By Barbara Morris
What was that they were saying last year about global warming? As I remember, there were many dire predictions that all the earth’s ice would melt. The result would mean disaster to areas near oceans.
We were told that Long Island would he among the first places to be inundated. Further, we were told the blame was “cow gas.” I admit that I had listened with great interest to that “hot topic,” but when they tried to put the blame on the poor cows, I decided there were major flaws in the theory.
The weather during the winter of 2001-2002 was a blessing in many ways. The clean-up crews working on the World Trade Center site were able to complete their work far ahead of expectations, not only because of their spectacular tenacity and determination but because the winter weather was much milder than usual.
This winter the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. January, as many who have been without heat will long remember, has been colder than cold. Those who rent were advised to complain to the city, which would then try to force the landlord to make the necessary repairs or the city would make the fixes and charge the landlord.
Homeowners had to call their own plumber and join a long list of people with similar problems. I know, because my name was on one of those lists during the coldest part of the month.
Luckily for me, during another emergency some years ago when no one else was available, I was recommended to Garofalo Master Plumbing and Heating Corp. It was just before New Year’s Eve and the company, at 67-43 Central Ave. in Ridgewood (1-7l8-4l8-3679), came to our rescue and did so again this year. We are most grateful.
Although our heating system had worked well last year, I suspected the unit should have been checked out before this heating season began. I was very busy with too many projects and did not follow through in a timely manner. Shame on me. I’ll certainly try not to let that happen again (I hope you’ll learn from my mistake, too).
I learned several other things from the experience that might be worth passing on — about keeping warm.
1. Wear a warm, close-knit hat. Twenty percent of the body’s heat is lost when a warm hat is not worn. The hat should cover the ears, back of neck and forehead.
2. Layer warm sweaters, thus trapping air as insulation. At least one of those sweaters should have cuffs long enough to turn down over your hands so that you can still work. It should also have a turtleneck deep enough to cover your nose if need be.
3. Protect your hands with hand cream, rubber gloves and/or warm gloves or mittens, or a combination of both. (Mittens are warmer than most gloves.) Wear leg warmers.
4. Keep active. Move around doing something interesting.
5. Prepare and eat one half of your hot meals at a time, but do so twice as often and drink hot fluids. Don’t drink alcoholic beverages.
6. When sitting or sleeping, wrap yourself well in layers, pulling a cover over your face if necessary.
7. This is the time for “one-part-at-a-time bathing.” Don’t jump in the tub and think you can come out and dry fast enough to avoid feeling like you will freeze to death.
This spell of being heatless in freezing weather was not all bad; in fact, it was quite heart-warming to know that when friends found out about the difficulty they responded with some of the most generous and creative ideas I could ever imagine. Loving friends are the most valuable assets we can have.
I hope mine know how much I appreciate each and every one of them, and I hope you have some of your own.
