pps - it reported to be -40 degrees either F or C, I don't know, in Hokkaido where Mike and Sue went to the ice festival this weekend.

Tet,  wow -40 would be very cold "weather" it be F or C.  Not sure were in Hokkaido the weather report was from but the coldest we felt was about -9 C without the wind chill in Sapporo Friday evening.  It was pretty cool seeing all of the ice and snow sculptures.  A few of the snow sculptures were as big as buildings (one was a scaled down version of an actual historical building).  Though the biggest kick we had was being interviewed (the same 5 questions) by small groups of Japanese elementary school kids so they could practice their English.  Had a good fill of both food and "beru" (Sapporo Classic draft).  Though for the first time in many months I didn't run for three consecutive days, though we walked over 20,000 steps each day.