What's everybody doing today?

[LadyLocust]

Got the bulk of our stuff moved yesterday. We sure are blessed to know some good folks. Still have more to go but getting there. Snow on the ground and freezing rain this morning but it’s supposed to warm up above freezing so it should melt off. Hubby and I are whooped!

 

[Mountain trapper]

Turns out I didn't do anything except for chores and a nap. It snowed most of the day, about a foot, so I decided to wait until morning to clear the road.

 

[Lenny]

GREAT deeds! A ride to the store is worth a million dollars when you need it!!

Thank you. Yeah, I've got the time and vehicle, so why not.

 

[Peanut]

Quick check in... I survived last night's storms. Unfortunately the power grid didn't. Electricity is still off, no progress report from power company. Their best guess is midnight tomorrow night, basically they don't know. Still 23K in the dark just in central Alabama. It's gonna be cold, upper 20's tonight. I'm good, my little gas heater keeps me toasty.

Generators are running, watching tv tonight.

 

[Pearl]

Quick check in... I survived last night's storms. Unfortunately the power grid didn't. Electricity is still off, no progress report from power company. Their best guess is midnight tomorrow night, basically they don't know. Still 23K in the dark just in central Alabama. It's gonna be cold, upper 20's tonight. I'm good, my little gas heater keeps me toasty.

Generators are running, watching tv tonight.

Glad you are ok!! Crazy widespread storms!! Hope the power is back on sooner than that!!

 

[Spikedriver]

Pulled a 13 hour shift today. Things are coming together out at the job site and I think we're on track to install the 5 switches on the target date. We'll have to work on President's day to get it done, which sucks because it's supposed to be a paid holiday. I'll be making $87/hr for working that holiday, so I don't really mind!

The high temps are 18 tomorrow and 5 on Tuesday so I'll be earning that money out on the windy west Nebraska plains...

 

[Amish Heart]

I am amazed you are tired of winter, Ekatarina! Remember you couldn't wait for it last summer!
I am seriously tired of it. We get hit again with really cold weather and snow tomorrow night. Negative temps coming again.

 

[Ekatarina]

I am amazed you are tired of winter, Ekatarina! Remember you couldn't wait for it last summer!
I am seriously tired of it. We get hit again with really cold weather and snow tomorrow night. Negative temps coming again.

I am sick and tired of Summer when its over 70f and
I am sick and tired of Winter when its like Siberia
I think its *normal*

 

[Snowman]

Rick Astley gave Trump Dance lessons...!!!

 

[zannej]

Sonya, I hope the flooding recedes and the trees get cut off the roads. I know how that goes. Worst is when the trees are down on the power lines.

I finally got up and cut up the chicken thighs for the soup. My brother then did the rest-- which was to dump the chicken and ingredients into the pressure cooker and turn it on. I'm going to see if it is ready and stir it soon.

 

[RJ2019]

I finally got around to stitching up the front pocket of my field pack. Actually, it's the pack I use for everything, but hiking and field work for classes most often. I used heavy duty denim thread. My hand stitching is out of practice, but not terrible.
And then, just for fun, I stitched a patch onto it. It adds character.

 

[Peanut]

The power company is such a tease... About an hour ago the power came back on for about a minute. I had one light on in the kitchen, it was very dim... then everything went off again. Oh well, got a half tank of gas in the generator. That'll last way past my bedtime. Wish power would come on before then... so I can switch everything over before bed.

Just saw the news... only 500 customers still without power in my county. My little community is always the last... So maybe by morning... I'll go ahead and switch the freezers and fridge over when I crash, just in case power comes on during the night. I don't run the generator overnight anyway.

 

[UrbanHunter]

High cold winds came in yesterday, power went out by 2PM, restored by 04:30. I think it was a blessing, it reminded me of what I need to have in place if we are expecting a power outage. The power was out for about 14 1/2 hours, the battery bank for the oxygen concentrator did it's job perfectly, it will take a day and a half to recharge. The little battery pack for the CPAP machine only lasted 6 hours. The little microwave worked well for making a warm supper and the primary battery backup/inverter carried that load no sweat.

Things that didn't work so well:
Some of the flash lights had bad batteries and were corroded to the point where they were useless. In the future I should remove the batteries from the lights after use, store the flashlights with fresh batteries in a baggie next to them. The house got a little colder than I would like, didn't fire up the wood stove because of the oxygen being used by the wife.

Things I should have done:
I should have placed a couple of short extension cords near my battery backups to provide power to other devices (a heating pad for the wife comes to mind). It would have been nice if I had set out the small coffee pot to make warm water for hot chocolate when it's cool.

Nice things to have:
Would like to get a generator and 50' 220 extension cord. I didn't need it, but if the outage lasted a few days and there was snow on the solar panels, I could see it making a real difference.

All in all I think it was a good exercise to help me get my house in order. We are expecting weather this week that could include significant snow, so the timing was good for practice.

 

[Magus]

It looks like I might be doing my laundry at long last. between lousy weather and back pain, its backed up from Xmas!

 

[Pearl]

Regular work day, then home to prepare for the single digit temps and possible ice! Heated mats in the cat houses outside, heated water bowl for them too! Bring the rubber buckets in the house to haul water to Buddy. Most everything water wise is wrapped and insulated already. We turn the water off to Hubby's shop and drain the commode tank when it gets this stupidly cold. Got the generator ready to grab and extension cords are in the house already if we need them! I'll bring a lot of firewood in the house! Got extra pillows ready so I can dream about summer!!

 

[sonya123]

of course still no power, we need to get more fuel for the generator today or tomorrow, it uses up a lot
Son did go to work despite some snow on the ground, he just texted me that only our road had snow on it, rest ok
Did I mention lately how much I hate this weather?
There is more snow coming and more cold
Haven't checked the sheep yet, will do that next
debating on when to go shopping, today or tomorrow. I think tomorrow

 

[Amish Heart]

Our temps go down and the snow comes tonight, colder than the last storm. Looking like negative 6 and last till Saturday. Ugh. I already have two turkey hens with frostbite on a foot. Not much to do about it. They are strawed up, and the windbreaks are up. Not sure what's up for today yet, errands are pretty much ran, and we are always stocked up. Have many random projects and cleaning I could be doing inside.

 

[sonya123]

I am sick and tired of Summer when its over 70f and
I am sick and tired of Winter when its like Siberia
I think its *normal*

I know what you mean! I can tolerate warmer than 70 , I am good with 80
but this Siberia weather really needs to go!!!!

 

[snappy1]

Good morning! Will walk or do video first.
Taking van to have dash cam installed. A friend will pick me up and we will go to lunch, then return me to dealership.
One load of laundry today.
Cut up bell peppers and onions to make fajitas and steak and cheese sandwiches for the next week.

 

[Peanut]

Still without power this morning. Power company website said the lines were still down in 24 locations in my county. Sometime last night I lost both landline phones (me and my parents). Website said they were aware of it, technicians working on the problem.

My folks aren't handling this very well. I was up at 2am to change out an oxygen bottle for mom, dad couldn't figure out how with a flashlight. He woke me up again at 6am, said there was another problem. I think he just wanted me to get the generators back online, so I did. Moving them to a hotel would cause even more disruption so that's a no-go. Better to stay here and struggle along.

Edit, update. The authorities have spoken... 5 tornadoes in the state saturday night... 15K still without power just in central alabama.

Most of the damage was from straight line winds, some gusts to 70mph.

 

[Mountain trapper]

The wife and I have doctor appointments today. We only got a little snow overnight, maybe a couple inches. Supposed to start snowing again this afternoon and everyday until Thursday. I'm going out after breakfast and snow blow the road. There's probably a foot or so of fresh snow on the road so it should be easy to clear. We have at least 5 feet of snow up here now. I just hope it doesn't melt off all at once.

 

[Magus]

It looks like I might be doing my laundry at long last. between lousy weather and back pain, its backed up from Xmas!

Didn't happen.

 

[sonya123]

Didn't happen.

we are not doing laundry anytime soon either. Husband failed to put the laudry hoses and connections away under the house ( where they don't freeze and now everything is frozen solid again

 

[Magus]

Its just too cold. I go into cryogenic mode around 35 degrees.

 

[sonya123]

Its just too cold. I go into cryogenic mode around 35 degrees.

I would love to have 35 degrees....LOL

 

[Pearl]

Didn't happen.

It's early in the day!!

 

[Magus]

You don't want to drive after 1:30 around here. too many factories!

 

[Peanut]

Power is back on! Got everything switched over to shore power, all the power cords rolled up and stowed. Generator shut off, I always close the valve under the fuel tank and allow it to use up all the fuel in the lines and carburetor then flip the switch after it runs out of gas. Next I started a load of laundry. I have to wait for the hot water tank to warm up before I get a shower but at least I'll get one soon.

An aunt came by to get my parents household in order. I went to town yesterday and bought them a bucket of chicken and a pie. They just have to warm up meals for a couple days. So they are happy...

 

[Mountain trapper]

I made it down to the county road with the snowblower, no problem. Coming back home I made it about half way up the hill and hit a big boulder hidden in the snow. It bent the corner of the housing in to the auger. I'll work on it tonight after we get home from town. I think we can still make it out ok and probably back home again.

 

[Tirediron]

I made it down to the county road with the snowblower, no problem. Coming back home I made it about half way up the hill and hit a big boulder hidden in the snow. It bent the corner of the housing in to the auger. I'll work on it tonight after we get home from town. I think we can still make it out ok and probably back home again.

long markers made from lengths rebar come in handy for the edge of the road, and or fun surprizes