We're getting hit hard by cold weather here in Texas. :(

[nomadh]

While sitting in the hot tub drinking a smoothie. I thought of this thread. The downside of being here is that the sunshine tax is peanuts compared to the idiot politician tax.

[Spike]

This really sucks and there is enough blame to go around for all leadership in Texas.

and more importantly, be prepared to rely on your self for a couple of weeks.

You know, I used to poke a bit of fun at the “preppers”, but due to recent multiple events, I have begun preparing to sustain for short term events.

[Chocol8]

This really sucks and there is enough blame to go around for all leadership in Texas.

and more importantly, be prepared to rely on your self for a couple of weeks.

You know, I used to poke a bit of fun at the “preppers”, but due to recent multiple events, I have begun preparing to sustain for short term events.

IMHO, there is a huge difference between prepping for a zombie apocalypse, or a complete collapse of society, and being prepared to live off grid for two weeks due to shit that regularly happens somewhere and could happen to you in the future.

Unusual storms, earthquakes, cyber attacks, terrorism… shit can happen anywhere. Building utility infrastructure that can stand up to anything would cost several times what we are paying now. There is no way the public would find that acceptable! Be prepared, and outages are no big deal.

[peskypesky]

Do you have water????????

My water never stopped completely. I always had a trickle, so I was able to gather it in pots for boiling. But I got full water pressure back a couple of days ago.

It's now warmer outside my house than in. Thermostat has been set at 61. It's 71 outside now.

[sabasgr68]

Take care, you guys in the cold.

[uwmcscott]

IMHO, there is a huge difference between prepping for a zombie apocalypse, or a complete collapse of society, and being prepared to live off grid for two weeks due to shit that regularly happens somewhere and could happen to you in the future.

It wasn't that long ago that "being prepared" was the norm. I think a lot of it is a function of our hyper-speed society. Just in time inventories, same day deliveries, technology focused on making life "easier". It wasn't that long go ( my parents ) that growing a garden and canning/preserving food was a pretty common occurrence. Even grocery shopping used to be more of an event that one would plan for vs just getting what you need on the way home from work every day. Another somewhat disturbing trend is that a lot of people don't even have basic cooking skills - give them a bag of vegetables and a chunk of meat and they would have no idea what to do with it.

[slowhand84]

@peskypesky dunno if you still have power and can respond, how are you doing? I'm hearing from several friends who live in TX that it's pretty wild over there.

[peskypesky]

@peskypesky dunno if you still have power and can respond, how are you doing? I'm hearing from several friends who live in TX that it's pretty wild over there.

I'm doing very well. I was one of the lucky ones. Never lost power, never lost heat, never completely lost water. I must be on a protected grid. I've had full water pressure for a few days. And it's nice and warm and sunny again. I sunbathed yesterday and today. No sign whatsoever of that storm from last week. Seems like a dream now,

[Chocol8]

Another somewhat disturbing trend is that a lot of people don't even have basic cooking skills - give them a bag of vegetables and a chunk of meat and they would have no idea what to do with it.

Last year, when COVID suddenly got real, there was a major run on the local grocery stores. I was heading to Wegmans with a shopping list for regular items and St. Patrick’s day and my wife warned me that the shelves were bare and I might not find much. Sure enough, the shelves were mostly bare, but everything on my list was in stock! It turns out, the masses who panic shop don’t eat the same things we do!

As you may have guessed, my list involved fresh vegetables and fruits, raw meats, spices and other basic ingredients that require preparation and cooking to become a meal. Our friends all like to cook so I didn’t realize how many people don’t cook at all and may not even know how!

[Houblues]

Outages of 23 and 32 hours here. Pipes froze on second morning, even though they were dripping. Should have shut off the water when power first went out, but we were told to expect only 45 minutes outages, and since we have a heat tape on the incoming line we thought we would be OK. We spent the second day collecting snow and ice to melt for flushing.

Power came back Wednesday night, city brought the water system up on Thursday. We spent Friday through Sunday chasing burst pipes on one end of the house but there were too many - we had to cut that system loose to be replumbed later. Plumber says supply houses are out of materials until at least next week. We had to hunt hard to find just the caps we needed to shut things off. We finally got water, just as what we collected ran out.

[Partscaster]

@peskypesky dunno if you still have power and can respond, how are you doing? I'm hearing from several friends who live in TX that it's pretty wild over there.

I'm doing very well. I was one of the lucky ones. Never lost power, never lost heat, never completely lost water. I must be on a protected grid. I've had full water pressure for a few days. And it's nice and warm and sunny again. I sunbathed yesterday and today. No sign whatsoever of that storm from last week. Seems like a dream now,

Pesky, is the cat still okay, coming around and feeding?

[peskypesky]

Pesky, is the cat still okay, coming around and feeding?

yes!