As God Is My Witness
Jun. 5th, 2007 06:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
desoto_hia873...I will never be warm again.
Sometimes I think the primary purpose of field work is to make people appreciate their desk jobs. Today was not a day to spend in a boat on the Ottawa River, I can tell you. We had wonderfully hot weather over the weekend--so much so that I think I gave myself a mild case of heatstroke while doing yardwork on Saturday--and although I thought I'd packed appropriately for this little jaunt, it never occured to me to bring a parka.
A waterproof parka would have been even better.
The forecast for today was 90% risk of showers, with temperatures falling throughout the day. They weren't wrong. I'd brought the requisite rubber boots and rainsuit, but not nearly enough warm clothes to pile on underneath. Tim, the boss of this trip, wore even less as he was out yesterday when it was considerably warmer: he had on a t-shirt, pants, very light rain gear, and sneakers. He started the morning by wading into the river up to his knees to get the boat launched, then backed his car (that was pulling the trailer) far enough in that river water was sloshing around his feet.
We stayed out for about four hours, during which time it rained almost constantly, the cold wind blew, and we saw not a single sturgeon in either of the two nets that we set. Recognizing the early symptoms of hypothermia in himself, Tim called it a day around 2:30 pm. I'd been shivering for at least two straight hours by this point and my joints were immobilized from the cold, so I was only too happy to agree to go in early. After getting back to shore, Tim had to drive two hours home in drenched clothes in a soaking wet car. I came back to my hotel room, stripped off wet clothes and put on dry, crawled into bed with the greasiest food I could find, and I'm still chilled three hours later.
Tomorrow should be better, though: the forecast says it'll be cool in the morning, but the skies will mercifully be clear all day long. ::performs sun-worshipping ceremony::
I hope I'll have stopped shivering by then.
Oh, and the Senators lost their game last night. ::pouts::
Sometimes I think the primary purpose of field work is to make people appreciate their desk jobs. Today was not a day to spend in a boat on the Ottawa River, I can tell you. We had wonderfully hot weather over the weekend--so much so that I think I gave myself a mild case of heatstroke while doing yardwork on Saturday--and although I thought I'd packed appropriately for this little jaunt, it never occured to me to bring a parka.
A waterproof parka would have been even better.
The forecast for today was 90% risk of showers, with temperatures falling throughout the day. They weren't wrong. I'd brought the requisite rubber boots and rainsuit, but not nearly enough warm clothes to pile on underneath. Tim, the boss of this trip, wore even less as he was out yesterday when it was considerably warmer: he had on a t-shirt, pants, very light rain gear, and sneakers. He started the morning by wading into the river up to his knees to get the boat launched, then backed his car (that was pulling the trailer) far enough in that river water was sloshing around his feet.
We stayed out for about four hours, during which time it rained almost constantly, the cold wind blew, and we saw not a single sturgeon in either of the two nets that we set. Recognizing the early symptoms of hypothermia in himself, Tim called it a day around 2:30 pm. I'd been shivering for at least two straight hours by this point and my joints were immobilized from the cold, so I was only too happy to agree to go in early. After getting back to shore, Tim had to drive two hours home in drenched clothes in a soaking wet car. I came back to my hotel room, stripped off wet clothes and put on dry, crawled into bed with the greasiest food I could find, and I'm still chilled three hours later.
Tomorrow should be better, though: the forecast says it'll be cool in the morning, but the skies will mercifully be clear all day long. ::performs sun-worshipping ceremony::
I hope I'll have stopped shivering by then.
Oh, and the Senators lost their game last night. ::pouts::
