The winter had hit hard, and I’d fucking had it with the cold. When it wasn’t snowing, the sky felt frozen and the wind dug at me with icy fingers. When it did snow — and it did, a lot — it came down mercilessly. The city plows were out all the time, but the streets were always a mess.

Getting around on foot was an exercise in masochism. I had to dress like I was going out on a glacier, and even then, the cold still found a way to get to me. Everyone I encountered bitched about stiff joints and numb toes.

The weather affected my sex life as well. I had a nice passel of women who I’d been seeing for naked frolics, but they were feeling less and less frolicsome. The cold put people in a foul mood — myself included.

I woke up in the morning to gray, and it only got grayer... Read More