Not a Rhetorical Question
That lovely warm winter I was bragging about just a couple days ago?
Yeah, that’s over.
The snow slunk in yesterday afternoon. The cold came with it. As in, two days ago, I was running around without a jacket. Today, I had to take the Wrangler into town because there was no way my wife’s car was going to make it to Whole Foods to pick up the New Year’s oysters and the tenderloin for the carpaccio.
I wore two pair of socks, waterproof winter hiking boots, long underwear, heavyweight jeans, a long-sleeved henley, a flannel shirt, a down ski jacket zipped up to the chin, glove liners, ski gloves, ear muffs and a hat. Long before I got back home — this was only an 80 minute trip, 20 spent indoors — my fingers and toes literally ached with the cold.
OK, I was so cold partly because the Wrangler has an unlined canvas top, so you couldn’t heat the thing if you set fire to it. But the sun was out and I was protected from the wind. In other words, that’s just how damn cold it was without shade or wind — and with the Jeep’s meager heater doing what it could.
May we please go back to the global warmening now?
Yeah, I miss the snow. But in CA it is a nice 60F and sunny. I’ll be thinking of you while I’m taking a walk in shorts.
Good work, Steve. I expect more of the same. We’ll be in Aspen in mid- to late-February. Multiple feet of snow. No excuses!
Would this be a bad time to mention that it is 76 degrees here in Ruskin, FL?
I wonder what part of California Darth lives in, where he’s wearing shorts in 60 degree weather. Here in the foothills above LA it’s been downright chilly lately. Of course the cold weather is a sign of global warming too, just like the warm weather was…and just like the temperate weather next year will be. Everything’s a sign of global warming…
PS I much prefer the cold to the heat anyway…
>>PS I much prefer the cold to the heat anyway…
Yeah, chant that mantra. Say it often enough, who knows? I drove from San Diego to Texas and back this vacation and didn’t see a damn thing I could get behind with the possible exception of downtown Tucson. But then it wasn’t 120 degrees, which is how it’s meant to be seen.
You put the top up in the Wrangler?
Wimp.
Yoiur wife owns a “ragtop” Jeep in Colorado? I hope your OTHER car has internal heating…
The Jeep is mine. Melissa owns something much more sensible — except when there’s weather.
You were really wrapped up… but you were (essentially) immobile, sitting in that vehicle of yours. Without heat from the car, you were doooommmmmed.
I know this because once, when it got to 40 below, I walked to work (no point starting the car), and I was swaddled just like you were, but I had to WALK. After only 1/4 mile or less, I was sweating with heat… but since it was so cold I did not dare to take off the hat, gloves, scarf, or anything. Dreadful. Perhaps you should jog to town???
You might want to check that heater. Mine gets so hot I can smell the rubber on my shoes.
Most Wranglers have heaters that will melt the floor, to compensate for the soft top. I agree with Noam above that you should get the heater looked at.
If yours is a YJ (1987-1995), it may have a faulty heater bypass valve, these are vacuum controlled, or possibly it’s not getting vacuum to the control valve. Either problem would reduce the coolant flow through the heater core.
1997 on up Wranglers shouldn’t have that problem, but you could have an air door issue.
If you have the storage space, look for a hardtop for that Jeep. It’ll be much nicer in cold weather to have windows you can scrape, and a rear window defroster/defogger comes in handy too.
I feel for you, but “cold” and “Colorado” are more synchronous than “cold” and “Pensacola”, so my sympathy is tempered somewhat. I took a little photo out the back window last week to illustrate how very frosty our beaches are looking this year…