Winter in Portugal: WORSE than winter in canada!?? [NOT CLICKBAIT]
Hi, welcome to part 98123712837 of me bitching about how much being cold sucks.
Recently I wrote about daylight hours as a determining factor in where one decides to live.
I'd like to introduce you to another equation that should be an important part of the 'where to live' question: sustained average temperature.
Central heating was invented in 1816. Insulation was invented in the 1940s. Unfortunately, 200 years later, neither invention has made its way to Portugal.
It is currently 7 degrees in Lisbon [-7C below my minimum temperature threshold]. And enduring this temperature, for me, has been much harder than enduring any Canadian winter.
Let's use Marco's Comfort Constant (MCC) of 14 degrees.
The weather in Toronto is currently 1C or -13MCC.
The weather in Lisbon is currently 7C or -7MCC.
In order to be a happy, healthy person, I need to be walking outside for around 2 hours.
In order to walk for 2 hours outside in Toronto I would have to endure a total of -26MCC (arrived at by multiplying temp x time). In Lisbon I need to endure -14MCC.
Based on that measurement alone, Lisbon is a much more pleasant place to be. Yay.
But what about the other 22 hours of the day?
In Toronto, the average indoor temp is about 22C or +8MCC.
In Lisbon, the average indoor temp is THE SAME FUCKING TEMPERATURE AS IT IS OUTSIDE. Or -7MCC.
Let's extrapolate the numbers here and see what my average temp would be in each place during a day.
Toronto:
(2*-13) + (22*8) = 150
150/24 = 6.25M
OR, on average, I am +6.25MCC
Lisbon:
(24*-7) = -168
-168/24 = -7
OR, on average, I am 13.25C COLDER THAN I WOULD BE IN CANADA.
The other thing that you can't really factor in is the psychological suffering of existing in a state of cold that has no end. In Canada there is a solution to being cold. Go inside. In Lisbon, I have to endure this until the earth spins on its axis enough to be summer again.
What I am trying to say is that I live an in eternal tundra from which there is no escape. I wake up cold. I go to sleep cold. I am typing this, in my home, with a winter jacket and shoes on. My fingers are numb.
I am chilled. To the bone. And I do not know if I'll ever know what it feels like to be warm again.