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Post by wvengineer on Jan 12, 2024 18:00:05 GMT
I just ordered a new snowblower. It's a single stage, battery powered setup. Supposed to arrive on Tuesday. ***Insert Star Trek Generations joke here*** Of course, they are calling for a couple inches of snow Tuesday as well.
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Post by ironhold on Jan 12, 2024 18:41:14 GMT
Word is that TxDot is deploying a brine solution on the main highway through town. We don't have any dedicated snow removal vehicles, so brine, salt, and gravel are the best we've got.
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Post by GTCGreg on Jan 12, 2024 22:18:52 GMT
We got about 6 to 8 inches of “stuff“. Seemed to be more water than snow. The snow blower didn’t like it at all. What I needed was a slushy machine.
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Post by ironhold on Jan 13, 2024 21:35:56 GMT
Tuesday: Mom and dad go to the local big-box home improvement store, buy a pergola, and make plans to set it up on the back porch. Dad will bring home some scrap vinyl roofing material he has at work to wrap the pergola with once it's up, and we'll use that to protect the mortar and other supplies for his brick shed. If nothing else, the stray cats in the backyard can use it as an emergency shelter.
Thursday: The pergola components arrive.
Today: "Yeah, we're not going to even have enough of the patio cleared off to get it set up, let alone get it fully clad, before the front hits."
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Post by the light works on Jan 13, 2024 22:40:10 GMT
talk about your microclimates. it's 10 degrees warmer in the tropical south end of town than the polar north end.
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Post by GTCGreg on Jan 14, 2024 13:00:46 GMT
-13°F this morning. But at least it’s going to go up to -4 today.
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Post by the light works on Jan 14, 2024 14:34:58 GMT
last night got bad enough that road and power crews were recalled when it got dark. which probably means the better part of today before they get power back on. tripcheck says the road I live on is blocked from end to end. probably wide open on my end, but I might head out and check it once it starts getting light.
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Post by ironhold on Jan 14, 2024 21:46:23 GMT
The front has hit, and we're waiting to see if there will be precipitation.
An elderly family friend has a regularly-scheduled doctor's appointment tomorrow, but we're questioning if she's going to still want to go.
As it is, the fronts normally don't hit until February, so there's the question of whether we'll get a round 2 of this or worse.
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Post by the light works on Jan 14, 2024 23:08:58 GMT
here, there's a chance of freezing through march - though it gets more rare to actually have a hard freeze. but at this point, we're 24 hours on generator, at about 10 gallons of fuel burned; which is pretty good. the old one was about 5 gallons for 8-10 hours.
power company is hoping they'll have power restored by midnight.
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Post by GTCGreg on Jan 15, 2024 6:03:20 GMT
here, there's a chance of freezing through march - though it gets more rare to actually have a hard freeze. but at this point, we're 24 hours on generator, at about 10 gallons of fuel burned; which is pretty good. the old one was about 5 gallons for 8-10 hours. power company is hoping they'll have power restored by midnight. Two hours per gallon seems about right. How many Watt load is that?
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Post by the light works on Jan 15, 2024 13:36:17 GMT
here, there's a chance of freezing through march - though it gets more rare to actually have a hard freeze. but at this point, we're 24 hours on generator, at about 10 gallons of fuel burned; which is pretty good. the old one was about 5 gallons for 8-10 hours. power company is hoping they'll have power restored by midnight. Two hours per gallon seems about right. How many Watt load is that? it fluctuates. the well is somewhere around a couple kilowatts, but of course, it's not a full time load. the lights are mostly LED, and there's a refrigerator and freezer. I think I could probably run the well and water heater at the same time in a pinch, but I avoid it. power company has our estimate bumped up to midnight, today. hopefully, since it's a workday, he office will update it more or less in real time. last night was clear, so we got nice and cold. I think still warmer than the north end of town, though.
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Post by wvengineer on Jan 15, 2024 13:45:08 GMT
Calling for 4-6 inches today and overnight. Wife and kids have the day off and I am working from home. I may have the kids shovel late this afternoon before sundown to try to get ahead on it.
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Post by the light works on Jan 15, 2024 14:36:53 GMT
Calling for 4-6 inches today and overnight. Wife and kids have the day off and I am working from home. I may have the kids shovel late this afternoon before sundown to try to get ahead on it. I haven't decided whether to WFH or not. I'll need to go check on my parents' house sometime today, but we originally had a doctor's appointment scheduled for today, which was canceled before the weather hit, and I didn't promise anybody I would be there, today.
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Post by GTCGreg on Jan 15, 2024 15:59:16 GMT
Calling for 4-6 inches today and overnight. Wife and kids have the day off and I am working from home. I may have the kids shovel late this afternoon before sundown to try to get ahead on it. The high for today is predicted to be only -2º. I pretty much work from home everyday. The only time I need to go out is if I have to make a UPS drop. But if I can get everything packed up and ready to go before 3:30, UPS will pick it up from the house. They charge extra for pick-up service, but I'm not the one paying for the shipping.
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Post by the light works on Jan 15, 2024 18:12:58 GMT
just heard from MIL. it's in the high minus 20s there. our power is back on, so I got a hot shower, and I'll head out to check on the folks house in a bit. the utility to the south are still in the dark, which is unusual, they're usually the last to lose power and the first to get it back. their website says they have 3 contract crews helping, so something major must have happened.
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Post by ironhold on Jan 15, 2024 18:42:42 GMT
There's already accumulation on the roads, and ERCOT is already asking people to conserve energy.
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Post by the light works on Jan 16, 2024 2:45:50 GMT
an update on the neighbors to the south - yes, they lost their primary lines, and are having to cut their way to them.
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Post by wvengineer on Jan 16, 2024 15:44:21 GMT
I got 3 inches overnight. I had to get up at 6 to shovel the driveway and held off going into work for an hour and a half to let the snow plows work. Overall, roads were okay. I took it easy on the drive and didn't have any problems. Still calling for another quarter of an inch by lunch time. Then I get two days off before another storm Thursday night.
Man, I guess winter is making up for lost time this year.
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Post by wvengineer on Jan 16, 2024 15:49:41 GMT
Got 3 inches overnight. Other than up shoveling at 6:00 AM, it wasn't too bad. Roads were tolerable. I took it easy driving to work, but got in without trouble. I get a 2 day break before the next one hits Thursday night. I guess winter is trying to make up for lost time.
If nothing else, the snow blower is supposed to be out for delivery today.
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Post by the light works on Jan 16, 2024 15:58:57 GMT
Got 3 inches overnight. Other than up shoveling at 6:00 AM, it wasn't too bad. Roads were tolerable. I took it easy driving to work, but got in without trouble. I get a 2 day break before the next one hits Thursday night. I guess winter is trying to make up for lost time. If nothing else, the snow blower is supposed to be out for delivery today. reminds me, the local hardware store is supposed to be getting their next delivery of ice melt this morning.
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