Bun Warmers of Death (I love you!)

Have you read John Scalzi’s absolutely brilliant post Being Poor yet? No? Go read -- I’ll wait here.

I could relate to far too many of these. This one really hit home:

Being poor is having to keep buying $800 cars because they’re what you can afford, and then having the cars break down on you, because there’s not an $800 car in America that’s worth a damn.

My first car cost $100. My second $300. Third $600. Fourth $800. Of course that’s not including the constant repairs needed to keep them limping along just a little longer. Yes, it would’ve made sense to get a less used, ancient and decrepit bucket but the monthly payments were daunting. My thinking was that the rust machines wouldn’t necessarily break down every month and I could get around carless for a few days if need be. That car loan bill, however, would need to be paid on the first no matter what.

So, every car was bought with fingers crossed.

Now I have Bix the Wondercar. Yes, he's a tiny thing but, for the most part, that's all we need.

Oh yeah and he has THE most awesome seat warmers and no, I am NOT concerned about the Bun Warmers of Death Syndrome, thenkyewveddymuch. Talk to me about that in March.

I am concerned however about my friend Susan. She lives in Minneapolis. Mind you it’s always frozen there in winter but lately, they’re giving Neptune a run for its money on coldest temps EVAH.

Check it it out -- with a projected high of three degrees Fahrenheit 'today's temperatures forecast to be much warmer than yesterday.'

Damn!

From Think Progress’ Climate Progress page :

Cold weather tends to bring out the climate change deniers — in the Senate, that would be Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) {ed note: correction. He is R-Corporate Shillistan}. On Monday, Inhofe pointed to freezing temperatures across the country to explain climate change science is both “laughable” and rigged.
Usually the first to seize on snowy weather to argue against climate action, Inhofe described how the United Nations invented the “global warming thing” as a power grab.

Wow. Just motherfucking WOW.  This dude’s a good 51 cards short of a full deck.
A lyric from the trenchantly eloquent Mister Bob Dylan comes to mind:

Idiot wind blowing every time your move your mouth
Blowing down the backroads heading south
Idiot wind blowing every time you move your teeth
You're an idiot babe
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe

From an article on Slate which featured and debunked the Tweets of the rich and soulless, the roundheeled skanks of the ‘right:’

1. Statements about climate trends must be based on, er, trends. Not individual events or occurrences. Weather is not climate, and anecdotes are not statistics. 

2. Global warming is actually expected to increase “heavy precipitation in winter storms,” and for the Northern Hemisphere, there is evidence that these storms are already more frequent and intense, according to the draft U.S. National Climate Assessment.
snip......
Finally, just one last thing: When it’s winter on Earth, it’s also summer on Earth ... somewhere else. Thus, allow us to counter anecdotal evidence about cold weather with more anecdotal evidence: It’s blazing hot in Australia, with temperatures in some regions set to possibly soar above 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the coming days.

Here in Valhalla we’re due to reach a balmy 16º Fahrenheit today with a chance of snow. I’ve battened down Rocco’s cave -- packed blankets, old clothes and rags all around it for insulation. The Amazing Bob’s put a sweater up in Coco’s castle. Yes, she’s  an indoor beastie but it’s chilly!

It's a day when every seat, in the car, the cat cave and castle too, should be heated. N'est-ce pas?