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Will have to agree here. As someone who's working from Canada, this post is semi-funny. I've worked from SF October to January, and let me tell you that biking

Will have to agree here. As someone who's working from Canada, this post is semi-funny. I've worked from SF October to January, and let me tell you that biking around town in a t-shirt is not winter.

IanDrake 13y ago
It's about daylight exposure, not temp. Working indoors is a relatively new phenomenon in humans and effects us all a little differently. When it's dark when you go into work, and you don't have a corner office, and it's dark when you leave your body gets no sunlight. For some, this has a profound effect on mood.
- VLM 13y ago
  Observationally I think there's a huge exercise component, in past centuries miners, textile/sweatshop workers, and assemblyline workers didn't seem to suffer.
  - 6d0debc071 13y ago
    Weren't their lives pretty miserable anyway? Can you max out your unhappiness meter?
    - VLM 13y ago
      That's an interesting theory. Data about union votes to start/end strikes vs month of year vs latitude could show some correlation where union outdoor worker hotheads in June will strike till they win but in January some important percentage of them would be more likely to give up. I don't think the data shows a correlation but a more serious attempt at research might find something.
- Pxtl 13y ago
  Remember that the days are even shorter in Canadian winter, too. SF's shortest day of the year is 9.4 hours long. Toronto's shortest day is 8.7 hours long, and Toronto is one of Canada's southern-most cities. Montreal and Quebec City have it worse, but those poor damned Calgarians take the cake with only 7.7 hours of daylight on Christmas. Only about 45 minutes difference from SF here in Hamilton, but still, it's that much closer to being completely eclipsed by the 8-hour workday.
  - VLM 13y ago
    "completely eclipsed by the 8-hour workday" Which brings up the mythological tradition that "real programmers" at "real companies" all work 60 to 80 hour death marches all the time, err, at least according to people who (edited to add: think they) make money when their employees go on death marches. Anyway even in summer I think a potential SAD suffer could theoretically spend weeks not seeing sunlight, and that might be an interesting factor in programming death marches. I'm not trying to encourage a new dotcom management fad of "deathmarches are OK as long as you install bright lights by the Foosball table" but it is interesting to contemplate.
  - threedaymonk 13y ago
    I never stop being surprised by just how far south everyone lives in Canada. London gets about 7 hours and 50 minutes of daylight on the shortest day; in Scotland it's less than 7 hours.
    - gruseom 13y ago
      Yes, we're almost all huddled in a narrow ribbon against the southern border. I never stop being surprised y how temperate Western European climates are at equivalent (or higher!) latitudes to ours. "Surprised" is a bit of a euphemism—"pissed off" might be more like it :) One compensation where I live is that even when the days are cold and short, they are usually brilliantly sunny.
      - mixmastamyk 13y ago
        Yep, the gulf stream. Being in California I was very surprised on a trip to Kansas City once, went from beach weather to snow drifts. A warm ocean nearby makes a huge difference.
    - mdda 13y ago
      One interesting thing to do is to scroll a Google Map world-view sideways, with your finger on European cities, and see where the correspond around the world. It's very surprising (and visual too).
  - 13y ago
- euphemize 13y ago
  Totally agree (I think temp also plays a role, if your body is working harder to preserve higher temperatures = more tired). I was only imagining how this blog post would of been about 10x its size if the author lived in Norway or Finland. It's good to keep an eye on these things but luckily for the author, SF is one of the places where the sun hits the most, even in the winter.
- bowlofpetunias 13y ago
  Not being able to see daylight from your workplace is illegal in most Western countries. With the exception of certain jobs where it is impossible to avoid of course.
  - jacalata 13y ago
    Really? I've seen offices in the USA, Australia and England that don't have a view out a window, I'd be surprised if they were all breaking some laws. Can you give any specific countries?
venomsnake 13y ago
I have biked and walked in a t-shirt in -17 Celsius. Cold temperature t-shirt tolerance varies a lot with people. I just really hate wearing jackets in the city and prefer to endure than to wear one.
dwaltrip 13y ago
He is talking about a mental affliction and how the time of year affects it... not making small talk about the weather.

Will have to agree here. As someone who's working from Canada, this post is semi-funny. I've worked from SF October to January, and let me tell you that biking around town in a t-shirt is not winter.

IanDrake 13y ago

It's about daylight exposure, not temp. Working indoors is a relatively new phenomenon in humans and effects us all a little differently. When it's dark when you go into work, and you don't have a corner office, and it's dark when you leave your body gets no sunlight. For some, this has a profound effect on mood.

VLM 13y ago
Observationally I think there's a huge exercise component, in past centuries miners, textile/sweatshop workers, and assemblyline workers didn't seem to suffer.
- 6d0debc071 13y ago
  Weren't their lives pretty miserable anyway? Can you max out your unhappiness meter?
  - VLM 13y ago
    That's an interesting theory. Data about union votes to start/end strikes vs month of year vs latitude could show some correlation where union outdoor worker hotheads in June will strike till they win but in January some important percentage of them would be more likely to give up. I don't think the data shows a correlation but a more serious attempt at research might find something.
Pxtl 13y ago
Remember that the days are even shorter in Canadian winter, too. SF's shortest day of the year is 9.4 hours long. Toronto's shortest day is 8.7 hours long, and Toronto is one of Canada's southern-most cities. Montreal and Quebec City have it worse, but those poor damned Calgarians take the cake with only 7.7 hours of daylight on Christmas. Only about 45 minutes difference from SF here in Hamilton, but still, it's that much closer to being completely eclipsed by the 8-hour workday.
- VLM 13y ago
  "completely eclipsed by the 8-hour workday" Which brings up the mythological tradition that "real programmers" at "real companies" all work 60 to 80 hour death marches all the time, err, at least according to people who (edited to add: think they) make money when their employees go on death marches. Anyway even in summer I think a potential SAD suffer could theoretically spend weeks not seeing sunlight, and that might be an interesting factor in programming death marches. I'm not trying to encourage a new dotcom management fad of "deathmarches are OK as long as you install bright lights by the Foosball table" but it is interesting to contemplate.
- threedaymonk 13y ago
  I never stop being surprised by just how far south everyone lives in Canada. London gets about 7 hours and 50 minutes of daylight on the shortest day; in Scotland it's less than 7 hours.
  - gruseom 13y ago
    Yes, we're almost all huddled in a narrow ribbon against the southern border. I never stop being surprised y how temperate Western European climates are at equivalent (or higher!) latitudes to ours. "Surprised" is a bit of a euphemism—"pissed off" might be more like it :) One compensation where I live is that even when the days are cold and short, they are usually brilliantly sunny.
    - mixmastamyk 13y ago
      Yep, the gulf stream. Being in California I was very surprised on a trip to Kansas City once, went from beach weather to snow drifts. A warm ocean nearby makes a huge difference.
  - mdda 13y ago
    One interesting thing to do is to scroll a Google Map world-view sideways, with your finger on European cities, and see where the correspond around the world. It's very surprising (and visual too).
- 13y ago
euphemize 13y ago
Totally agree (I think temp also plays a role, if your body is working harder to preserve higher temperatures = more tired). I was only imagining how this blog post would of been about 10x its size if the author lived in Norway or Finland. It's good to keep an eye on these things but luckily for the author, SF is one of the places where the sun hits the most, even in the winter.
bowlofpetunias 13y ago
Not being able to see daylight from your workplace is illegal in most Western countries. With the exception of certain jobs where it is impossible to avoid of course.
- jacalata 13y ago
  Really? I've seen offices in the USA, Australia and England that don't have a view out a window, I'd be surprised if they were all breaking some laws. Can you give any specific countries?

venomsnake 13y ago

I have biked and walked in a t-shirt in -17 Celsius. Cold temperature t-shirt tolerance varies a lot with people. I just really hate wearing jackets in the city and prefer to endure than to wear one.

dwaltrip 13y ago

He is talking about a mental affliction and how the time of year affects it... not making small talk about the weather.