shadetree

Follow up: when I do this should I turn off the gas water heaters as well? Would think so. Correct me if I am wrong, please. Going to try to hold out until Thursday I think, and then do this. Will see what happens. Power has been on and off, so I am much more fortunate than most. Tried a heat gun and heater on one faucet on an outside wall for 40 minutes (until power kicked off). Didn’t make any headway. So I think cutting the water coming into house is the thing to do. May try to store a couple more gallons of drinking water (tubs already full for toilets) and cut off water Wednesday, but I am not sure it will make much difference to cut water now vs Thursday if it is below freezing until then. Gas fireplace is keeping us comfy, so I can’t really complain. Whatever happens can be fixed. Everyone stay warm.

Continuing the possible burst pipe questions: I’ve been dripping inside but still have ended up with a few faucets that are blocked. If the concern for the cause of the pipes to burst is pressure, it would seem turning the water off to the house and leaving all faucets open wound put least amount of pressure on the lines, right? Do that when temp gets above freezing and the ice plugs maybe melt? Or turn water cutoff to house on just a little, to hopefully bot send the full pressure of water through the house? Not sure that a small turn of the cutoff valve reduces that much pressure once water starts flowing. Lines are all PEX, so I am hopeful for some give in them. I’m an idoit, so please tell me how the above is dumb.

30 minute rolling blackout in Allen. Power just kicked back on.

That was horrible to watch. Trucker must be a huge Sark fan. #allgasnobrakes

I’ve received both doses on Moderna in Tyler I had only the slightest of a sore arm around the injection site (same as any vaccine) both times. No other effects from either dose. Don’t know if that means my immune system kicks ass, or sucks donkey balls.

I got my first dose at Harvey Hall yesterday. Signed up online - they had several spots open. In and out in less than 25 minutes. They were not prepared for the number of people that shows up for shots. They closed around 3:15, with several hundred people waiting. They would not schedule the second shot. Said they want to make she they get their allocation, and then will call people. I called places today to line up the second shot. Several told me they wouldn’t give it to me, and that I needed to go back to where I got my shot. Makes some sense from a logistics standpoint, but my impression is that if you think it is bad now, it’s going to be so much worse when it’s time for the second shot.

In the Dallas area, I saw that several Tom Thumb and Kroger pharmacies are scheduled to receive the vaccine, but I do not see any way to sign up on a wait list. And when I called several of those pharmacies around me, they said they had not even received their freezer yet. I also haven’t seen local hospitals with sign up lists yet.

In our district they require masks starting in 4th grade.

In our district they require masks starting in 4th grade.

For my youngest child’s class, we have just received assignments but no teaching on the days the teacher is out. 3 times in 8 weeks so far. Very frustrating.

How much better off as a society would we be without cops/sheriffs? Cops take 1/2 or more of city budgets. If any other city/county employees were as corrupt as the police are, they would be fired. What do law enforcement really add for society? Do any benefits they provide outweigh the damage they cause? At the very least, take away the guns from the average cops. Only specially trained units can use them. Wonder if that would change the attitude of most cops (it won’t)?

Has TEA refined or changed limits on class sizes? We just got notified of our kids online classes, which start on Wednesday. 35 kids for online class. Our district (Allen) can evidently afford a giant ass stadium but has to stick 35 kids in an online 2nd grade class. And their new guidelines have give up on closing the school when they get a positive case. The new guideline is “Full campus closure will be considered when lab-confirmed positive COVID-19 cases are at least 10 percentage points below the last school year’s overall average attendance. “ So, apparently they aren’t closing for any reason. What a cluster.

Turned out pretty well. Or at least everyone was happy. Kept them wrapped a bit too long I think. Bone was coming out on some as unwrapped them.

Thanks everyone. I’ll try to remember to post pics.

I’ve been asked to spoke some St. Louis ribs. Never smoked them before. Cooked a lot of briskets, beef ribs, turkeys, and pork shoulders. I’m generally familiar with the 3-2-1 method (Hornian I think). 3 hours uncovered, 2 hours wrapped in foil, and last put uncovered to firm up. What else do I need to know? Seasoning? Apple cider spritz a few times while uncovered? I smoke on a primo XL, usually a bit hotter then others- usually 275 - 300. I was given 4 racks to cook. Will also be cooking some beef ribs at the same time. Thanks.

Any other recommendations for good online resources for elementary school kids? I recall someone who worked at a charter school mentioned some, but I can’t find it. Thanks.

Thanks. The structure was well worth the cost. It’s on the west side of the pool, so it provides shade in the pool in the afternoon. Can watch TV from the spa. Gets a lot of breeze and is pretty comfortable even in July/August. I try to recommend that when building a pool, try to add something that give you some shade. Feel it’s needed here in Texas. You will want to be out of the pool at times. Having some shade will let you stay outside even when it’s hot, keep an eye on the kids, etc.

We have tumbled travertine pavers. They never get hot. My kids (now 6 and 10) can stand on them barefoot in the middle of the day with no issues. They are not very slippery. I think we have had 1 fall in 3+ years, and that was one of the boys running. Great way for them to burn off some energy and get away from the screens.

It won’t happen, but I hope that all these videos of cops doing inexcusable shit -like shooting people on their porch, or pepper spraying while driving down the street- end up getting charged. Just like the violent “protesters” should be when they start destroying things. But you know every cop (or close enough to every cop that is doesn’t matter) is out there looking for opportunities to exercise their “authority!” And do whatever they want without repercussions. Some of the civic leaders seem to say the right things (like Atlanta mayor I believe), but they need to address the escalating police violence during the protests.

These types of infection cases are difficult to prove for a plaintiff. They will need to show the worker was infected at work (rather than somewhere else such as grocery store) and that had the facility acted as a reasonably prudent faculty, the infection would not have occurred. There are significant challenges with that. With the number of healthcare providers getting COVID, there will be challenges to that part as well. You also have a high number of facilities that had (or still have) issues obtaining and supplying PPE over the last few months. With the surge of cases, the facilities could not just send the patients away if they didn’t have PPE for staff. So, what can a reasonable facility do? The changing CDC guidelines on PPE (and other guides de) will also play a role in these cases. Also, the decedent apparently was an employee, so you may have employer liability immunity via work comp. in that case, the family will need to show gross negligence, which is an even higher standard. There will be a wave of these lawsuits, but they will be difficult to win. I know several plaintiff med mal attorneys in Texas that don’t think the cases are worth it given caps and difficulties noted above in proving up the case.

I know that in Dallas at least the ventilator death rate is now running 25-30%. Back in March it was closer to 75%.

Found this in my backyard this evening. Rat snake?

Next week I am closing a jumbo refi 3.3@30ys. No points. I locked it in back in mid March when rates started to go crazy up and down. In Dallas area.

I meant that there is more comfort in the PCR test being accurate, versus a wider spread of reliability in the antibody testing. Yes, they are two different tests useful to two different purposes. PCR useful for active cases; antibody testing useful to determine if you previously had the disease.

In Dallas I know Baylor Scott and White isn’t running antibody testing at the moment because of their concerns regarding the inaccuracies of the antibody testing, and the variations in quality from the companies creating the tests. Said PCR tests take a degree of technology and technique that weed out lots of companies. Antibody testing is “simpler” is being developed by lots of companies, but specificity and sensitivity vary significantly.