In Finland 2021 is off to a fast start

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• John Venlet December 31, 2020, 12:25 PM

  A true Finn wouldn’t have had a towel wrapped around himself.

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• Mike Anderson December 31, 2020, 1:00 PM

  @John: Au contraire! How’s he going to wipe the sweat off when he finishes that sprint?
  Looks to me like UPS should be hiring some smart-alec Finnish sprinters for winter deliveries.

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• John Venlet December 31, 2020, 1:21 PM

  Point taken, Mike, possibly I was not basing my assertion on enough statistical data. The one data point I leaned on was a Finnish friend who also races motorcycles on icy lakes. I was at a race he was participating in up in northern Michigan, and at the same lake there was one of those polar bear swims going on. When my friend noticed the participants gathered round the hole in the ice, after the race, he rode his bike over and asked if it would be alright if he took a dip. When they said “No problem,” he stripped down to his skivvies, and dove right in, swam around for a bit, unlike the other polar bear participants who jumped in and immediately out, and then stood around for a bit talking all things Finnish; sauna, icy dips, etc.; while still in his skivvies. All the rest of the polar bear plungers had donned boots, heavy blankets, or warm jackets. After chatting them all up for 10 or 15 minutes, he climbed backed into his ice racing gear, and rode off. And he didn’t have a towel.

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• Stargazer December 31, 2020, 1:54 PM

  Happy New Year Gerard. Thank you for all you do.

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• Anne December 31, 2020, 2:04 PM

  SISU–is a very real quality and it seems to be only applicable to the Finns! Love em!

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• mmack December 31, 2020, 2:11 PM

  I dunno 🤷🏻‍♂️ Gerard, I didn’t hear a gun go off so I’m going to call “false start” or “jump the start” on that crazy 😜 Finn.

  Happy New Year sir. May you keep offering us your unique take on the weirdness and wonder of the world.

  P.S. Can you repost your story on “Spare a Quatah?” someday? Always makes me laugh 😆.

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• PA Cat December 31, 2020, 3:26 PM

  “Looks to me like UPS should be hiring some smart-alec Finnish sprinters for winter deliveries.”
  Canadian hockey players can do the job too– and they might jump at the chance to get away from Trudeau.

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• Roll-Aid December 31, 2020, 4:34 PM

  For 30 years I lived on a street much like that back in MN. That UPS driver wasn’t a native. First off, he’s not wearing shorts. UPS drivers wear shorts. Period. Second, a true Minnesotan woulda sized up the situation right away. Brace up on the back of the van and a healthy shove would have delivered that sucker right to the door. A slap shot with a hockey stick would work better but UPS drivers usually don’t carry sticks around in the truck. FedEx maybe, but not UPS.

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• PubliusII December 31, 2020, 5:59 PM

  [UPS driver] Here comes Rocket Richard up the ice at a furious pace! He shoots!! He scores!!!

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• Casey Klahn December 31, 2020, 6:23 PM

  John and Mike, I have actually been on the Finnish lake and smack-dab right on the Arctic Circle (it theoretically ran right through the lake) and I was expecting buck nekked! The Finns sauna and jump in the drink in their birthday suits.

  My host, a retired Finnish Navy Captain, informed me that the Arctic Circle moves about. The reason is that it delineates the place where one full solar day and one full day of darkness each occur once annually. Just a bit of geographic trivia for ya. The reindeer run around like bandits, and the girls are worth seeing. I’m just reporting the truth.

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• Bonafideview December 31, 2020, 9:52 PM

  As a native northern Minnesotan raised where it’s always “colder by the Lake (Superior)” by a father who spoke only Finnish until he entered elementary school, I understand both the humor and reality of these videos. That I am also a retiree from UPS brings things to a another level. Proud of the good delivery service against the odds, enjoyed the surprise ice sprint, and simply can not stop joyful laughter from bubbling up inside me. Thank you for the positive gift to end 2020.

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• Jewel December 31, 2020, 11:31 PM

  When we first got married (Wyoming) Husman and I went hotpotting just outside Yellowstone Park. We were naked, in winter, and walked through bitter, ice cold, calf deep water…to join the other nekkid bathers in a warm pool of neck deep hotsprings water. Ahhh. Good times. It was the only place without ice. Lots of steam, but no ice.

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• James ONeil January 1, 2021, 7:55 AM

  I have taken a dip in the Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean) at Prudhoe Bay, quite invigorating.

  One of my less pleasant memories while learning to deal with life in the arctic and sub-arctic; in the spring coming out of a Finnish style sauna, deciding to dive head first naked into a snow bank to cool off. The snow bank was on a south slope, the sun had glazed a hard, rough, layer of ice atop it. Hence, instead of diving in I found myself naked belly skating some twenty feet across it.

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• John Venlet January 1, 2021, 8:42 AM

  Hence, instead of diving in I found myself naked belly skating some twenty feet across it.

  That had to be more abrasive, than bracing, James.

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• EX-Californian Pete January 1, 2021, 11:05 AM

  Here in my little Midwest town, the 1st day of 2021 is looking and feeling a bit gloomy- dark and overcast skies, no susnshine, a persistent cold wind, a layer of ice over everything, foggy, and freezing rain coming down in waves.

  I sure hope that’s not an indication of how the rest of the year will be!

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• gwbnyc January 1, 2021, 4:49 PM

  born south shore of lake erie, here- the driver’s a rookie. walk in the snow, push the box.

  and I grew up next to a town of Finns, beautiful, flaxen-haired Finns.

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• Dave January 2, 2021, 6:21 PM

  A member of the UPS Curling team?

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• greg January 2, 2021, 10:01 PM

  A comment on the Youtube side of the finland runner:
  “It’s him, it’s Jesus”
  Then,
  “Catch him! He’s trying to get away!”

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