[catra121]

Just tried to leave the house so i could take a couple of important things to the post office and my car doors are frozen shut. I tried to pry them open with my fingers and what do u think i got for my troubles? My fingers have swelled up like sausages, r on fire, and my doors still wont open. I'm typing like a weirdo right now just so i can vent because i am SO upset!! there goes my day...

[Sandel]

Yes I am visiting my sister in northern Alberta Canada and it is -38 C here, that is -36.4 F.. In a week I leave to go further north to visit my daughter... brrrr.. yah right I cannot even go outside at all, and though the trailer is heated well my limbs know how cold it is out and they hurt far more and I cant get my feet warmed up. I would not live up north here for all the perks in the world brrrr..
Stay warm.
_ Sandra

[kathy d]

Hi Catra121,
You poor baby. I am here in PA and we have been sooo lucky so far. We only had snow about 2 inches back in Oct (which was strange) and no other snow. Last year we had snowmagedon lol. It is strange to see green grass here mid-Jan but I love it.

I am going to share a secret my dad always told me about your doors sticking and it has always worked for me. He was a retired policeman and was used to being out in all kinds of weather. Before the cold set in he would have me take vaseline and rub it up and down the rubber seal inside your door that goes all around the door area. This prevents the water getting in there and freezing when it gets cold. It has saved me many times. Also, he made me put Lucite (I believe that was what it was called--It is black and powdery and if I can remember it came in a tube and you just sprayed it into your lock)into all the key locks to prevent them from freezing. It saved me alot of time over the years.

His other trick was to always keep a shovel and a few sheets of cardboard in your trunk (with salt too). The cardboard can be placed behind your tires and then when you back up over it you have instant traction. It has saved me a few times with a young son in the backseat. My dad could fix anything and had some great old-fashioned ways of solving any problem. I hope his little tricks help you out. You may want to look for some gloves that have the tops cut off of them so your entire hand won't get cold. They have a mitten cover that goes over the cutoff part. I used to work outside and found these type of gloves in a police equipment store. The neat part about them is they have a grip on them and you can move papers as I used to have to do in the cold and snow.

My friend Sandel...you have to go north and it is ALREADY -36 degrees???!!! Are you crazy up there in the great white north???? Wow, I don't know how people can live up there. You must have the thinnest blood lol. I often think when it is cold here in PA how people like my friend in Toronto I have even survives. Brrrrrrr. Esp with rsd. How do you do it?? I have been wearing pj's under my sweatpants when I go outside and two layers of shirts...and it is a high of 29 here. I am sure it is absolutely beautiful up there but for someone such as you with rsd it has to be a nightmare. I am thinking of moving to upstate NY (where they have lots of snow) and it is scary to me because of the cold. But it is the only place I can go that I will have more help than I do now. I just wish I could ski as I did prior to my rsd. Then I would not mind the snow.
Best of luck to both of you brave souls.
kathy d

[catra121]

I will be sending my boyfriend out tonight to try those tricks on my car. Thanks so much!

Thank goodness I had really good gloves on because at least my fingers didn't get cold. The pain was just from trying to pry the door open with my fingers which has usually worked in the past (though I didn't used to have RSD in my hands...that is new this year).

I'm going to try to go out again tomorrow morning so hopefully it will go much better. My fingers are finally able to bend most of the way now but the pain is still god awful. They swelled up so bad right away. I used voltaren gel and then a couple of hours later soaked my hands in warm water. All day I have just been trying to make fists and finally I was able to do it all the way a couple hours ago. But I basically couldn't do anything all day because the pain was so bad.

I wanted to go out today because it's supposed to snow for the next few days. But maybe if I get out early enough I can beat the snow. Here's hoping...

[alt1268]

catra,

I am sorry you got stuck. We here in delaware have been fortunate. Just a handful of cold days with no accumulation of snow down south. Today is in the 50's although saturday they are calling for a mix of percipation. I thank God for the weather.

[catra121]

We were having pretty decent weather up until this week. I don't trust good weather when it is supposed to be winter and am CONVINCED that next month is going to be brutal. Maybe if I am expecting it to be bad then it will actually turn out to be nice...lol!

My boyfriend put the vaseline on my door last night and this morning it opened up okay for me. So I got to run my errands and stuff this morning before we got any more snow. We're supposed to get 6 inches tomorrow...yuck! Good thing I was able to get some groceries this morning because I don't think I will be leaving the house for a few days...