Damor

Took the 9.3c/kwh x 36mos and set a reminder on my calendar for when it expires in 2024, presupposing humanity survives until then. I've been watching the Griddy app, and I don't think the price has been below $8.00/kwh for the last 2-3 days. If I'd had to deal with the anxiety of watching that bill mount while tending frozen plumbing, keeping the family from getting frostbite, and fighting off Wampas, I'd have drunk myself to death this last week.

@crimsonlonghorn Having just switched from Griddy, the behavior modification is real. I'd imagine some of those commercial building operators would have been a little more proactive in that case.

There are so many damn variables in all this that it's really hard to find or give good advice regarding plumbing (especially since I can barely change a lightbulb without help from youtube), but here's my experience and plan: Background: newish construction, slab, city water, spray-foam insulation, PEX, vented interior tankless hot water, Salado. Have not lost or turned off main water (knock on wood). Intermittent power outages up to >36h but have been on since Wed AM. Had gas fireplace running, interior temps maintained above low 50s. Have been trickling interior faucets without losing flow. I started out Team Wrap (foam or thinsulate covers on hose bibs). They didn't do shit, these froze within the first couple days. I eventually got them to thaw (notes below) and once I did, switched to Team Stream. For the outdoor kitchen, I had a heat lamp in the cabinet underneath the sink. When the power went out I finally found and turned off the supply lines and disconnected the cold water one (didn't have the dexterity to disconnect the hot). I have an ill-advised outdoor pot filler that I couldn't turn off. I hung a 250W heat lamp on it which worked great until the long power outage. Managed to thaw it later with the heat lamp and as it had no place to drain other than making the patio an ice rink, developed elaborate proprietary MacGyver device to divert flow to the yard and switched it to team stream as well. Some experiences and tips on getting the hose bibs to thaw: -- Hair dryer up to 30m+ didn't do jack shit for me. Wife needs new hair dryer for Christmas, I guess. -- Pouring hot water (up to 160F) over a washcloth like I read on here made me nervous but worked on one. Didn't on others after multiple attempts. -- After hot water failed on one, I microwaved the wet washcloth for 2min and stuffed it around the faucet in the foam insulator for an hour or so. "Wallah," did the trick. -- That didn't work on the two most stubborn, probably because they were on garage walls with no heat on the interior side. When I got power back I hung the heat lamp on them for an hour or so and that got them both flowing. -- I have no idea if any of that was a good idea, but I couldn't think of anything else, and nothing immediately exploded. I'm not going to sleep well until I go for several warmer weeks without leaks (who am I kidding, probably until next fall), but that's been my experience so far. I'll try to follow up as things warm up. Not sure why I'm typing this Lobo wall of text other than I'm going stir crazy, but maybe there will be some small bit of useful info or data for someone. Other than that, imma just fuck around and find out.

Yeah, I'm seeing Southwest P&L for 36mos for 9.3c/kwh. I had them a few years ago when Breeze went out of business, and they were relatively benign and have at least been around for a while. By the way, the fine print for all these plans points out that any increase in regulatory rates/fees from the PUC/ERCOT will get passed on to the consumer, so I expect that to happen. At least that goes to the inept and corrupt PUC/ERCOT instead of the inept and corrupt REP, amirite? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So watching all of this happen, I'm just going to assume that we're going to see consumer prices skyrocket as providers try to buttfuck us all into oblivion to make up for the buttfucking they're currently receiving. Before they can put all that completely into motion, I thought this might be a good idea to put together a plan. 1) I was happy with Griddy until this happened; however, this should potentially be a once-in-a-lifetime event. If it survives I was considering going back, but I don't know enough about the way the market works to understand if spot prices will generally go up or return to "normal." I'm guessing there will also be regulatory turmoil which will make this unpredictable. And since I shouldn't mess around with things I don't understand, this is probably not the best option for now. 2) Lock in the lowest long term plan available. I'm finding plans just under $0.10/kwh for up to 36mos for my usage, which I'm thinking will be a good deal over that time period. They are with no-name providers, though. While I know that they are just the REP, my concern would be that if they are committing to those contracts they are more at risk of going under and leaving me to scramble for something shitty later (this happened to me with Breeze) when prices have likely gone up significantly. 3) Pick a decent fixed rate from a big stable provider like TXU or Reliant. Finding these for just under $0.11/kwh, though for shorter terms. Seems like the most conservative course and maybe the wisest given upcoming unpredictability, although I hate both of those companies. And they reserve the right to "discontinue the plan without notice" and put me on a variable $0.30/kwh plan. 4) Try out something like Energy Ogre. Seems more risky given unpredictability, and I don't want to deal with unlocking my credit. 5) Move to a more civilized place like Uruguay. I'm currently thinking #3, but I'd appreciate any insight from those of y'all who are really plugged into this. Maybe I'm overthinking things, but I sure as hell don't expect the REPs to act in my best interest and want to at least get a reacharound out of this.

I just went out to knock off the big-ass icicles that have formed on the pool spillover features and which are threatening to plug them up. I admit am not built for the cold, but I fail to see how 1/2" of styrofoam is going to keep my hose bibs from freezing through all of this. I am beginning to give in to despair. But as @mchookem noted, it does look kind of pretty, like a DMT surge before death's sweet release. At least @C-Man hooked me up with some sweet-ass insurance.

Sheeeit. I suppose the goal is to keep circulation through the drains/returns, most of which are at least a few inches below the water surface. Surely there's no way to get more than an inch of solid ice on top, at least overnight? The biggest concern would be whether you'll still get return through your skimmers, though I don't know that there's much to do about that -- you could shut off the skimmer returns and hope they don't freeze, or leave them open and hope they don't just start pulling air into the system. I dunno, man, this sucks. Although I'll trade outdoor pipe damage for one bursting inside.

Appreciate all the good advice on this thread. And the shitty advice too. All of my fretting is probably just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, though, because this outdoor pot filler is going to be the thing that gets me: FML. But whatever, here comes the snow. Let's do this.

Thank you. Unfortunately I don't have a master cutoff valve to the outdoor kitchen (don't get me started). Since a picture's worth a thousand words and I'm probably using the wrong terminology, here's my current situation: So the valve is off, but I couldn't get all up in there to disconnect the hot water line to the sink. The cold water line is disconnected and the valve closed. My ignorant thought was that if this valve is closed and I keep it reasonably warm in there, ice shouldn't be able to propagate back in to the PEX line. But is it worth flailing around back there to try to disconnect this line?

Dumb question amnesty re: outdoor kitchen sink. I have had a heat lamp running in the cabinet enclosure, but tested the faucet a short while ago and it was frozen. Because I'm an idiot and not mechanically inclined, I had never been able to find the supply line cutoff valves (obscured by disposal) until I got to mucking around in there. I turned off and disconnected the cold water supply. The hot water valve was difficult to turn, either because I'm an weakling contorting to work in a confined space and/or ice had propagated to that level. I hit it with a hair dryer and eventually turned it off, but couldn't get it disconnected. Is the valve being turned off functionally equivalent to it being off and disconnected? I was worried if I try to force things apart I'm as likely to snap something and make a bad situation worse. My husband is too drunk to care and told me to ask y'all.

Yeah, I pulled the ripcord on Griddy on Friday. It had worked very well for me (even despite August 2019), but when my bill for Thursday alone was almost $130, even I could see the writing on the wall for the upcoming week. I've still got the app and have been following the prices loosely -- it's going to be a bloodbath. I haven't seen it below $1/kwh in over 24h, and they are predicting $4-6 for the next couple of days. I'm betting that it will hit the wall at $9.99 in spikes several times as well. It's entirely possible that my February bill could have been bigger than my entire 2020. That said, I was fairly impressed that they proactively contacted customers and even provided recommended alternative power plans, as well as instructions on how to be sure to get service switched over same-day. I realize some of that was in self-defense, but it was very helpful info. I'll think about going back after a month or so if it survives (evidently they have some kind of price protection planned for next month), but this is pretty much the nightmare scenario you have to be aware of and watch for.

Yes, the automation is a must. I've got the Pentair and while the app has its issues, it's nice to be able to turn stuff on from home to avoid the "how do I do this???" calls. And also to be sure everything (heater) gets turned off. I would add that I love the Cooldeck coating for the decking -- nonslip, easy on bare feet, and really does not get uncomfortably hot, even in the summer. I wish we had done the porches on our house with that instead of stained concrete. We also increased the depth of our tanning ledge to 12", which makes a better play depth for little ones and sits you near the water surface if you put a lounger in the pool.

I wish I had a hose bib nearer the pool for filling and cleaning the robot. We built what we thought was going to be a way too big hot tub, but are glad we did. If you're going to have little kids around or future grandkids, be careful when planning to think about any blind spots where they could get into trouble and you wouldn't be able to see them. It only takes a few seconds. Thanks @MonkeyDoughnut. I will abandon the heat lamp idea, especially since my backyard camera range wouldn't be able to capture the carnage for the lulz.

Trying to think ahead and make contingency plans. Currently, my controller is automatically cycling between the pool/spa, so I know the freeze mode is working. I do have a separate pump for the bubblers/water features that I'm manually running to keep anything from freezing. Water temps for now are fine in the 40s (measured in above-ground pipes), but it ain't single digits yet and I'm worried that circulation itself isn't going to cut it. Here's what I'm thinking as it gets colder: -- I have a big tarp and hopefully Amazon will still deliver the mylar sheets and a heat lamp I have on order. I was planning on lining the tarp with the mylar and covering the exposed equipment (already with 3 sides sheltered) and the lamp when things dip colder. I have no idea what kind of fire hazard I'm creating, but I will at least be able to keep an eye on the water temps. -- Let's say that's not enough. What about turning the heater on? Am I going to see the pool equivalent of pouring hot water on the frozen windshield if I try this? If pressed to go this route I'll uncover the heater from the tarp, but that will leave other pipes exposed. -- When all else fails, I'll fill the damn thing in when spring comes. I already spent all last weekend cleaning/vacuuming/chemicalizing since my teenage son pool service had been slacking, so I'm about done with it at this point anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I just sent my 203 off to RGM because I stupidly dropped it. They assured me they were good to repair it, do the argon filling, moisture capsule, etc. It'll be a while, but I can update when I get it back. I was going to send it to Sinn, but trying to do an international ship via FedEx apparently got ridiculously painful since last time. I couldn't get anyone at FedEx customer service or technical support to give a shit about helping me out, so fuck 'em.

I asked a lab PhD at BSW about their antibody tests and he said they will be bringing on semi-quantitative spike protein Ab tests soon in addition to qualitative nucleocapsid tests currently in place I'm curious as to the reason for the semiquantitative spike tests but haven't heard back so probably shouldn't speculate. He also pointed out that the nucleocapsid Ab levels fall to undetectable after 9-12 weeks. I've asked if spike Ab levels do the same, but haven't heard yet. So there's a lot of potential subtlety in using these tests to prove either prior infection or immunity.

Nobody chooses when.

I thought the mushroom soup was great, but the rest of my crew is not big into mushrooms and didn't go for it. That website has a bunch of other good looking recipes, and this one for tikka masala soup was a huge hit, particularly for how easy/lazy it is.

Opinions: Re: wearing masks after vaccinated: If you are aware enough to make the effort to get vaccinated this early, you will have no problem modelling responsible behavior until we reach critical mass, and even thereafter. We'll reach a tipping point on that, and we should feel blessed when we do. Re: vaccination policies (definitely my opinion): just get shots in arms. Hopefully this is like (rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic)^-1. I have more faith in production being ramped up than I do in developing cogent and implementable prioritization policies. Get moving and get people vaccinated -- by the time you settle arguments about vulnerable olds vs high risk youngs, you could get a significant portion of each vaccinated. [Personal bias: from my anecdotal experience, I'd pull up a vax van at every construction site and restaurant kitchen I came across. It seems to be rampant and and particularly devastating within our hispanic working class population and their families.]

dammit beavis

I don't think your question is dumb, but I just want to emphasize what I've bolded. This is what terrifies me the most, as someone dissatisfied and disillusioned by both of the major (and therefore de facto only) parties. We've just dodged (or more truthfully, been grazed by) a major bullet. This is not the time to press advantages, it's the time to quash existential threats to our nation and the rule of law. This is an inflection point. It's time for both parties to slam the door on the road to totalitarianism, because it doesn't care if it takes the left lane or the right. D's have talked a good game that I hope they will live up to. R's have been feckless cucks up until 1/6, which has given me some glimmer of hope. But it's a fool that looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart.

Thanks to everyone for all the infor on this thread, we had a fantastic trip. It went so well I think I got some family buy-in to try some other places I have on my wishlist such as Holbox and Sayulita. Spoilering the pics because this is going to be longcat enough already. We stayed at Hotel Secreto, and it was great. We spent very little time there, but all the staff were very friendly and helpful, with lots of good tips. The day we rented a golf cart they called one which was delivered and picked up from the lobby so we didn't have to jack around with a rental place. I wouldn't be averse to trying the place next door (Media Luna) or the house next to that sometime as well, especially if we came with a group with kids (I didn't know that both are owned/run by the same family, who also operate Keen M). We went out for a day and a half with Keen M, and while the seas were rough (everybody wore a scopolamine patch on the second day), the fishing was way better than I hoped -- everyone caught something every day, and on the second day everybody got at least one sailfish. I think if we did it again I'd be fine with just half days (if you're not catching much on a half day, adding a few hours probably won't get you much more action). We spent a couple days on Playa Norte. We got chairs at the Mayan Beach Club in return for ordering food/drinks and had a great time. Service was great, and the food was way better than I would have expected. Best chilaquiles I had on the trip were there (not on the menu). We were going to take the boys to snorkel at Garrafon de Castilla, but unfortunately it seems to be shut down. We didn't want to do the big Garrafon Reef park and tourist trap, so we tried Kin Ha/Parque de los Suenos. It was too rough that day to swim, but this would have been more our speed, and the food was good. Speaking of which, the food pretty much everywhere on the island was awesome. Portion sizes generally bordered on obscene. We didn't have a bad meal there, although a couple places we ate out of convenience (Stingray's, Snapper's, Kokonuts) were nothing special. Bastos was very good, but we were a bit underwhelmed after all the hype. Fredy's definitely did not disappoint, though -- great food, and a great guy. Some food highlights: La Playita was our after-fishing spot (practically next to Keen M), and filled the boys up after they puked up their toenails on the boat. Cool spot on the beach. Ridiculous portions, included is the seafood platter for two. North Garden was great for breakfast, as advertised.. They actually just opened a space for dinner next door, called Grill Garden, a few days before we got there. It was really, really good. Breakfast at Rooster was also good, with the obligatory chilaquiles. As a side note, it was nice that all over Isla when you asked for salsa picante, they brought you awesome habanero stuff, not weak ass gringo shit. Ta-Ki-To looked like a pretty new taco joint on Hidalgo. They had the trompo rolling but it was still clean enough that my family would eat there - and they wanted to eat there every day after that. Next time, though, I'm going to duck into some of the crappier looking taco joints we saw on our golf cart trip to the south side. The Canadian lady who was working at Fredy's (you got me) told us about her friend's new place on the south end, El Borracho Burro. It was great - outdoor dining and bar, excellent food. I don't remember what the potato things were called, but I think it was Spanish for "Get in Mah Belly." This was where we also managed to catch the obligatory Michael Jackson impersonator show. Lola Valentina was outstanding for dinner. The poblano fish was one of the best of the many excellent meals I had on Isla. We had a fantastic trip. Everyone we met was awesome, and we tipped the hell out of them hoping they hang in there until we can make it back. Thanks again to all y'all assholes for the info. (Sorry, don't know why these pics are appended to the end, but I can't seem to make them go away)

Got my second round on Sunday afternoon. With the first, I had mild but noticeable injection site soreness for a few days, but nothing else. No real soreness with the second, but definitely felt lousy (fatigue, subjective fevers, muscle/body aches, mild chills). Slept it off for about 14 hours (part of that was flipping my schedule over to nights, though), and pretty much back to normal now. While it wasn't pleasant, it was encouraging to have a noticeable immune response, and certainly reinforced that I'd much rather have minor effects with immunization than take chances with the real deal. Sounds like it's hard to predict, but I definitely think it's smart to make plans for being down for a day or so after the second dose, especially if you have to pass temperature/symptom screening for work.

Genius labelling. I was powerless to resist. Oh, the beer was pretty good.