Over the years I’ve seen my share of snow, ice, freezing temperatures, burst pipes, tornadoes, and power outages. But I’ve never seen a transformer failure with power surges like those recorded in Kenner, Louisiana. This would have freaked me out.
Frankly, electricity and natural gas both scare me. I can’t see them, I’m not always sure how to control them, and both can kill me if I do something wrong.
But that aside, how’s everybody doing with this crazy winter weather? I feel very lucky to still have adequate heat, water, and power. All uninterrupted, so far (knock wood). And I don’t have to get out and drive anywhere.
But elsewhere in the Denver metro, people have been losing power, dealing with burst pipes, sliding into multi-vehicle pile-ups, reporting to hospitals with frostbite, experiencing house fires, and seeing their Covid vaccinations canceled. And some have died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
And all of us are getting very sullen as the sub-zero nights continue. Today we’re promised a “heatwave” and temps are already approaching 30˚. That’s about a 20˚ improvement over the last couple of days.
But come on, people. Snow in Galveston? This is getting ridiculous (just like everything else in the last year).
And the temp has gone up 5˚ since I started typing.
Anyway, I hope everyone is staying safe, and hopefully warm and comfortable.
(Anyone else think the guy in the video sounds like Tom Hanks?)
(I’m worried about ImALibertarian and philosophermouseofthehedge, both in the Houston area. You guys check in if you can. Of course, if you have no power, you probably won’t see this or be able to respond. In any case, stay safe!)
Thanks for asking, PT. Our bedroom remote thermometer read -14 degrees this morning, which I believe is a record low for Joplin, MO! I’ve had the water taps running to prevent frozen pipes for the 3rd day now, and our garage, supposedly insulated, is at 36 degrees. No power outage, yet, but my son’s co-worker came to work (in Joplin) because her power was cut off. Fingers crossed!
So glad to hear you’re okay. I wasn’t sure what was happening in Joplin. -14 puts you right down in the deep freeze with Denver. When I lived in Okla., I did the whole dripping taps, open cabinets thing, and still had a burst pipe once in an exterior wall around a faucet. And I remember once having to crawl under the kitchen sink with a hair dryer to thaw a pipe. I couldn’t do that now. I did sit here worrying about staying warm if the power went off, but thankfully it didn’t happen.
Hope the warming here today is reaching you, too. Stay safe.
I saw this on the news this morning. I was tripping out!
Bizarre, isn’t it? (Both the video and the snow in Galveston)