Hypothermia

The NY Times ran an article on hypothermia this week. While I hope no one needs the info, it may be useful:

Hypothermia, a condition in which the body’s core temperature drops below 95 degrees, is the No. 1 killer of outdoor recreationists. It is also an often unrecognized killer of infants and the elderly, although the most frequent victims are homeless people, alcoholics and drug addicts.

And while the weather has been unusually warm thus far in much of the country, temperatures need not be at freezing, or even very low, for hypothermia to occur. Most cases occur in air temperatures of 30 to 50 degrees. But people can succumb to overexposure even at 60 or 70 degrees. This is especially true when it is windy, because wind can carry away more heat than the body can generate, or when people get wet or land in water, because cold water accelerates heat loss 25-fold. ( Full article under cut )

And I've had schnapps!

Creme de Menthe, actually, as I prefer it to peppermint schnapps. I am rewarding myself for not letting the traffic get to me earlier & for helping dustin_00, jw1776, and skydancer get Dustin's car.

I feel very virtuous. I also feel very wiped out. So I will sip my hot cocoa (spiked with creme de menthe and a touch of cream) and toddle off to bed.

Thank God Jesse made dinner...he fed Dustin too.