Texas Heat!

[Bird]

I do not envy you guys at all. I was 24 before I shipped out of Texas in the Navy, so I got a lot of experience working in that crap. Summer of '80 I was building houses at The Colony (not so far from you Bird) and there was 45 straight days of over 102ｰ. We would be at the jobsite before daybreak and off by noon. I can't even imagine working in that now.

Yesterday: Sunny and 65ｰ for my day of yardwork.

Were you working for Fox & Jacobs? In 1972, we bought a new house way out on the north edge of Carrollton (just north of Trinity Mills Road), so it's way down in Carrollton now. But in 1977, we moved to another new home in the southwest corner of Dallas. I think Fox & Jacobs just started The Colony about 1972, didn't they?

This whole area has grown so much that you wouldn't even recognize The Colony now.

As for "starting at daybreak and off by noon." In 1994 I was doing leakage surveys for gas companies; walking all the lines and checking the underground lines and up to and including the meters. And I went from one town to another in west Texas all summer. So I'd start as soon as it was light enough for me to read gas meter numbers without a flashlight; usually went until 2:30 or 3 p.m.

 

[LarryD]

Were you working for Fox & Jacobs? In 1972, we bought a new house way out on the north edge of Carrollton (just north of Trinity Mills Road), so it's way down in Carrollton now. But in 1977, we moved to another new home in the southwest corner of Dallas. I think Fox & Jacobs just started The Colony about 1972, didn't they?

This whole area has grown so much that you wouldn't even recognize The Colony now.

As for "starting at daybreak and off by noon." In 1994 I was doing leakage surveys for gas companies; walking all the lines and checking the underground lines and up to and including the meters. And I went from one town to another in west Texas all summer. So I'd start as soon as it was light enough for me to read gas meter numbers without a flashlight; usually went until 2:30 or 3 p.m.

Started with Fox & Jacobs around 1977. I was working for a custome home builder around Flower Mound and was laid off. I had seen the work at the Colony so I decided to see if they had any openings. I think the interview went something like "when can you start". Lots of construction then and a fine wage for a pretty green house builder.

I saw more than guy fall to heat exhaustion.

 

[Bird]

Bird, take it easy out there!!

I went on a 2 hr tree seedling watering spree yesterday afternoon, bad idea too. I sweat till there was none, then started getting the "light headed" thing so called it an afternoon.

I have always been sensitive to heat, my wife says if we could make a living, I should be in Alaska, I like cool weather:thumbsup:

Dennis, daughter's place was so dry it didn't take much effort, or very long, to mow. But you know we have an 81 year old man living alone next door, and his back yard had grown up in grass and weeds knee high. If anyone had reported it, the city would have made him clean it up. And I would have done it long before now, except back when it was cool, he set out some little peach trees and some grape vines, even a little garden, and he's a pack rat (nice guy but accumulates more junk than he knows what to do with. So anyway, I worked on his yard when I got back from my daughter's place. I burned up a whole tank of gas in the Stihl FS55RC string trimmer, then only spent 45 minutes on the Toro ZTR.:laughing: But the heat was beginning to get to me by the time I finished at noon.

As for Alaska. You know my parents moved to Anchorage in 1965. Both of my brothers were in the Air Force back then, and one got transferred to Elmendorf in 1965, got out in 1967 and stayed up there. The other brother got out of the Air Force in 1968 in California, went to Anchorage to visit, and stayed 20 years.:laughing: After the big earthquake in 1964, jobs were plentiful in Alaska. I had started on the Dallas police department in 1964, got married in 1965, but I was seriously thinking about going to Alaska to escape the heat when the police department got their first air-conditioned cars in 1968 and I got promoted to sergeant in 1968 so that convinced me to stay down here in the heat.:laughing:

 

[Bird]

I've seen it this hot this early before, but I can't remember it being this hot and the wind blowing this hard and this long. We need some relief soon. Yesterday afternoon and this afternoon are unbearable an the wind is kicking up the sand the likes I haven't seen in East Texas.

Charlie

Usually it seems that when it gets hot, the wind dies completely, but here today at 3 p.m., it 102 degrees with the wind at 24, gusting to 33 mph.

 

[keegs]

I occasionally work in Dallas and Phoenix in summer and the only way I can descibe it is oppressive. It's like walking around in an oven...In Phoenix the tap water stays warm no matter how long you run it. :laughing:

Though on the rare occasions when my brother comes up to visit us here in Jersey in winter (he lives in Florida) he can hardly get the chill out of him. It's almost pitiful to see him like that. My understanding is it has to do with thinning of the blood.

Keep on keepin on down there.

 

[SandburRanch]

Heat Shock - when one boards an Air Force HOP at Elmendorf AFB Anchorage temp. 48°F and raining. Fly 11 hours nonstop to Hill AFB Ogden UT and step off the plane into an atmosphere of 107°F as the sun sets over the Great Salt Lake. Long sleeve Khaki didn't do me any favors either. OH, but it was a dry heat.:laughing:

 

[sseelhoff]

Usually it seems that when it gets hot, the wind dies completely, but here today at 3 p.m., it 102 degrees with the wind at 24, gusting to 33 mph.

Thank goodness for that wind. Just got back from the farm, where I was doing my weekend chores. The moving air made it tolerable. Didn't feel like I was sweating, and my shirt was dry, but still covered in salt.

Can't drink enough water right now. I feel like sitting in the bottom of the pool and sucking the pool dry.

 

[Western]

Bird, you could have just "tossed" a match and mowed every body's yard for miles!!!

Been water particular areas of lawn, mostly the flower beds and the St Aug. small area, but let it run for 30 minutes each time and got no runoff. I suppose my water will drift with the wind towards you East Texas boy's.

I think it's 12 o clock somewhere so it's time for :drink: (tea)

 

[jinman]

Bird, you could have just "tossed" a match and mowed every body's yard for miles!!!

Been water particular areas of lawn, mostly the flower beds and the St Aug. small area, but let it run for 30 minutes each time and got no runoff. I suppose my water will drift with the wind towards you East Texas boy's.

I think it's 12 o clock somewhere so it's time for :drink: (tea)

Shhhh. . . Did you look at the radar and what's movin' our way? Don't want to say this too loud and scare it away.

 

[Western]

Yeah! no body look, be very very quite

(whisper) went out and see big black clouds, checked radar as Jim did and,, we might have an accident and where did that come from??? going to get on my swimming trunks and sit in a lawn chair

 

[Cacinok]

Usually it seems that when it gets hot, the wind dies completely, but here today at 3 p.m., it 102 degrees with the wind at 24, gusting to 33 mph.

Lot of hot air blowing up from TX today - you guys can keep it. 6:12pm, 104 here w/ a steady 12-20 mph wind. Ugh. It feels like a hair dryer on high blowing on your face outside.

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

I was coming home from cleaning at a rent house couple hours ago. They had our road closed. There is one road back to where we live with one branch off about halfway back, the road is 3.5 miles long.

There was a fire with firetrucks and people all over the place and the road was blocked.

Heard they were bringing in help, don't know if they did.

We drove down that way to see and there was some smoke so guess they got it. With all the woods out here if it gets going with this wind, we are cooked so to speak. This is the second fire, the first was a half mile from us, a wood chipping place went up.

It's so dry now we are seeing trees dying and the underbrush is just tinder dry. I told hubby I think I need to keep the motorhome loaded and ready, but leaving all our vehicles here would be awful, especially all his tools.

 

[Bird]

We met our kids and grandson at the Hard Eight BBQ in Coppell this evening. We'd never been there before, although the kids had. It was a very busy place. They have plenty of outdoor (under cover) seating that's probably very nice in the right kind of weather, but not today. And you have to go stand in line basically outdoors but under roof to order and receive whatever meats you want. Then go inside the air-conditioned part of the building for drinks, side orders, etc. Of course we stayed in the air-conditioned part of the place to eat, but by the time we left, the crowd was too big to all fit inside so some were eating out in the heat. It was good food and we may go back in cool weather but not in the heat of the summer.

And when we left there to come home, we were watching those big clouds and hoping, but I see the NWS gives Denton County a 20% chance.

 

[jinman]

Well, I think the biggest part of the storm so far went right between Dennis and me. We got about 1/10" downpour so far from a small cloud, but I'm not complaining.

 

[NativeSon]

Bird, you could have just "tossed" a match and mowed every body's yard for miles!!!

Been water particular areas of lawn, mostly the flower beds and the St Aug. small area, but let it run for 30 minutes each time and got no runoff. I suppose my water will drift with the wind towards you East Texas boy's.

I think it's 12 o clock somewhere so it's time for :drink: (tea)

As dry as it is and getting worse, more and more counties are getting on the NO-BURN list. Some of the counties around here are banning the sale of fireworks with the 4th of July coming up, it could be a deadly combination.
For the Fourth I don't play with fireworks anymore, but I do try to keep the beer cold and the BBQ Pit smoking.

Charlie

 

[StanR]

Maybe a sign of hope. the next 10 days show some signs of rain on the Houston area.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I feel for you guys living in an oven. Things haven't gotten warm here yet, but it's coming. Here's a tip I learned 30 years ago: make your own electrolyte to drink, like Gatorade but cheaper. If you drink enough water to stay hydrated, you risk water intoxication and getting really sick.

To a gallon of water, add 1/2 tsp sodium chloride (table salt), 1/2 tsp potassium chloride (No-Salt salt substitute) and 1/2 tsp sodium bicarbonate (bicarbonate of soda). Flavor to taste. I have drunk as much as 2.5 gallons while working out in direct sun on a hot day, and was sweating so hard I didn't pee once.

Keep those sunglasses on. My opthamologist tells me sun exposure causes cataracts and macular degeneration.

 

[jinman]

I feel for you guys living in an oven. Things haven't gotten warm here yet, but it's coming.

Larry, my wife looked at the Crater Lake webcam yesterday and there is still snow there. The road is clear, but there's snow everywhere else. Unbelievable!

 

[jinman]

The wind did it to us again last night. This time we didn't get any rain with it, but we lost power for 2-1/2 hours overnight. For Father's Day, I get to go around and reset all the clocks.

 

[Bird]

make your own electrolyte to drink

Larry, I used to carry and drink Gatorade both when I was doing gas leakage surveys and when I was cutting and baling hay. But then a neighbor told me his doctor said Powerade was better for you than Gatorade. And I found that I liked the taste of the Powerade better, too. But my wife told me she saw something on the TV news that beer was better for hydrating yourself than either Gatorade or Powerade, so that sounded good enough to me.:laughing: