How's this winter treating you?

jfh28 · Feb 7, 2014

Just being without the PT for one storm made me realize how much I depend on it and what a critical piece of equipment it is for me to have. I know many are getting it a lot worse than I have and I usually enjoy the winters....watching the snow fall....romping around in it with the dogs......a little seat time.......but with the amount of snow this year....the frequency of the storms.....the brutally below 0 temps....I can honestly say that this winter is kicking my butt! It seems that every day I'm dealing with something.......plowing.....ice......frozen pipes......dead battery......tires losing air.......stuck cars.......falling trees......and on and on. So hows it been for everyone else this year? .....Jack

J_J · Feb 7, 2014

Yep, this 50 degree weather is whipping my butt also as we are used to 70 degree winter.

However, I know what cold is, I was in Iceland several times in my Navy career, and we sometimes had to use ropes to get from the barracks to the chow hall because of whiteouts, and sometimes the runway was iced over and we had to chip the ice out of the pad eyes to chain the planes down. Yes sir, to cold for me..

Did I dread flying over the north Atlantic, you bet I did. Some time we took off in the fog and flew for 8 hr and landed in the fog. I also did the opposite by flying around Cuba during the Cuban crisis in the nose cone of the P2V Neptune. Was it hot, you can believe it. We were flying as low as 50 ft off the water to snap photo of the missiles on board the Russian ships.

Bird · Feb 7, 2014

Since our home is total electric, we expect big cooling bills in the summer and small bills in the winter, but this winter we're getting big electric bills for heating.

And since I stay inside more in the cold weather and get less exercise, and also tend to snack when I'm not busy and going, I gain weight in the winter.

And of course our little mutt just can't understand why I don't take her out to the park for a walk.

So that's the two worst things for me about this cold weather.

Complete Turf Care · Feb 7, 2014

I'm a landscaper and the winter this year is killing me too.

As of this morning, we've had 24 days where the temps have got below freezing, compared to 4 days last year. I'm really struggling with laying off some of my people, or maybe selling one of my tractors to help cash flow until we can get back going in about 3 or 4 weeks.

Bird · Feb 7, 2014

One of my brothers spends the summers in the state of Washington and the winters just north of Waco and he was complaining today that he comes south because he doesn't like cold weather and so far this winter has had more days when he couldn't play golf than the last 6 years combined.:laughing: And besides that, his water line to his RV was frozen this morning.:laughing:

And this is a guy who lived in Anchorage about 20 years and even raced snowmobiles professionally for awhile.

k0ua · Feb 7, 2014

Bird said:
Since our home is total electric, we expect big cooling bills in the summer and small bills in the winter, but this winter we're getting big electric bills for heating.

And since I stay inside more in the cold weather and get less exercise, and also tend to snack when I'm not busy and going, I gain weight in the winter. And of course our little mutt just can't understand why I don't take her out to the park for a walk.

So that's the two worst things for me about this cold weather.

Same here Bird, our electric heating bills are thru the roof. And what little Propane auxiliary heat we have, the propane is thru the roof. The outside kitty is inside, and he alternates between sleeping and tearing around the house.. He is bored to tears. He wants to go outside every day, but sticks his nose outside with single digit temps, and wind chills below zero, and come right back inside..

murphy1244 · Feb 7, 2014

I have not seen above freezing in at least a Month. Should slow down the Emerald ash borer.

SPYDERLK · Feb 7, 2014

A few short cold snaps. Above average temperatures overall judging from ice on the lake. ... Colder than the last couple yrs tho.
larry

300UGUY · Feb 7, 2014

Pretty darn rough here. We have had 2 periods without power, in November and December, resulting in 13 days without power. We have a whole house generator, but it ate a lot of expensive propane. And we had a record cold January, and a record snow load for January. Febuary isn't starting out all that great, we had 8 inches of snow 2 days ago. And it is back into single digits now...

deerseeker001 · Feb 7, 2014

I lived in this house since 1982 and never seen a winter like this one.we had snow every day for weeks on end no big amounts but piled up after months.the last i heard was like 50 some odd inches. we have 30+ days below zero temps.we have temps going up in the 20/30 next week cant wait.

flyerdan · Feb 7, 2014

It looked like winter was going to forget us until yesterday. Got about three inches and had a slew of accidents on the freeway south of here. Started snowing again around 1000 this morning and is still going, probably have around 7" so far, quite unusual for this area.

pajoube · Feb 7, 2014

Temps in the -20's for past week with Thursday at -36. Have not seen these temps in last 20 years or so. As far as snow, we have had 5 dumps that required me to plow our driveway and all the neighbors. We may get the low temps but it is very dry and we usually have sunny days. I shut down the furnace and use a wood burning stove (Blaze King) but at -36 I turned everything on.
PJ

cqaigy2 · Feb 8, 2014

Just a skiff of snow so far. We've only lost power for a few hours this winter and it's only gotten down to the high teens at night for a few days. Pretty mild, knock on wood.

Looking4new · Feb 8, 2014

Been cooler here than normal. Way less snow than normal too. We had our usual -40F temps for most of January. Usually it is only 2 weeks. I run both wood stoves this winter, (I've got hot peppers growing in the basement). After the wood fires die down in the wee small hours of the morning (4-5AM) the oil furnace kicks in and maintains the house at 65F. I am at the half way point on my firewood. I have 10 face cords left. That is 3.3 bush cords.

jfh28 · Feb 8, 2014

It looks like from the sounds of it I'm not the only one enjoying this lovely season....haha. Woke up this morning and found that my fun continues......the roads are still all covered with hard pack and ice from the last storm and someone took the turn to fast last night and lost control and nailed my mailbox.....snapped the post right off and sent it flying 50 feet. So now I've got to figure out something as the ground is frozen solid so can't install a new post........there's my Saturday shot to heck......lol. Thing is since I just got my tractor fixed and back in operation yesterday I had just plowed the huge snow bank in front of the mailbox back about 6 feet like I usually do to make it easier for the mail carrier to maneuver........if I had left it alone I'd still have a mailbox this morning........can't win! ........Jack

Lou66 · Feb 8, 2014

I can't complain,, it been a little cool here on the gulf coast south of Houston,, couple of days it got down to freezing but no snow,, no rain to speak of,, I need to edge and mow my yard,, that what my neighbors are do now.. lot of noise from all the mowing.. going to get up to 68 today.. and 74 tomorrow,, lot of sun.. no rain in the forecast,, I could use it on the hay fields and pasture. sorry for y'all bad luck.. Lou

Looking4new · Feb 8, 2014

jfh28 said:
So now I've got to figure out something as the ground is frozen solid so can't install a new post........there's my Saturday shot to heck.....Jack

Get yourself a bag of Calcium chloride and mix it with water, about 5:1 calc/water and pour it around the hole. Come back tomorrow and a cat bar /crow bar will pry the post out of the hole.

MossRoad · Feb 8, 2014

jfh28 said:
It looks like from the sounds of it I'm not the only one enjoying this lovely season....haha. Woke up this morning and found that my fun continues......the roads are still all covered with hard pack and ice from the last storm and someone took the turn to fast last night and lost control and nailed my mailbox.....snapped the post right off and sent it flying 50 feet. So now I've got to figure out something as the ground is frozen solid so can't install a new post........there's my Saturday shot to heck......lol. Thing is since I just got my tractor fixed and back in operation yesterday I had just plowed the huge snow bank in front of the mailbox back about 6 feet like I usually do to make it easier for the mail carrier to maneuver........if I had left it alone I'd still have a mailbox this morning........can't win! ........Jack

Put a 4x4 in a 5 gallon bucket of cement for a temporary mailbox stand until the ground thaws.

MossRoad · Feb 8, 2014

Well, our car died... new (used car) $17,000.
Then the stove died... new stove, $800.
Then the water heater died... new water heater, $800.
And then the washing machine died... I beat it senseless until it came back to life!!! GRRRRR!!!!! :laughing:

But seriously, this winter is just about like the winters I remember as a kid. We have piles of snow everywhere and the temps are frequently 0F. I love it. I miss these kinds of winters.
I ran out of places to put the snow. My plow is on the FEL arms, so I've been stacking it 6' high. Its now so high, if I push it over the top it goes into the neighbor's drive and vice versa from his side. The pile is 4.5' high and 200' long. Out by the road its so high we can't see the street to pull out safely. I popped off the plow and put the bucket on and had to haul about 20 - 30 yards of snow to the back yard. Its been so deep I can't use the high wheel cart to bring in firewood. I have to use the FEL bucket for that, too. And its so deep its buried my firewood pile to the point that my March supply on the bottom is buried. I'll have to dig it out soon.
I went ice fishing today. The snow on the lake is almost too deep to make walking viable. The ice under the snow is 14" thick. Its only been 4" thick the past 2-3 years. I may have to get out the power auger! :laughing: