"Detroit flooded and then it froze solid – Holy cow – what a disaster of a city…."
Big H/T to Gregory at The mind is an unexplored country
I attended the University of Detroit in the fall semester of 1973, and there was a huge blizzard (I think it was in December), but it was just plain cold most of the time after Thanksgiving. I only went there so I could go see the Tigers play (I saw Mickey Lolich pitch a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Tiger Stadium. Sadly, the stadium was demolished in 2009, after 88 seasons).
I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, in spite of the cold. I would occasionally walk down to the White Tower restaurant, where they served delicious burgers and steak sandwiches. The university was not in a great part of town, but I never had any trouble with anyone when I meandered around the neighborhood at night (the locals probably figured I was a poor student who wasn't worth robbing - and they figured correctly!) It helped that I really liked my roommate and the other guys on the floor of my dorm. One fellow, who played on the basketball team, had purchased a U of D jacket, lined with (fake) fur. It turned out to be too small for him, so he gave it to me. It served me well for many years, and I still have it somewhere. I also fondly recall the college cafeteria, which had all-you-can-eat hot dog days once a week; I would eat a couple there, and then stuff a few into my pockets for later. I, not so fondly, remember the shower room on my floor. One of the windows was stuck open all semester - for some reason, nobody ever fixed it - and taking a shower from October on without freezing was a challenge. The thing to do was to get in the shower stall, pull the curtain tightly closed, get undressed, and place your towel and clothes on a chair right outside the shower, turn the shower on as hot as you could stand it, and then dry off and get dressed immediately after you turned the shower off, but while there was still a cloud of warm steam in the stall.
I don't think I could survive those conditions, now, but when you're young, everything's an adventure, so you don't mind all that much.
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ReplyDeleteI have similar memories about my time in Mount Isa, back in 1981. I lived in the company's barracks - a room just big enough for the bed, the wardrobe, and a desk. I worked the crusher at the open cut, and lucky me, I was there for the coldest weather they'd had since before I was born. Wearing everything I had, I still froze on those subzero nights. And then awoke sweating at noon to temps of 30+ centigrade.
ReplyDeleteFun to look back on, but I wouldn't do it again. And after seeing those videos of cars stuck in metre deep ice, I'll never complain again about Australian summers.
Good stuff. My grandmother's father was a drover and station manager hear McKinlay, past Cloncurry in the 1920s (50 miles from Mt Isa?). I wonder how they coped back then. Lots of my ancestors had a go at working the land but all ended up back in the city.
DeleteUmm, he as there in the 1890s when my g'mother was born, not 1920s. I misread my info.
DeleteI ended up back in the city too. I didn't quite make it to six months.
DeleteAnd there were fellows there who'd been living in the same tiny room for years, or even a couple of decades. Beyond my comprehension, unless they'd had to run from some very serious trouble.
Those cars are toast.
ReplyDeleteThe ice would have expanded and crushed them.
I think it was under Bush when the feds tried to get rid of the mayor of Detroit for corruption and incompetence, Detroiters were Up In Arms!!!!! to protect the folks who ensured their city sucked.
Gooder and harder Detroit. Gooder and harder.