Healthy Defense

During winter, the best way to prevent colds is to take good vitamins.  Grad school is stressful, and most grad students do not eat properly.  I recommend a daily multivitamin all winter long, and then supplement with an Echinacea/Goldenseal blend 2-3 times daily (with every meal) if you come into contact with people who have colds and/or the flu.

Hearty Eating

We Michiganders are big fans of cold-weather foods.  I am not sure what the research says about this, but another good way to get sick is to eat as lightly as people do in climates that are warm all year.  Fall and winter is the time for hearty meals that stick to your ribs, like chili (you can certainly make a good vegetarian version) and pastas with heavy sauce.  Ask your loved ones to get a Crock-Pot for you and learn to make one-pot meals... if anyone's interested, I would love to do a winter foods cooking class!

In the mornings, I like to have oatmeal, something that people made fun of when I attended my HBCU down South (Rattler in the house!).  But just wait until January!  I also make great mulled cider (that's just cider with spices), drink lots of hot cocoa, coffee, and tea, and bake.  You want to warm up your insides before you leave the house, or when you're coming in!  My current morning routine is to heat up a couple of cake doughnuts in the oven, warm up cider that I've already spiced, and then I'm good to go.

Shoveling Snow

Most grad students probably don't live in a house.  For those of us that do, ALWAYS shovel show in shifts.  People who want to work harder and not smarter wait until it's all on the ground to shovel it.  Don't do that unless you have to (i.e., an overnight snowfall).  If it starts falling, and it's not a blizzard, clear it away and then put some rock salt down.  While your neighbors are cursing and struggling, you'll have almost nothing to do at the end of the snowfall.

Better yet, hire someone else to do it for you.  Snow removal can be had very cheaply, and it's worth it not to have to get up two hours early and take the extra risk for getting sick.  (Alternately, though, for the guys?  It's a great way to earn some extra cash.  You might think about investing in a shovel or a snow blower.)

Car Care

This might just be common sense, but I've noticed newcomers over the past week or so since it's turned cold turning on their car and sitting in it... just waiting for it to defrost.  Try this instead: turn on your car *first* and start the heat going, and then get out and clear it off.  By the time you get everything clear, both the engine and the interior will be on their way to heating up (if not nice and toasty).  I also turn my music up so that I can listen to the weather and traffic -- or even just music -- as I clean it.  It becomes like clockwork.

And please, don't drive around with a big snowcap on the roof or the hood of your car just because you're too lazy to clear it off.  That is DANGEROUS (as snow flying off your car could blind a driver or pedestrian's line of sight), and you could very well get ticketed or fined.

It is important to keep the salt off your cars as much as possible. A lot of us up here get our cars washed/cleaned more during the winter than during the summer because
of the salt residue.  Not only does it rust out the car, after a while you won't be able to see out of the windows.  You should watch the weather before you wash... a good time to do it is during the morning, so that you can drive around all day while the car is warm and can dry off.  I've washed before in the evenings/at nights, only to have my locks freeze up.

Inside your car, you need the following items, NO EXCEPTIONS:  a bottle of antifreeze (if you car is older), extra windshield wiper fluid, jumper cables, a thermal blanket, and flares.  You also need a GOOD scraper for ice and a regular-sized household BROOM (yes, with the long handle) to clear off snow. When it really snows, that little wimpy brush on most scrapers will get on your nerves, and a shovel isn't as efficient.  I recommend a plastic instead of a straw broom so the straws don't stick to your car.  And replace it if the plastic straws get bent... saves you time.

Another trick if your car is not stored in a garage or carport is to keep a bag of salt and a small shovel in your car.  This is why:  if you live in an apartment complex that hires a professional snow plow company, and you have a little car, then a lot of times they'll just plow around your car.  How do you get out?  Clear away the snow right at your tires, throw some salt down, and work your way out.  The salt will help with this.  (Also good for getting stuck in ditches and potholes, something Michigan has plenty of).

ALWAYS budget extra time for your commute if there's been snow.  Add 10-15 minutes per inch for clearing away and extended drive time.  Set the alarm clock extra early.  And even if you're not going out that day, clear off your car before nightfall *anyway*.  You do not want to clear off multiple layers of ice and snow.  Not fun.

Getting Around in the Snow

Driving on snow is very different than driving on ice.  Ice is far more dangerous.  With both, take your time, and as I'm sure you've heard... if you start to skid... move the wheel in the opposite direction of the skid.  If you really start to skid, maneuver so that you don't hit anything (a tree, a car, a person!).  And don't feel bad.  We all skid, even us natives... it's just part of life in the Great White North.

If you are walking in snow, I feel sorry for you.  I am from Detroit, where there are sidewalks.  I am new to "the country", and the first thing I've done for the winter is to buy myself a pair of knee-high snow boots.  (I'll be buying another pair as well as some totes.)  There are SO many places without sidewalks, and the thing is, your feet CANNOT get wet.  All Michigan girls have stories about wearing cute shoes to school, then getting surprised by snow and almost losing toes to frostbite at the bus stop.  And Ann Arbor is no joke--it gets way colder than Detroit.

Winter Gear

The most important item in your winter repertoire is your hat... and sisters are ESPECIALLY bad at wearing them because we don't want to mess up our hair. Forget about the hair!  If you don't want to wear a hat, then you might as well not wear earmuffs, a scarf, or gloves.  You lose the majority of your body heat in subzero weather through your head.  And no, a hood is not good enough unless it's fitting your head like a hat.  (If you just cannot wear a hat, at least wear a thick scarf around your head!)

Speaking of scarves, when it's below freezing, I layer up with two if I'm not wearing a turtleneck.

If the warmest coat you currently own is leather, you are not ready.  I don't care if it's lined.  Go to the store... if you're on a budget, check out Burlington Coat Factory (I'm not sure if there's one in A2, but I can tell you about several Detroit-area locations), or AJ Wright (on Washtenaw in the same shopping plaza as Dunham's and the Dollar Store).  Again, I'm FROM here, and I'm currently wearing the coat that I wore in JANUARY in Detroit.  It gets 5-15 degrees colder here since we're in a valley and away from a major urban center with lots of concrete and people.  Please, please reconsider trying to be cute.
(Or if you want to be cute, at LEAST invest in a real winter dress coat--wool, fur, or fake fur.)

Other Preparation & Advice

Even if you are a poor grad student, keep basic food staples in the house. We usually don't lose power during blizzards, and we never have lost heating gas in my lifetime, but you do not want to be stuck in the house with no food and everything's shut down.  NO FUN.  (I would also keep a flashlight and a radio with extra batteries just in case.)

Another obvious thing:  you need a lock de-icer.  Get it NOW before your locks freeze over.  DO NOT keep it in your car for obvious reasons.  IF YOU FORGET:  you can use WD40 or boiling water for substitutes.  Just be careful.

It does almost no good to shovel your snow if you don't salt your walk afterwards.  The thin layer left behind will ice up, and you will slip and fall.

This is my favorite time of the year!  The best stretch of holidays are Halloween until Valentine's Day, which takes us through a great deal of the cold weather.  I moved back up here after college largely because I missed the seasons.  So the most important thing is to enjoy it!  Make a snowman for the first time in your life (bundle up) or a snow angel (please bundle up), or listen to Boyz II Men's "Let It Snow" or Vanessa Williams' "Baby, It's Cold Outside" watching the snow fall as you cuddle with the person you love.  (For those of you who celebrate Christmas--how can you do a green Christmas every year?  We get an attitude if we don't have snow!  The decorations don't even look right!)  I will close with the words of one of my favorite carols:

"May your days be merry and bright,
And may all your Christmases be white."

If anyone has any other questions, or wants more tips, they can email me (Ebony) at  ebonyt@umich.edu.  Every native Michigander knows how to "do winter", but most  do not know how to do winter well.

____________________________________________

Helpful Winter Tips
from Jenny Epley

*Curel lotion works really well for dry skin and is good for 24 hours.
*Every week or so, rub vaseline on your feet (especially heels), put some socks on, and go to bed -- great results!
*If you want to keep warm in general, vaseline on your feet with socks or on your hands with gloves works well.  My uncle rides motorcycles, often in the cold, and his crew swears by it. :)
*Save money and keep your apartment/room/house warm by investing in weather-stripping or a weather insulation kit (i.e., shrink film or wrap).  The latter only requires a hairdryer.
*Use your ceiling fans to circulate warm air.  Most fans have a switch you can use so that the fan goes counter-clockwise, i.e., it moves the warm air down (instead of up as in the summer).
*General advice is available at http://diynetwork.com/ (Do-it-yourself Network)
____________________________________________

Winter Survival 101, submitted by various SCOR members

Winter Gear

For good prices on winter gear, go to Birch Run.  It is about 10 mi. north of AA on M-23 and you have North Face and Columbia Outlet Stores to take care of the winter coat/hat/scarf/glove needs. 

Winter Driving

For winter driving, get a snow shovel to keep in the trunk, make sure you've topped off your washer fluid regularly, and get an industrial size ice scraper from a place like Auto Zone (there's one on Stadium, 1 mi. west of Ann Arbor-Saline.

Car Help

For maintenance, I would trust no one but a dealership.  MI is filled with too many auto repair and fly-by-night quick lube joints where those working on your vehicle don't know your vehicle.  If you value your ride, don't take chances. Also, if you don't have snow tires, then get them...now.  If you're going to buy, find a GM or Ford employee who can extend friends & family discounts, assuming neither is running an employee pricing promotion at the time of consideration.

In the winter, people might want to go to a gas station and put what is called "dry gas" in their tanks.  It isn't really expensive (like $3 at most), and it keeps the water from forming in the gas tank when it's really cold.  The first time you put it in the tank though, you should just about be on empty. Put the whole bottle in, then fill-up with gas.  You won't need anymore unless you let the car reach empty again, then refill it with the dry gas.  People should do this when it starts to get really cold outside.