So today I made an almost fatal mistake and i wish to share this so that people can know what to avoid in the future. I know its a bit of a shift from the normal thoughts that I share on here, but please bear with me. The next post will be a return to the original type of thoughts.
Tonight after basketball a few of us decided to go hot-tubing. We thought that this would be a wonderful way to unwind after such a tiring activity. So we drove up to a house in the mountains to enjoy this hot tub. Upon arrival I noticed that there was a very severe wind, which made it a little more difficult to open the car door. It was bone-chilling walking to the door where Danny let us in the door.
After getting settled down on the couches and waiting for everyone to arrive, we discussed the current situation and decided that we would still go out to the hot tub, despite the adverse weather conditions. So Colin, Danny, Kimee and I all got ready to go outside. I was a little slower to get outside because of a texting conversation I was having.
Danny and Colin removed the cover and attempted to carry it to be set out of the way. Almost immediately the wind grabbed hold of the cover and dragged Danny and Colin across the balcony right into Kimee's face. No significant injuries were sustained.
I finally dragged myself outside and witnessed the aftermath of this event and helped bring the cover inside. After which we all jumped into the hot tub. I, out of instinct almost had grabbed my phone and brought it with me. After a few minutes I realized how foolish this action was. My fingers could hardly move and I had to keep my hand out of the hot water to keep the phone from being blown into the water.
After five minutes of torture to my hand I finally just set the phone down on the ground just outside of the hot tub. I put my hand into the hot water and found quick relief to the numbing cold of the wind. I assumed that it was going to get better from here on out.
I soon found out that a cold hand was the least of my concerns. After another ten minutes went by my right hand cramped up and I could no longer fully extend my fingers. Everyone soon new my situation due to the shouts of panic I let out. Before I knew it my other hand was doing the same thing. I could really figure out what to do, so I finally just let my hands adjust to the seemingly scalding water. Eventually the hands stopped spasming and were able to once again flex correctly.
No sooner did this happen when I realized that my feet were on the heat source, which was a little hot for my taste. The only way I could adjust was to stretch out on my side of the tub. Things seemed to be ok for the moment and I was happy, for a moment.
We soon turned on the jets to massage our backs. The jets laughed in my face, and by laughing I mean splashing water into my face. I now had to continually dip my head in the water to keep it from getting numb. This however lead to a problem I hadn't completely realized. By getting my face wet, the face would cool down significantly faster, making dips more frequent and more rewarding.
Before I knew it everyone had shifted positions due to the wind direction and were now leaning on me. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, because I was distracted by a very cold face, but it seemed very sudden. The other three had plenty of room to stretch out, while I was left curled up and trapped by the heads placed on my body.
After getting blasted by the frigid air, I succombed to peer pressure and layed down in the same direction as everyone else in the pool. This proved to be an almost fatal decision on my part. After a little time had passed I found myself lodged against the side wall with colin still moving in my direction, even though he was pretty close to me already.
Danny suddenly jumped out of the water and bolted inside. I turned to look at his graceful run back to warmth and shelter from the wind, and was greeted with a large splash of water in my face. This new position I found to not be in my favor. The jet would splash water onto my face every few seconds, leaving my face more and more exposed to the air. Colin was quick to let me know the reason for my face being extra cold. I hadn't shaved for a few days.
"You should have shaved this morning," Colin shouted over the roar of the wind
"I didn't know things were going to be like this," I quickly defended myself.
"You're a boy scout, you should be prepared for things like this."
"I thought I looked good like this."
"But you should have shaved it off this morning."
"I wanted to wait till next week."
"I bet your going to shave it off tomorrow."
"I'll forget by tomorrow, who am I kidding, I'll remember it tomorrow."
"That's for sure, you bearded man."
We had many conversations like this one, all pointing to how ill prepared we were for this experience. Mostly making fun of my particular circumstances. Then we discovered that Colin had been sitting on the heat source for quite some time. I fight for the hot spot then ensued between Colin and Kimee, with Colin eventually agreeing to share rights to the hot spot.
I soon chimed in that it would be a good idea to let me experience some warmth from the heat source. We shifted and I was placed over the hot spot, but I couldn't feel any extra heat. Colin quickly pushed me down into the water so that I could get warmed up, but I still didn't really notice a difference. Upon mentioning this fact I was kicked out of my spot and found myself standing in the cold air, pretty exposed. I decided that this may be the time to make my dash to house. So I got out of the hot tub and remembered that I had my phone out there and turned around to grab it. I then dashed inside greeted by warmth and a dry towel.
It took several more minutes for Kimee to come in, shivering and grateful for the warmth. As Kimee saw Colin making a run for the door she blocked the door so that Colin couldn't come inside. We were able to witness Colin do a clever hop around dance to stay warm, and thankfully a few seconds later Kimee let him in.
We all warmed up for about fifteen more minutes and then we decided to put the cover back on. With four of us holding the cover we felt that it would work out better then the attempt to take it off. It carried us a little ways at first, but then we were able to get the cover on, with a loud thud as the wind pushed the fold into its proper position. We latched it and ran back inside, at which point I suggested that we never do that again.
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