Those of us who live out in the middle of never never land are making it - but most of the crowd it's just making it. We're generally prepared for long periods without power - so we have generators. Water will become the next problem that we here have and that'll also be most of Texas (and probably a goodly part of the US!) The folks in town who are on "water district" water have already been told that if they leave their taps running two things are going to happen: water pressure is going to drop to the point that it won't run and when the pressure drops the surface pipes - and most pipes here are surface pipes - are going to freeze and then they're really without water.

What's a "snow tire"? Can you really make a tire out of snow?? (( and you know I know better but I wonder about most of the folks in the southern part of the states. ))

While I don't have the camping gear I once had, I still stock "dry goods" (read rice, macaroni, spaghetti) and canned condiments (spaghetti sauce, chili, etc that make good toppers for the dry goods) I complain about the cold cause I simply don't like it and if I really have to go out I can bundle up with enough light stuff to "make it" (( two pairs of jeans sucks but the only long handles I have were my mothers and they come up just below my knee and I feel like I'm in a corset! ))

Re CO and CO2: why would anyone start their car and shut the outer garage door? It's called the silent killer for a lot of reasons. But there are people who are getting desperate and don't have the common sense to know any better ... and regrettably they pay for it. The Houston Chronicle reports over 300 cases of CO poisoning, some in hospital and some not.

How are the rest of you doing, @amymeme I know you're doing okay, you're used to this type of weather and are undoubtedly prepared (didn't you get a couple of cords of wood last fall?) but how about the rest of the crowd.

@Lostmaniac and @TwisterII very glad to see your comments, btw. Yep diversification is the key to survival and I quite agree with the "Prepare for the worst" and hope for something not so bad!

I've seriously got to find something to do to get away from this keyboard. But with no sun to speak of today I'm not going out!

Oh and final note: The bathroom of the front bedroom has never been finished the wallboard at the foot of the tub (where the spigots / shower head are) isn't there. The cats have found the way to get outside. I stepped out for a couple of minutes and saw two of my three head for under the trailer ... how do you keep'em down on the farm ...???

A couple of cords did you say?!!? We use about 7 cords a season so that's what we stacked last summer. And, truth be told, after we had a chimney fire the first week of heating season, just after having the chimneys cleaned. We now keep 2 sessions of wood on hand. The wood we are burning now was actually stacked summer of 2019. The only disaster we are likely to face here that we could not cope with is a tornado. We don't often get them and when we do, almost never more than a category 1. Mostly it's a roof gone, maybe windows blown out. For that we would have to leave until house repaired. Floods not really an issue. The finger lakes are glacial lakes leaving the lakes in a deep trough between hills. We are just about at the top of the western side of seneca. Generally, it's a 3-8% slope from our house down 1400 ish feet elevation, maybe 7 miles as the crow flies? Wayne has always said, if we get flooded, we've got worse problems then our house!

As for frozen pipes, we had the basement plumbed with  faucets at all the low points. And on the attic where we have one vulnerable supply line, I installed PEX with shark bite shutoffs, easy to disconnect and drain. And there is ready access through the knee wall.

Even cooking were fairly well set. In the cold months, the woodstoves are going 24/7. Both have coming plates on the too. Warmer weather,I have old fashioned Weber kettle
Grill, lots of charcoal in the shed. As well as camping cook stoves with spare propane. Worse comes to worst, we have a big campfire area and our woods are full of dead brush, downed tree limbs (one of which is at the edge of the backyard, in fun coffee of the kitchen bay window, is about 10 ft long, 6"diameter and lays horizontally about 20 ft up in the trees. With snow on it, is a great big eyesore and drives me nuts
It was 1°overnight, 7° when I got up to give Ami his pills. But that's not what's making me do meals ahead. We both are getting our 2nd Moderna vaccine tomorrow and, with 37% side effect rate, I suspect at least one of us likely to under the weather. So cook for the microwave today. Honestly, I don't expect to be terribly effected - I am mildly immunocompromised so like to mount a less robust immune response. On the other hand, after Wayne's shingrix shot, oy, was he sick. 36 hours of shaking chills, fever, muscle ache. I don't really care unless I have to vomit. I. Don't. Do. Throw up!!!!!

Now I have to ask. Your definition of a cord, is it a face cord (6x6xcut length) or a full cord (6x6x6)??

(And Wiki tells me that a full cord is 4x8x4; when I lived up north we always used a face cord of 6x6)

I'm waiting for a call telling me whether they're going to give the second shot on schedule on Saturday or put it off for better weather. According to the weather Thursday night is supposed to be 27 but then warming up into the 60s on Saturday and into the 80's by midweek! (( Oh, PLEASE!! ))

Full cord. 4x4x8.  128 cubic feet. It's a lotta wood

Here's the living room stove, large consolidated Dutchwest Federal Convection Heater.  We have same thing on the other end of the house only the extra large. Both have catalytic converters.



That is some temperature swing! But. It was one degree over night and next week are supposed to hit 35°. We won't get consistently warmer weather until late April.  And then it's a gotcha time of year. A crap shoot whether it's gonna be 80's or teens  Not great for gardens. Ya never know whether you should be growing beans or spinach .  But. This much I know - whatever I plant, it should have been the other one!

Well, we woke up this AM to another couple if inches of snow so everything is closed up tight.  Sheriff and city police are begging people to stay off the roads.  The only salt / sand we get on the roads down here comes across the mountains from Alpine and since they won't send a truck across "Big Hill" (long curving road on the side of the mountain) we won't see anything 'til it starts to clear ...
However, you can't say that Texans don't have a sense of humour:
I found this in Facebook and cracked up.  Of course the only comment was "Help! I can't find the unsubscribe link!!"

I have snow tires for my Mustang. Now that I have the Explorer my dad is going to take my old snow tires and put them up for his little toyota car.

We measure our cords 4x4x8 as to what will fit in a true long bed truck, back when you could get a true long bed truck and not these short bed sissy haulers. The short beds are better for dealing with parking in more congested areas but they just don't haul well. Used to have folks come down from KC to buy a cord of wood. they would show up with their lifted short bed truck and be in for a rude awakening when their cheap wood they thought they were getting a deal on by driving down ended up costing them a trailer to haul it.

Even my "snow" dogs are over the snow. We ended up with around 10 inches. Kenzi bottoms out and plows when we are on our walk. The extra work of getting through it sends her BG numbers plummeting so I've had to back her insulin off and had to give rescue sugar Monday evening because she actually had a crash. At the start of this it was hard to get kye to come inside. He wanted to just root around in the snow and hunt for hidden things. Now that the snow is so deep it's become too much work to dig through it and he's back to coming in once business is done.

This time of year all 4 of mine would love being outside dogs. Poor splinter, after about 5 minutes he comes in shivering, but even then i have to make him come in. Seriously hes so stupid he would freeze to death with the door open. He absolutely hates his vest or his coat. Spider seems to think his vest is there so she can carry him around by it.

I ended up having issues with the jeep yesterday that im trying to figure out. Its easy to fix but i want to figure out a way to keep it from happening. I got so much ice built up in the wheel well that when i turn the tires are rubbing. Stock sized rims and tires but there is not alot of extra room.

We dont worry about wood because we use propane and the wood pellet stove is incorrectly installed and therefore useless. One trend ive noticed this year is people either using pallets or green wood in thier wood stoves. Does that happen other places?

Ask any fireman - Green Wood in a stove or fireplace is an invitation for a chimney fire.  Green wood leaves a lot of creosote (compounds?) after they dry they're just waiting to burn!

One thing I didn't think I'd ever have to be concerned with is having my roof collapse because of the weight of the snow.  It hasn't happened and I pray it doesn't but it's just one more consideration ... these water catchment roofs are built for rain that will run off not snow that builds up.

Okay, I'm done, I'm going back to bed.

ETA 11:30: No, one more thing, predicted low for tonight is 26f, it's now 25 ... and it was 28 when I got up ...

ETA 15:00: It hasn't gotten off 26 for long all day long!! It's gonna be cold tonight!!

Man. I hate to complain when we've got heat, running water and electricity. But. I. Am. COLD!!!  Cannot seem to get warm. Kitchen thermometer days 70°, outside is 19° (which is warm, comparatively, to what it has been.

Though... As I'm writing this, occurs to me. We got our 2nd shots today and I had to put Zev in his crate in the shop and Ami on his line. And getting to his line was... Difficult, since we've been home since...March 3 of last year, Ami had not been on his line much and had not yet mate s path out to his dog house. Snow was up to my knees, the top inch was all ice. It was ok for Ami, most of the time. Her walked mostly on top of the ice. Me, I broke through on every step. And I didn't wear high boots .. so, possibly my plant legs are damp. And possibly my socks.

Think I'm gonna change my clothes. And grab a blanket.

@aljones how are you doing? Roof staying up?

If 19 is warm then I'm glad I'm down where it's a balmy 22 ... clear skies tonight so it's gonna get cold!

Yep, the roof is still in place, I was just concerned since they aren't built to support any weight except for rainwater.

@amymeme You and others have commented on what the temperature inside is and I haven't a thermometer inside ... I guess it's because I don't want to know how hot it is during the summer ... ???

The only thing on your list that I don't have is running water, I'll be carrying water for the next few days until it warms up and dries out. Starts getting warm on Saturday, tomorrow is a so-so day, we'll see. Can't work on the pump house till the mud dries up some so that's gonna be Sunday or Monday ... that's okay, I'll live.

I keep saying that I can't picture the weather in the teens but I think that's where we're gonna be again tonight. 'sokay, I just pile on a blanket of 5 and I'm cozy till I have to get up.

Take care all ....

We hit 22 yesterday and it was 4 when I woke up this morning but we are supposed to hit 28 today and break freezing tomorrow for the first time in a couple weeks. We keep our house set at 68 and it hasn't had too much issue staying there through this. We are cheap so we usually set our thermostat on the cooler side in winter and as warm as my husband can stand it in the summer to conserve on our electric bill. Our snow has been so dry it doesn't pile up and stay on roofs. It blows right off.

For one, I hope these transcontinental winter storms are over. These last couple have played havoc with my water system, I'm praying that all the damage was in the pump house (external access) rather than any of the pipes that run the length of the trailer underneath. While they may have been in the insulation at one time, age, animals, replacement have brought them all out to where they're exposed to the elements under the trailer.

We hit a low of 16 overnight - too blasted cold for my blood - but we're supposed to be in the low 50's today and then into the 70's for most of next week. @amymeme You commented on the swing of our temperatures and I think I can explain a bit. We're at that point where the jet stream pretty much reaches its extreme southerly point so when the polar vortex wobbles and pushes cold air into the jet stream - well, we suffer (actually we ALL suffer.) On the other hand, we get most of our summer weather either off the Pacific - fronts coming across Mexico - or the Gulf - the after effects of the hurricanes and lows coming from the east. All in all, it's generally pretty temperate (okay, you'd most likely call it hot!) for us most of the year 'round.

So im guessing your septic is ok because of the lack of water. The last few days lots has been on facebook about people leaving sinks dripping and the septic line freezes and backs up.

It's global warming

As far as I can tell at the moment, 'tain't no such a thing as global warming! I'm well read enough to understand the interplay, but it feels more like global freezing!

I don't even give my septic a second thought, from the various sinks / commodes it drops immediately underground - say three feet of exposed pipe. The septic tank is well buried; the only 'problem' I have is that the drain line is on the ground and drains into a small pool (hand dug) about 50' or so from the house. (( No code here and the overflow I have is drunk by many a visitor - coyotes / birds mostly. )) I'm presuming that the warmth from the septic system is enough that that drain line has never frozen ... someday that should probably be converted to a leach field, but I have neither the money nor the interest.

We are looking at warm up next week. Forties, Wednesday if I remember correctly. In the past, I remember from my skiing days, mid January through early February was always bitter. Maybe 2-3 episodes of bitter cold, single digits daytime, below zero overnight. Maybe a brief 3-4 day January thaw then back to cold. Then suddenly, mid/late February would have beautiful skiing, lots of snow, bright sunny days with high 20s, low 30s daytime temps (those just under freezing temps made for some fantastically fast snow)

Then, like clockwork, the end of the first week of March was the beginning of the end for the ski season, at least in central NY. Warm days lead to might, muddy snow and the need for old, battered rock skis. But just before that happened, would be marvelous - skiing in our shirt sleeves, abundant sunshine. Sigh. These old knees aren't up for that. As well, my medications give me capillary fragility so any bump on my head could give a brain bleed. And my neck crap...a fall with that could be a life altering event. I actually want that worried about MY skiing but all the Rugrats just learning, let go on the slopes the first time, losing control and barrel assing down the hill, unable to turn or stop. I had a very close encounter at the end of my skiing which really have me pause. Particularly after reading the MRI report on my cervical spine

Debating going upstairs and turning the faucets off. But expected 15° could easily be 10-12 and I don't want to jinx things ( yep, I'm a might superstitious)

Did effects from shot... Very mild ache at injection site some fatigue, long nap today. And, are not sure, but possibly inflammatory conjunctivitis. I had it around the time of the first shot but thought it was allergies. It went away after 4-5 days. But came back this morning with vigor. Burning, watery, gritty eyes to start the day. Much better now. Not sure it's related but I reported it, that way it becomes a data point and if other people report same, becomes known. Or not. Anyway, feeling ok, warm, finally so I'm grateful for the vaccine.

Good luck with your pipes, Al.

Jenn - our septic, knock on wood, has never frozen. Always the first place to melt and turn green. When not much snow cover, the animals like to sleep over the tank. The sand filter is below the frost line though it does come to daylight at the ditch.

Well, hmph, did someone log me out? Went to respond and there was no place to do it.

I was supposed to get my second shot tomorrow but the truck / plane / car / donkey with the vaccine got held up by the weather. Not too surprising since I can't blame them for not wanting to get on these roads (now if they knew how to drive on them it'd be a different matter!)

Septic, the quantity of 'liquid' and the thermal action of the bacteria should keep it from freezing. Add to that the insulating quality of a good snow cover and I'd be surprised if a septic system - at a house being lived in - would freeze.

A few years ago we rented a falling down mobile home and that septic system froze multiple times... well the line froze and the "septic tank" collapsed and turned out to not be a tank at all but a pit with a pipe going in and a table top as a cover and then covered in dirt. Found all sorts of buried chemicals and stuff in the yard like meth production stuff and baggies with residue. But yes they can and do freeze if its not installed below the frost line. It gets way cold here even by colorado standards.

Its supposed to be mid 30s and sunny until next wed and then more snow. We dont think 6 inches of snow is alot but most places think its a crisis.

So do we want to start a betting pool as to of snow in texas os the new normal?

Lostmaniac wrote:

Its supposed to be mid 30s and sunny until next wed and then more snow.  We dont think 6 inches of snow is alot but most places think its a crisis.

So do we want to start a betting pool as to of snow in texas os the new normal?

Six inches of snow? Nope. Not a crisis. More like do I have to snow blow or can we get away with shoveling the bottom of the driveway? (That is a pipe dream, we still need to get the car from the wood shed to the front door. Figure increase is the maximum for that and it's WORK!!!

Betting pool? My best guess is a cycle of years with profound snow/ice/freezing temps against years with unusual warmth/rain/drought and hurricanes/tornadoes.

My prediction for us is delayed cold weather in the fall, Warner weather winters interspersed with Warner dry winters, occasional deep freeze and more frequent nor'easters. The a long, cold, every spring. Summers will be 6-7 weeks of abrupt droughtiness and heat following up the cool wet spring. August, September, and October will, most years, be lovely.

And COVID-19 is here to stay, necessitating annual booster vaccine.

The forest service has this tradition where on a specific date they dig up the tucker pond bathrooms. Usually its under 12 to 20 feet of snow. This year it was only under 7 feet of snow. Other then monsoon season we dont get precipitation. Somewhere on squirts page i have pics from the summer of the southern headwaters of the rio grande and it was dry. So the outfitters seem to think fishing season is going to start in 34 days. All i know is that its so warm i almost wrecked the jeep in the mud yesterday and my front yard looks like waterfront creek property.

@amymeme arent you in the mountains in ny? Or are you just close enough to lake erie to get the lake effect?


I dont remember if this happened out east but if the sun is out, stuff starts melting when it hits around 10f. Turns out most of what i learned in school about constants like freezing and boiling point are not nearly as concrete as they would like you to believe. The best example is that at 8400 feet water boils at 207 not 212, and at 207 directions for pasta and rice go out the window.

I feel atleast 2 more storms on the way (or a hurricane but unlikely) and if i misspelled things im having major issues with my hands and wrists this am... stupid rheumatoid arthritis

Emily, we're in the finger lakes. If the wind are from the nnw, we will get lake effect off Erie. Very occasionally Buffalo lake effect may get this far east. We are far enough west, usually out of all but the largest nor'easters. Unless the low is centered over the coast.

Long range seasonal forecast has weather but wetter spring


https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=1

Sorry your RA is acting up.

That shows southern colorado as hot and dry... so basically what has been the normal for the last 8 or so years.

My jra has been a bitch for about a month but in the last few days its been worse then its been in the last 15 to 20 years. Normally its either my joints or my tendons and right now its both and swollen lymph nodes and mouth ulcers and fevers that last less then 20 mins that hit at about 3pm in the afternoon. It makes me want to sit around and do nothing which ironically is the absolute worst thing i could do.

I wonder what's prompting your flare? Hope you didn't catch something to rev up your immune system. Feel better soon.

Usually its the barometric pressure changing. One of the reasons colorado is so much better then Florida or Maryland or ohio or texas... seriously i can predict a hurricane before the weather technology does. This time im not so sure because i have pain in a spot that is neither joint or tendon at the base of my skull a few fingers from my left ear and pain when certain tspine vertebrae are touched. Im wondering if its side effects from the humira. I see rheumatology march 10th. Im kinda afraid to go to the doctor right now because of the waiting room. We are having an issue here with covid positive people not quarantining or wearing masks. Not to point fingers but we just had a huge outbreak linked to the amish community and the alamosa walmart. It infuriates me when i watch them put on a mask to walk by the person at the door and then the second they get inside the 2nd set of doors they take off their masks. And then they stupidly inform anyone that will listen that you dont need a mask you just need to pray and g-d will take care of it. I have an uncle on my stepdads side who has had 2 children die of perfectly treatable medical issues because they dont believe in medicine.

Really the only thing im certain of is that i probably dont have covid and if there is anywhere im going to catch it, its going to be in the wating room of my primary care doctor.

Right there with you on avoiding COVID-19. Makers me livid. And not a nice person.

I created a scene last week at dollar general. In hindsight it was kinda funny and the mask had only a small part. This older man was in the store and refusing to wear a mask. Somehow he kept ending up right behind me. I dont mean social distancing behind me even pre pandemic he was way to close. Then he would turn and brush his arm against my back. The forst time it happened i was polite but annoyed, the second time i was really rude and the 3rd time it happened i yelled "what the fuck is your problem". He responded that covid was just like the common cold and didnt actually harm anyone and then tried to tell me that him brushing against my back was supposed to be a compliment.... is this still 1950 where you think its appropriate to smack your waitresses ass?
If it had been 10 years ago i probably would have hit the guy. Instead i called the police and he got a ticket/summons for harrassment. Like i said i caused a scene. And while the mask issue made me uncomfortable, it was a seriously creepy situation, being followed and touched by a random pervy old man. And now i carry bear mace.