Random anecdote that has nothing to do with the thread, but I've had a few after work drinks, and this is the campfire, so par for the course....
Living in Alaska, people from outside always ask "what's the coldest you've ever seen?" For years, I could accurately say "-65 in Florida". Yup, I was in the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin AFB, FL which is a refrigerated hangar for testing. Inside was an (at the time) new C-130J model. They were doing engine runs in the hangar at -65 with the new Rolls Royce motors.
Later, I was sent to the lower 48 for training. It was over 6 months, so the .gov paid for me to move down there, allowing me to take my personal pickup, and household goods. It was January, 2005. I loaded up my F-150 for a trip to Mississisppi. Wanting to take my motorcycle, I borrowed my buddy's Case 580 backhoe. I needed a new battery because of the cold. I got it started, and used the bucket to load my bike in the back of the pickup. The .gov was paying for a ferry ride from Haines to Bellingham, so I had a departure time to meet at Haines. Haines is about a 12 hour drive from where I was living, so I had to leave the house about 10PM. It was roughly -25 ish at the house, and I headed northeast in the truck.
I hit Glennallen for gas, and it was -40 according to the bank sign. At the Tok cutoff, it was -72, and I heard a clunk from under the truck. I crawled under with a flashlight and saw ATF leaking from the transfer case. Not wanting to deal with it, I put it in 2WD and kept going. Made it through the border, and at Beaver Creek, it was -68. Started to Haines Junction, and heard a flapping noise from under the hood. Popped the hood, and saw that my serpentine belt was delaminating. The serpentine belt runs EVERYTHING in a 98 F-150. I nursed it along, kept the RPMs as low as possible, and made it to Haines, AK. With 2 hours to kill, I went to the Haines auto parts store... asked for a serpentine belt for a 98 F-150 with a 4.6. He looks in his computer, has a bad look on his face, then asks "Windsor or Romeo?" (engine). I tell him it's a Romeo. He looks up on the pegboard behind the counter and pulls one of the 3 belts off to hand one to me.... "there you go, that's $97.99." Holy crap, he has it. I happily paid, and changed it in the parking lot.
I take the truck to the ferry terminal, load it, then have 3 easy days of drinking the Inside Passage.
Get to Bellingham, take the truck to the Ford Dealer (truck had an extended warranty). Guy shows me back of the transfer case, and the yoke coming off the transfer case, and the rubber seal was shattered. Guy said he'd never seen anything liike it before (LOL). Fix it with a $100 deductable, and I'm on my way. 3 days later, and I'm riding my bike while visiting my Uncle in Bulverde TX at 70 degrees.
Quite the range of temps and activity a week or so!
