We are having a cold snap here. Highs in the teens (F), lows around zero. It’s Poland: this happens. We didn’t come here for the weather, after all. You would think it would be no big deal. But, over the past couple of days…

1.) Our normally-reliable internet has flickered on and off for hours at a time. It happens sometimes in bad weather. Today’s outage has been going on since I got up this morning. Fortunately my husband has a Skyroam mobile hotspot thingie that we can use for dial-up quality internet. (But how does cold affect the internet, anyway? It’s a mystery to me!)

2.) While I was taking a shower, the water suddenly turned reddish-brown. Totally freaked me out—I thought I’d lost a limb or something! I got out quickly and rinsed my hair with a bottle of water I keep in the bathroom for the Neti pot. When I dried off, the towel even had brown stains on it. It’s probably just rust, but I really don’t want to know. Probably has something to do with the extreme cold, though.

3.) The air quality has been even worse than usual. Today’s headline reads (per Google Translate) IF YOU DO NOT HAVE TO, DO NOT GO OUTSIDE. HUGE CONCENTRATIONS OF CARCINOGENIC DUST AND POISONOUS BENZENE.

Good grief. No wonder I can’t shake this cough.

So, if you know anyone who actually thinks it would be great to “bring back coal,” in the U.S., show them this. And tell them they are cordially invited to come breathe (and smell) the air in my Warsaw neighborhood any time.