Freezer Trick / Tip (really, really, clever too!)

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: Chadwickus

Have you ever seen -39F, and had to work outside all day in it? (for weeks and months at a time)

I

boom.
off your topic but this is no joke man.
i would like to here some more about this.
feel free to change facts, places, or names.
working out in -40
in wyoming.
you were some sort of rancher then yes?

a reply to: TinySickTears

Yes, I am a cattle rancher, but the time I did this I was actually working construction for Texaco Corp (oil field) out in Red Desert which is about 90 miles outside Rock Springs, WY. Believe it or not, we were actually pouring concrete in this weather. It was one of the coldest months on record there. The temps never got above -30F for two weeks straight, but the oil business waits for no man. When they said "go", you 'went'...come hell or high water. The day in question was so cold the seat in my truck cracked when I got in it in the morning (I'm sure it was more than -40F then). By the time we got out to the jobsite it had warmed up to a balmy -39F (where it stayed for the rest of the day)...and the wind was blowing a solid 30-40 mph all day. One of my crewmates even froze his hand to a steel truck toolbox.

It was positively FROSTY!! It was one of those days you never forget, I mean the rest of the two weeks was cold too, but that one day stands out in memory as one of the more miserable I can recall.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: TinySickTears

Yes, I am a cattle rancher, but the time I did this I was actually working construction for Texaco Corp (oil field) out in Red Desert which is about 90 miles outside Rock Springs, WY. Believe it or not, we were actually pouring concrete in this weather. It was one of the coldest months on record there. The temps never got above -30F for two weeks straight, but the oil business waits for no man. When they said "go", you 'went'...come hell or high water. The day in question was so cold the seat in my truck cracked when I got in it in the morning (I'm sure it was more than -40F then). By the time we got out to the jobsite it had warmed up to a balmy -39F (where it stayed for the rest of the day)...and the wind was blowing a solid 30-40 mph all day. One of my crewmates even froze his hand to a steel truck toolbox.

It was positively FROSTY!! It was one of those days you never forget, I mean the rest of the two weeks was cold too, but that one day stands out in memory as one of the more miserable I can recall.

dude that is crazy man.
i work in a pretty rough environment but god damn. that is crazy cold.
working for the oil corp though. i bet you got paid.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
Note: it's funny; if your freezer is going to screw up, it's when it's cold outside. Some of our freezers are outside in the garage (or barn). Sometimes it gets cold here in CO (not like WY when I was growing up, but still cold). When it gets cold the freezers just don't "understand". It's so cold outside they just start to thaw out; the whole 'heat rejection' thing starts working in reverse.. Have you ever seen it? ... I have.

We used to keep a fridge/freezer combo out back for the kiddos.
One winter it just stopped cooling/freezing.
It didn't hurt the waters, teas and such inside but, the popsicles and ice creams in the freezer thawed and it was a mess trying to pick them up to toss away without spilling anything or breaking the packaging.

I had it hauled away and with your post, I wonder if I could have just moved it to the garage and it would have started working again. UGH.

It certainly doesn't get as cold here as where you live but, that year it got pretty darn cold.

a reply to: TinySickTears

Yes, we were paid well for our efforts and hardships. The oil industry knew the risks we all took and compensated us accordingly. We made a S# tons of money, but the work was sometimes miserable and dangerous beyond imagination. Like I said, when the oil companies said "GO", you 'went", no matter the weather, no matter the time, no matter the location...you just 'went'. Those who refused never worked again.

You went with what you had, always in the dark...hoping you would find a solution when the sun came up (and our trucks were heavily equipped).

The stories I could tell. Oh, man! (just unimaginable)

a reply to: TinySickTears

There's a message here; (I've seen some of your other posts). The message is, "Never be afraid"

Never telegraph your proverbial "punch" (be it mental, verbal or physical)...always stand at the ready, never try to over-analyze what situation may happen. Instead, keep your head up and looking forward.

On a side note we "wasted" thousands of gallons of fuel in those days just waiting for the calls. It was so cold they'd never start if you shut them off. Those trucks stayed running even in the yard, 24x7...x365. We'd shut them down only long enough for an oil change and then start them right back up again. In the winter we'd run salamanders under all of them to warm the fuel tanks.

Crews wouldn't go home for weeks, we slept at the shop (or in the trucks). When we'd go out hauling drill 9-5/8" drill stem, or mud...or fracking compressor pumps, we'd go out with trains of 40-50 trucks at a time.

Ask anyone who works up in the ND oilfields now what it's like! My stories are from the mammoth energy boom in the 80's in Wyoming. The oilfield waits for no man.

You're either "in", or you go home.

Dear Lord...I've hijacked my own thread!

Back to the topic!!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

i spent the coldest year of my life in Laramie, WY reopening a call center. My wife hated it, so we moved back to the grand beach of West Texas.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

...and it was June, right?

You should see what it's like in February!

(jk)

Seriously though, I can remember sitting on my front porch with my friend as a kid and lighting off fireworks on the 4th of July...in a raging snow storm! We joked about how we were going to make the sun come out one way or other. LOL!!

ETA...the fireworks would shoot off and disappear in the snow and then we'd see the different colors explode overhead (sort of).