constant road closures. Anyone who has lived in the mountains for 4+ years will tell you it’s worth getting a four wheel drive car with all weather tires when you can afford it, but if you’re moving out west for the first time, save some money to get snow tires (you can often find used ones if someone has them but upgraded or got a new car that no longer fits it), all weather tires or learn how set up chains on your tires. Do y’all remember all those posts this past February when Texas had that major freeze and it was filled with winter advice? I hope you liked and/or bookmarked those because it is applicable to a typical snowstorm in the Rocky Mountains. 

Tl;dr—Colorado is great if you want access to legal marijuana, or a total change in scenery, but you need to be aware of the increased cost of living, both financially, mentally and culturally.

Now that Winter has struck, PLEASE do not warm your cars inside of your garage! Garages have low ventilation and your car exhaust creates Carbon Monoxide! This gas is poisonous and can kill anyone from too long of exposure! If you feel sleepy from the exposure, DO NOT FALL ASLEEP! You can slip from consciousness and never wake back up. Please be careful this Winter!

Please read this article to learn more about how you can protect yourself from the affects of Carbon Monoxide.

if you live in a place with noticeable seasons, the days where you are might be getting colder and shorter right about this time. that means less sunlight, which has been shown to have effects on people’s moods (whether because of season affective disorder or simply because your association to the weather is gloomier). if you’re a student, you might be nearing the middle of your semester/trimester and starting to get stressed out.

this time of year (november - march) tends to be hard for me, so i thought i’d put together a list of techniques i use or try to use to manage/improve my mood. there’s a couple techniques on here i got from other people as well! not all of these will work for all people, but i thought they might make a good jumping off point

behaviors:

regular sleep schedule (as much as possible)

regular meals (that, if possible, make you want to eat, rather than eating just for sustenance)

embracing the “nice” parts of the late fall/winter season. a couple examples i’ve seen, but which might be different for you:

Winter Aesthetic™ (sweaters and scarves, heck yeah)

twinkle lights!

hot drinks (tea with sugar and cider work best for me)

incense/candles

warm/cuddly clothing

holiday spirit (for whatever winter/fall holiday applies!)

soup/hearty foods

mood boosters:

snatching a little bit of sunlight, even if it’s just ten minutes

if feasible, a sun lamp/SAD lamp

putting a little more effort into presentation than maybe you want to (makeup or clothes or hair or even posture; sometimes “fake it till you make it” is a good strategy)

BLANKETS! WARM THINGS!

comforting media. this varies depending on the person, but for me usually looks like:

cartoons, anime, live action tv that ISN’T grimdark

YA novels, especially YA fantasy

music that’s either relaxing or upbeat, but not harsh to the ear

here’s a few of my faves