'It's brutal:' Temperatures may fall, but work never stops in southeast Wisconsin



MILWAUKEE -- It may have been cold outside on Tuesday, Nov. 12 -- record-breaking cold, in fact, but work never stops in southeast Wisconsin.

"It's cold. It's brutal," said Thomas Rasmussen with Asplundh. "It's in the morning when you first get out here, and you really gotta get going. You warm up after a while. As long as you've got enough layers on, if you keep moving, and doing, and working, you warm up. I feel fine now."

Some work outside as many as 10 hours daily. No matter the weather -- mail carriers, cable technicians, and contractors still have to work.

"We take down hazard trees for the City of Milwaukee," Rasmussen said. "We did a couple ash trees here. They had the emerald ash borer, so that's mainly what we've been doing as far as hazard trees."



They planned ahead to stay warm.

"Long underwear, flannel pants, insulated pants, and just sweatshirts -- a lot of sweatshirts," Rasmussen said.



They also geared up for another bitterly cold season.

"Just getting the hydraulics moving, getting your own blood flowing, and just getting going basically, but other than that, I guess we're used to it. We've been doing it a long time out in the winters here for many years," Rasmussen said.