Good morning!!!!

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Actually, it's the inverse ... at in the case of the junior Senator from Texas ... :laughing:

How about discussing the Texas power grid in another forum in another thread so we don't have to prune this one/close it?

Good morning.

Agreeed....Buurrrrrrrrrrr

Some are getting more electricity than others....not sure what the rule of thumb is. They actually told us to turn off our thermostats yesterday. We cut ours back to 63F......mattered not, with the blackouts we got down to 58F inside.

Worse blackout percentage for my inlaws.

Now, potable water will be the next emergency. We are down to low water pressure. I have 1 toilet already not flushing because of frozen line. (PEX under home)

We need to have backup water available.

Might should consider prepping better. I just cut more firewood. Electric splitters don't work well without electricity.

 

[Thomas]

+1°F and partly cloudy this morning, going up to 12° today. iThingie weather widget says it will be sunny and 50° here next Tuesday. I'll be OK with that.

Wind chill was around -17° when I walked out to the barn to feed the chickens and fire up the tractor to excavate our snow. Fortunately, as the morning progressed, the wind subsided and the sunshine made it feel much warmer that single digits, especially in that heated tractor cab. Getting to that point, though, wasn't a foregone conclusion. The glow plugs took a little extra time this morning, so I cycled it a second time before turning the key. It cranked reeeeeal slooooow. I stopped, cycled the glow plugs again, and it cranked reeeeeal slooooow again ... then finally started. I haven't run it since before the holidays. I'm thinking next winter it will have a tender on the battery. Ran fine once it started, and restarted fine after it warmed up a bit. We had a drift that wrapped around in front of the garage door and sunroom door that was up to the door handle, so probably four feet. The other end of the concrete pad was still bare. Got all that cleaned off first, took a short breakfast break, then dove into the driveway. The bottom half of the driveway was the same as the top pad, drifted about 3-4 feet. That took some time to clear, but got it done around 10:30-ish. Cleared a walking path out to the barn on the way back, and called it done. This is the most significant snow we've had here in a few years. Looks like the average was around 7-8 inches here, but the 15-20 mph winds made for some impressive drifts. Youngest stepson sent us a picture of one he took out his truck window that was probably 5-6 feet tall along the side of the road about a mile south of us.

View attachment 686684 View attachment 686685 View attachment 686686

OK, pilot error. I was trying to upload the original pics without resizing them first. It was just taking forever to load those giant files.
First two were taken by The Wife from inside the sunroom, through the screen, while I was clearing the concrete area. Last was breakfast break.

Just another good reason to own tractor. :thumbsup:

 

[txdon]

Woke up to a loud noise on the roof like someone fell on it or something fell in the attic???? Will investigate when it gets light outside. No trees close.

Don did you ever find out what caused that noise? I was letting my imagination run wild and thought of blue ice falling from an airliner or a meteorite. The last time we has a thump in the night it was one of my wife's house plants falling off a window ledge.

Chris

18˚F

I did not go in the attic, but looking on top of the roof nothing looks amiss. So I don't know. One day in the future I'll find something.

Power went off 1.25 hour ago. Finish shoveling snow off the driveway. The road are reported passable but there is no where to go. Only one grocery store is open (HEB) and reports say there is a line 200 people long to get inside. We have enough food for another week or longer.

Lost internet also for a while but after 2.25 hours we now have power and the internet is back up. Need to eat and shower before we loose it again. House only got to 60˚F so not bad at all.

 

[Thomas]

34F fine mist falling.

3"+mostly sleet was double the time doing clean up,but all roofs are clean and snow banks push back for Friday storm...Kubota now getting good rest.
Chatted with highway snow plow operator...nice guy :thumbsup:,he was threaten this morning by home owner and refuse to let him plow so he call police,he said it got ugly home owner got ride in cruiser.

Recliner dinner recliner slow motion movie pillow time will come early tonight.

Enjoy your evening all.

 

[Buppies]

Are you feeling better Kyle?
How about a small generator?

Our generator is 5500 watts not much but runs heat propane hot water propane refrigerator well bathroom lights bedroom lights TV in great room manageable but only runs 12 hours before needing gas

 

[Buppies]

Had that happen once Thomas years ago lady threw shovel at truck stood in road and would not move. Called VDOT they came with State Police she went inside never came back out.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Are you feeling better Kyle?
How about a small generator?

Our generator is 5500 watts not much but runs heat propane hot water propane refrigerator well bathroom lights bedroom lights TV in great room manageable but only runs 12 hours before needing gas

We are all electric. And it has truly become a convenience that is hard to live without. We would need 12kw at least to keep up with just some of our load.

I'm feeling ok. Sinus headaches and diarrhea are my 2 main symptoms. I had to rest for a bit while chopping firewood. I only split maybe 1/5 of a chord. We've burned almost 1/2 chord now, in since Thursday or Friday.

Randy, I'm praying for your family. Hope the property "settlement" doesn't get down in the muck.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Power outages suck. Can't watch any shows, don't even bother starting. Maybe get a spot of local news.

My phone does not want to get data on the cellular network right now. Might be time for an upgrade.

frustrating.

My family is getting stir crazy. I've been up north in cold for spells, and I'm fairly used to it, but they are not.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Son got to try out the snow

 

[riptides]

Fill the bathtub for water if you can. Bring snow inside for flushing.