There are two types of people: those who claim there are two types of people, and those who don’t. Evidently, as much as I’d like to make this a quasi-ironic brain teaser, I’m in the first category.

To get to the point, I believe that people either run hot, or they run cold. I’d put myself in the ‘running cold’ camp. That means I’m constantly trying to stay warm, which is annoying because I’m not that keen on using heaters. Give me a wood fire any day, but heating just makes me feel dry and crusty, and somehow not even that warm. Not the right kind of warm, anyway. I’ve found I can tolerate gas heating better than, say, reverse cycle air conditioning, although it’s still not my first choice.

No disrespect to any readers who are, for example, professionals in the realm of ducted heating services and repairs. Canberra, where I live, it gets absurdly cold at this time of year, and lots of people rely on their heating systems to get through winter without having a nervous breakdown. The heating industry undeniably provides a valuable service. But for me, personally, I need to find other ways to keep warm.

One thing I’ve done to combat the freezing over of my extremities is to take up a regular cardio routine. A hundred star jumps first thing in the morning gets the blood pumping, and that seems to set me up for the day in terms of adapting to the plummeting mercury. The other day I did five hundred, just to see what would happen, and afterwards I was sweating so much I actually had to turn on the air conditioning. Canberra locals should take note of this – it’s a great way to keep your heating bills down, provided you don’t go too far in the other direction.

And those who run hot? I don’t know. Maybe take up swimming.