Topix Underground

It's cold as hell outside and I didn't see any Northern Lights.  I read the average lows in Stalingrad in January are around 14 F (-10C)...which is the same as here. The winter of 41-42 was extreme. The average low was -15 -20 F and dips of like -30F. That's as cold as it ever gets here. It's a miracle they could even get those shitty 1940's diesels to start in that shit. Nothing runs right when it's that cold. Who knows where they were sleeping or eating. Apparently they did recieve rations of amphetamines and liquor on both sides. That must have helped. I thought I read somewhere that one of the most highly regarded and elite Soviet units reknown for suffering low casualties was actually just a case of not reporting the massive number of deaths so they could recieve the dead mens'  rations of vodka. The commander was given a medal by Stalin and then shot because the ruse had been discovered but for public consumption, they still portrayed him as a hero for having rallied his non existent troops to such imaginary glory.  So on a scale of 1 to 10, one being Florida and ten being starving to death in the snow in Stalingrad, Michigan's at about a 1.25 right now. It's 70 in my livingroom.

-30 Oh gee. How do they survive. Love from Canada. Our freak warm spot is set to end Thursday but that pretty much means we have only Feb/March and it is done for another few months.