> I would have thought the opposite. I would
> think that a low body temperature would make
> cold water less noticable to your senses, not
> more. Unless you're a cold-blooded, reptilian
> creature and not a mammalian monkey man
> after all.

I have been accused of the reptilian thing before. I deny everything. :-)

> It seems you have something in common with
> The Scotsman, however. Back in high school,
> he always wore a gray faux-leather jacket
> around everywhere, nearly year-round,
> because he insisted that he had a low body
> temperature.

In this case, it is much more scientific than just a claim. I often find myself complaining that it is too hot long before any of my friends do, and they often say that I like to keep the temperature too cold in the house. After purchasing en electronic thermometer, I started to take my temperature when one of these temperature disputes occurred, just to see if there was anything there that might make a difference. To my (slight) surprise, I saw 97.6ºF coming up an awful lot, in the evening, when people are supposed to be at about 98.6ºF. Because I was typing this post, I decided to take my temperature right now (even though it is ten thirty in the morning and I am not feeling over heated) because I know that the human body is naturally a bit cooler in the morning--sure enough, I came up at 97.0ºF.

Of course, it could be argued that my thermometer is not calibrated properly, but a few other people have used it in the past and received typical results. Just this week, in fact, I thought of a new concern related to this: Imagine, if you will, a trip to the doctor with a fever. (You have the fever, not the doctor.) Now, the doctor knows that if you are at 101ºF, then that's OK, but if you maintain a temperature of 102ºF (for example) then you are in a risky position, and should go to a hospital. For a normal person, this means that 2.4ºF above normal is fine, but 3.4ºF above normal is bad. However, if you take me, with my regular body temperature sitting lower than normal, am I at risk at 101ºF because my temperature is 3.4ºF above "normal", or am I still OK because the absolute temperature is more important (because of things like denaturing of proteins and such being the real cause for concern)?

One last thing: You should tell The Scotsman that his need for a warm jacket all the time would have more likely been caused by a higher than normal body temperature, because (and I say this from personal experience) having an altered body temperature makes you want to alter your surroudings in the direction of the body temperature to feel more comfortable. I go longer in the winter before I need more clothes, and I spend the summer resisting the urge the get nekkid, because it is just too HOT for me everywhere I go. I also like to set the thermostat nice and low and tell my roommates to put on a sweater if they get cold (I'd make a great father), or I open the windows in the middle of winter to cool off my personal spaces.

Wow. This post ended up being a lot longer than I expected.

> Gri"cold water is refreshing sometimes"shny

Don "Definitely not a cold-blooded reptile. Nope. Uh-uh." Monkey