News Mrs Koike: wear turtlenecks, stay warm

Warm Biz. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's advice to stay warm this winter and, at the same time, cut energy bills: wear turtlenecks!

The governor, wearing one herself under a jacket, encouraged residents to don turtleneck jumpers both to stay warm and as a way of reducing energy consumption. "Warming the neck has a thermal effect. I'm wearing a turtleneck myself and wearing a scarf also keeps you warm. This will save electricity," Koike told reporters on Friday. "This is one of the tools to get through the harsh winter energy climate together," she said, adding that French President Emmanuel Macron was "taking a lead in wearing turtlenecks." Japan has long conducted an annual Cool Biz campaign, in which a casual dress code is encouraged in offices to save energy during the country's sweltering summers. The winter version is dubbed, appropriately enough, Warm Biz.

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Looking forward to more wisdom to come. Even the BBC and the Guardian have picked it up.

It's good advice

Lucky for me my wife's a knitter !

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I mean, I dunno about turtlenecks, but I'm regularly wearing a sweater this winter... because my heat is only semi-working... and my apartment isn't really presentable so I don't want to call maintenance in. I'll clean tomorrow. Maybe.

(I'd just do the radiator bleed myself, but the bleed screw doesn't work. IIRC, last time they struggled quite a bit but eventually loosened the nut under the bleed screw, but of course they didn't actually *fix* the problem...)

We have had really warm weather here on the coast of Maine so far. Every time we get a little bit of snow , the rain washes it away. It figures that I bought a big new snowblower for $2500 US and now no snow to use it on , LOL.

Uncle Frank said:

We have had really warm weather here on the coast of Maine so far. Every time we get a little bit of snow , the rain washes it away. It figures that I bought a big new snowblower for $2500 US and now no snow to use it on , LOL.
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We've barely had any snow either. I think we only shoveled once which makes me happy because it justifies not getting a new snow blower to replace the one that broke a few years ago. I won't get a new one until my teens move out. Between the four of us, we can shovel in the meantime.

I made the mistake of getting a metal roof years ago because it had a 50 year warranty. I didn't realize the snow would come off it in a dangerous avalanche that recoats the whole driveway and might kill you if you happen to be under it when it all comes down. Often there is ice in with the snow that would damage our cars so we have to park at the very end of our driveway. I now have a system where I rake the whole roof clear of snow down into the driveway and then use the snow blower on it. It's hard to believe how little snow this year compared to the past. When the snow comes down , it vibrates the whole house like an earthquake and the neighbors on both sides feel it shake their house also. I will say it's been about 20 years and the roof looks brand new with no color fading at all. It's designed to look like regular shingles and not just smooth steel like some.