Colorado: Blame it on the altitude!

As I mentioned in a previous post that if you don't stay hydrated the first few days you arrive (and before you arrive), you can easily get altitude sickness which can happen at 6,500 feet above sea level. The thinner air does not allow your body to get as much oxygen as it needs causing such symptoms as headache, loss of appetite, and nausea. There is not much you can do once you get it other than suffer through it or get back down to a lower altitude. Not only does the high altitude affect your body, it affects other things in our lifestyle that our sea level counterparts take for granted. For example, it takes twice as long to boil water up here. When you bake something, you have to bake at a different temperature and for a longer period. Next time you bake, take a look at the package as some provide different baking directions for high altitude which I never noticed before until now. We use high altitude flour when we make pies and cakes. Plasma TV's cannot perform at high altitude either - they start to make a buzzing sound above 6,000 feet. This was news to us until we went with our roommate Kevin to shop for a plasma TV and were told we have to get an LCD instead. Those are just a few examples of things that we have to adjust to. Other effects include you get drunk a lot faster up here (which means cheaper date) and you have a serious gas problem. You will notice that when you are here, you fart more than you will ever have your whole life. Our household is a never-ending concerto of flatulence that appeal to (or turn off) both auditory and olfactory senses. But all we can do is laugh and blame it on the altitude.