Proper Winter Weather

Just spent a week travelling from Toronto ON to Cleveland OH via Niagara Falls.
They have quite interesting weather out there!!!

We arrived on the 7th at Toronto Pearson to be greeted by 6 inches of snow from a storm the night before, temperature at 5pm was -3.C.
We visited the CN tower the following morning the 8th. There were snow flurries and the temperature at 9am was -5.C with a cold wind taking the temperatures even lower.
The 9th was similar to the 8th with temperatures around -6.
We travelled to Niagara on the 10th. We left at midday with the temperature at -6. By 3pm it was -10. with a reported wind chill of -20. It continued to get colder and by 8pm my weather station was reporting -14.2!!!
The following morning the 11th it was down to -17.3 and with wind chill -30. It made it very interesting to view the falls. The "lake" below the falls was completely frozen and I reckon I could have walked over to the US side with little problem. I probably wouldn't have tried though...
The 12th started cloudy with a temperature of -10. We jumped on a Greyhound for the trip to Cleveland. It started snowing at the US customs in Buffalo and then started get very heavy. By the time we reached Cleveland 5 hours later there was a good 4 inches of laying snow. Impressive stuff!
We had snow flurries and temperatures in the range of +1 to -5 for the rest of our stay which was a welcome relief.
Great winter weather and quite an experience for a snow starved southerner!!!

Varying Degrees of Confusion

Are you a Celsius sort of person or a Fahrenheit one?

Well I happen to be both!

I use Celsius in the winter. "It's bloody freezing out there, it must be at least minus 1"

Or in the summer.

"It's bloody hot out there, it must be at least 80"

When I refer to the temperature as at least 80 then I'm using the Fahrenheit scale but when I'm referring it as being -1 I'm in the Celsius scale.

Weird!

I don't know when the transition takes place but I suspect it's around the 10.C or 50 F mark.

Anyone else with me on this or am I the only one?

Epilepsy

I thought maybe it was time to share my experiences with Epilepsy. As some may know I was diagnosed  last year.
Ever since a child I knew there was something wrong with my brain. That may sound strange and a little dramatic but ever since I can remember I've had these strange episodes. 
So what do they feel like? 
Well I'd have what felt like rushing blood flowing through my brain and everything would speed up and it felt my brain might explode, very dramatic! The episode would pass after 10 minutes and I'd be left confused and exhausted. Not very pleasant!
All of this carried on into my adult years but at less frequent intervals, until a couple of years ago.
I then started having strange sensations in other parts of my body. I finally gave in and paid a visit to my GP and was passed onto specialists.
After what seemed like a thousand questions and a thousand more tests including MRR and CAT scans a neurologist finally diagnosed epilepsy. 
I was sort of expecting it but it was still a shock. Of course the first thing is you lose your driving license. I then had to tell the family and inform work.
I knew the family would be great and they were but to my surprise work were very supportive too.

So where am I?
Well a little annoyed and also mightily relieved. When they first started the medical tests I knew there was  a problem but not what it was. To discover there wasn't a physical problem like a tumour which could be untreatable was a relief.
Of course that still leaves me with the epilepsy which to be honest is a drag. The medication Keppra has side effects but I'm adjusting. Losing my driving license is a pain but it's surprising how you adjust. I've even got a concessionary bus pass!!!
Workmates have bent over backwards to help me with lifts into and out of work and keeping a close eye on me.

Most of all Jane and Hannah deserve a medal for putting up with my mood swings. I'm not sure if I can ever repay them for their support and patience but I'm going to try bloody hard!

Well am I?

A hotel employee in the USA once told me that I "could be the only Gareth Slee in the world". He was referring to my booking details while we checked in.

I'd never really thought about it before, but having thought about it maybe he's right. My forename is fairly common in Wales but seeing there's only 3 million of us and 50% of that are women then not that many.

OK I've heard the name in England but not very often. Outside of that maybe there's a few in Australia and maybe other members of the Commonwealth but I think it's fair to say there's not that many Gareth's around.

I mean my Spell checker has just underlined my name and suggested Garth instead!!!

As far as my surname is concerned I don't think Slee would appear that often in telephone directories around the world either...

So... Am I the only Gareth Slee?