ruthless winter to come: sleeping in ice & snow

Every year, the media and the local government advise that the elderly and children be protected from the cold. They also offer hot-line phone numbers for people to complain if they've got no heat and/or hot water. Of course, there's also the worry of the homeless -- those who sleeping in the cold streets out of no other choice. Shelters are offered as an alternative, which of course can only hold a certain number of people leaving many in the cold. In all, winter in NYC can be brutal and ruthless especially if you're cold with your body heat dropping by the minute and getting numb.

I'm listing some organizations if you care to help or need help.

• Coalition for the Homeless
  http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/
• NYC Department of Homeless Services
  http://www.nyc.gov/html/dhs/html/home/home.shtml
• New York Homeless Shelters
  http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/newyork.html

What I just wrote above is absolutely nothing unless you've lived through this. Do something. At least, support whatever outreach ministry your church offers. Said the latter, if your church doesn't have outreach programs, find another church.

ruthless winter to come: dark side of the moon-lit earth

All Gallows' Eve just passed with ghouls and ghosts asking for candy. It's still autumn with its pumpkin pies and naked trees (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/10/all-hallows-eve-fun.html). Nevertheless the temperature's dropped to 43°F, but it feels like 36°F with the windshield factor (as of 2010/11/10 at 07:41). That's a huge drop from 102°F this past summer (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/07/hell-on-earth-102f-nyc.html). This is merely a preview of what this coming winter in NYC (at least, no idea about other areas on the US) could be like -- ruthless, bitter and plainly life-threatening. Then again, I don't think there's any other place on earth that I'd rather be for winter with a cup of coffee in my cold hands looking out the window at the snow.

With this new low temperatures, many people started wearing heavy parkas and layered wool coats. Stupidly enough, I'm only wearing a two-layer nylon jacket since I forget to wear anything heavier. Besides since I just moved (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/11/moving.html), I don't even know where most of clothes are in the mess that I've got in the apartment that I'm still making sense of.