Sunday, June 26, 2022

Both extreme heat and extreme cold are both killing people at a rate of 5 million or more a year caused by extreme climate changes

I remember a situation myself on Mt. Shasta in the 1980s when it was in the 30s Fahrenheit. I had high centered a VW Camper Van belonging to my wife at high altitude. However, when we left home it was a hot sunny day so we weren't prepared for this outcome. So, we decided we should run several miles to our friend's cabin in the woods and break into it because we were not prepared for a stuck vehicle. Was this a good idea? I'm not sure but there were not cell phones then. It might have been the only idea that would have saved us in this situation. So, because we were in our 30s and joggers we thought we could do it and generate enough heat to be okay.

However, the reality was that by the time the last mile occurred we were both hallucinating from hypothermia (extreme loss of heat in the rain). So, we almost didn't make it because we were so cold. The problem is when it is 33 or 34 degrees and raining you really need a rain coat to stay warm to keep the rain off of you. So, when we finally broke into our friend's house and built a fire in his wood stove we barely were okay. However, after we dried our clothes by the wood stove later he arrived with his 4 wheel drive and helped us pull our VW van off of the high center where it was stuck on the dirt and rock road in the snow. So, everything turned out okay in the end just barely.

Another time I was planting trees in the 1970s and I was coming from a job as a foreman at an electronics company to that outdoor tree planting job in the Sierras. But, I couldn't adapt fast enough and got heat prostration and was laid up for several days with a headache from that. This was very hard giving up tree planting because of the heat but once you get heat prostration and are messed up often there is no going back to what you are doing because the damage has been done already for the summer.

I had to give up tree planting at least for the summer. It was a good job then because I could make about 100 dollars a day which was very good for the 1970s and I could live in the wilds of Mt. Shasta and throughout Northern California forests with my friend.

I eventually worked and bought 2 1/2 acres for my wife and kids and I and built us an A-Frame to live in from 1980 to 1985 while we home schooled our three children then. 

But, when the oldest became 12 in 1985 we moved back to San Francisco and bought another business so they could go to public School through high school and more easily prepare for College All three have Bachelor's degrees or more and are married at this point. So, they all have succeeded in life.

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