I enjoyed this because it took me a second to think what a not-dried prune is: a plum.

Ask a local to show you some of their winter clothes or to take you winter clothes shopping. Your warmest clothes right now are not warm enough. Capacitive touch gloves will let you use your phone.

If you have a car, get a snow brush and ice scraper (for windshield and windows). There is winter windshield fluid, get and use it when it’s snowing. Get winter tires, it makes a difference. Insurance companies give a discount for having them. If there’s snow on the road, go slower than you think you should, and start braking at least twice as early as when it’s dry. Accelerate and brake slowly. If your car is sliding on ice, resist the temptation to keep pressing your brakes, try your best to steer the slide instead.

If your car gets stuck in snow and you need to run it to keep it warm, make sure the tail pipe is well clear of snow (carbon monoxide). Keep an emergency blanket, hat, gloves in the car in case of breakdown. If the wheels are stuck in a snowbank (just spinning in place), some sand or non-clumping cat litter can give you traction. You can sacrifice your floor mats for this, too.

If you walk instead of drive, consider crampons for your boots for if it gets icy out.

There’s different textures and density to snow. Wet snow is dense and heavy, dry snow is light and fluffy. Shoveling can be very different depending on the snow. Lift/push with your legs, now with your arms or back. Take breaks if needed.

If you wear glasses, they will fog up when you go from outside to inside. Sorry. You could get anti-fog stuff used for snow and ski goggles, but most normal people just wait for them to warm up.

A scarf makes a big difference.

Wool can keep you warm even when wet.

Be prepared for power outages especially if the area does not bury power lines. Heavy snow, or worse, ice, can make tree branches heavy and fall and snap power lines. If this happens, be mindful of carbon monoxide. People, families have died trying to keep warm by running generators, stoves, etc indoors without proper ventilation.

Snow reflects sunlight; wear sunglasses if the sun is out and there’s snow on the ground.

Go outside and listen when the snow is falling. It makes everything quieter and it’s really ice to hear.

Snow that’s warmed slightly then frozen again is crunchy and fun to walk on.

If you’re north enough, the sunlight will not be sufficient for creating vitamin D. (Plus you’ll probably be indoors more, less daylight in general.) Consider a supplement.

Consider a SAD light if lack of daylight affects your moods.

I’ve found this to be true in general once I started working. I don’t feel kinda this was a thing when I was and was integrating with other students. I had to readjust my “responsible” self who actually would follow up (to people’s horror) and tell myself it’s a polite saying that people don’t mean. Like when people greet each other with “How are you?”, they generally actually do not want to know how the other person is doing. You’re expected to say “fine” or “good” and deviating from that is violating an unspoken social contract.

Refusing to use nail polish remover to clean off permanent marker because that’s “for women”. It’s acetone, my dude, acetone.

I don’t hate Google, I am deeply suspicious of Google.

I never watched Ghomeshi’s program and never had a personal opinion about him one way or the other prior to the allegations, but I think it’s important to be clear and accurate when making these statements (because inaccuracies weaken/discredit the whole). While it came out Ghomeshi is a misogynist who engaged in sexual harassment and enjoys violence against women, it also came out at trial that the women conspired together beforehand when they made the allegations of rape against them. Creep? Yes. Misogynist? Yes. Stay away from him? Definitely. Rapist? Not proven.

It could also be that you (OP) could be wrong (at least sometimes) but continue to insist that you are correct. But consider that needing to be right is just another way of saying needing to prove other people wrong. That is exhausting and infuriating from the other side to have someone constantly tear you down. It’s not being factually correct that’s infuriating, it’s the attitude that goes along with needing to be correctz because (if it’s being pointed out to you in such a manner) it’s not done in a friendly way, but an adversarial way.

People usually just want to have fun, friendly, conversations. When someone, sometimes not even the person you’re talking to, butts in and keeps insisting your wrong and that you must acknowledge them, it’s extremely rude. It derails the conversation to centre around how smart you (think you) are, instead of the topic, in an adversarial way.

I know someone who “had to have the last word”. I’m still trying to figure out if he’s maybe neurodivergent and honestly doesn’t understand, or if he’s just an arrogant asshole. But the end result is the same: you come off as a arrogant asshole, and no one will like you for it. Not only does he always “have to be right”, he inserts himself when people aren’t even talking to him, and won’t let other people move on with the conversation until they acknowledge that he’s right. It’s rude, selfish, and self centred behaviour.

And then he cries himself the victim when people don’t like him, which makes everyone dislike him even more.

The fact that you’re even asking this question in this way (“how do I be right?” and not “why do people say this?”) shows your need to be correct and make someone else wrong, and your victim complex about it. If I knew you in real life, I wouldn’t be your friend.