2020-21 Winter weather; bring it on

[phdhorn 6,224]

Wife and I do 67* daytime, 65* at night. But I have a propane furnace, elec only runs the blowers.

[jimmyjazz 46,969]

We're at 66, but on propane, too.  It ain't blowing if there's no electric, though.

My concern is that my delivery guy blew through 5 consecutive appointments this week and today finally just said "eh, who knows when we'll get back on the road".  I'm at 18% and dropping.

I do have firewood, plus assorted children's toys and furniture.

[Biff Tannen 46,060]

4 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I do have firewood, plus assorted children's toys and furniture.

[washparkhorn 9,967]

11 hours ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Blowing bubbles outside in freezing weather

[elfenix 34,658]

family says power is out in katy.  

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2,649]

I had no idea neighborhoods used joint propane systems. So strange to me. 
 

I have my heat up super high (75) to get heat through the walls to the pipes, but im also on natural gas.  So i wont be draining the grid.

[BrickTop 482]

Just walked outside it’s 30 degrees and was pouring cold rain which promptly froze immediately upon impact.

[Longhorn94 2,478]

we set ours to 68 during the day and then down to 58 at night. Inside temps never get below 61 or 62 so the heater is off for 8 hours.

[InkaUtexas 26,796]

23 minutes ago, Lobo said:

I ain't wearing no fucking mask and I ain't setting my thermostat below 70 because I am a southern gentleman who takes care of my neighbors.

 

Actually, we're running at 64 right now and we're gonna keep it there to do our part.  Hand washed all dinner dishes just now and ain't doing laundry tomorrow.  It's what men do to take care of those in their community but that's lost on most "Texans" these days.  Using mostly the outdoor grill and the inside gas stove to cook to avoid using the oven but maybe once every two days for one family meal.  

Yep, set it at 62, busted out extra blankets. GF is cuddled on couch with the dogs listening to a podcast. 

 Made stew earlier and have everything set up for the grill tomorrow. Can make hot toddy's using my espresso machine which runs off a small battery. Will recharge it at intervals when I run the two cars. And fuck laundry. Not like we are going anywhere tomorrow. Well maybe HEB. If it is open. 

Only critical issue I did not know about is GF ordered an extra beer ration yesterday to be delivered at noon today. Nope, cancelled. 

 

[Deej 77,667]

10 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:

[Hate 20,232]

11 hours ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Blowing bubbles outside in freezing weather.

 

I'm sure Bubbles will take a blowjob whenever and wherever he can get one, but I'd recommend going inside tonight. 

[Radical Larry 28,814]

[NIUHuskies 505]

34 minutes ago, Damor said:

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.

Humblebrag pic...

[Wally Pryor 5,388]

46 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

austintexas.gov is recommending outdoor faucets be dripped at a rate of 5 per minute.

I am here to tell you that does not work.

It doesn't.

Slow but steady, the thickness of a pencil lead.  Use plywood or other to divert the water away as there will be more than a little of it that flows during this Coldpocalypse.   Nice-sized ice patch is going to result but that's fine.  Extra few $ on your water bill but that's a small price to pay. 

 

[crimsonlonghorn 2,313]

26 minutes ago, elfenix said:

family says power is out in katy.  

Centerpoint confirms. Rosenberg and Tomball, too.

EDIT: And Sealy. 

Edited February 15, 2021 by crimsonlonghorn

[washparkhorn 9,967]

If the cold gets in your bones, 

a hot soak in the bath calms those woes. . . . 

"Authentic Frontier Gibberish," Blazing Saddles (Film-Satire), Mel Brooks.

[clapclapclap 9,000]

1 hour ago, phdhorn said:

Not sure what that large dropoff after current time means, but that don't look good.


 

Is that dropoff the solar portion checking out for the night?

 

There have been several very large coal power plants (that burned cleaner WY coal) that were permanently closed in the last 5 or so years.  Would have been nice to have them kept as backup peak use only suppliers.

Should cut power first to all those 'Green sources only' power plans the hippies were peddling to suckers in grocery stores the last decade. 

I remember one airhead showing a picture of a power plant and exclaiming, "Look at all that pollution coming out!  We can prevent that."

"That's steam, you ignorant dumbass."

 

Edit:  This just in:  Blizzard Warning for Guadalupe Peak.  Don't climb it tonight.

Edited February 15, 2021 by clapclapclap

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2,649]

I just discovered my guest bathroom toilet is plumbed to hot water. Im so confused. 

[Trey3216 15,450]

Saw this.  not sure if true, but not surprised if it is.  
 

[CleverNickname 1,345]

2 minutes ago, Xian said:

I just discovered my guest bathroom toilet is plumbed to hot water. Im so confused. 

Hot shit

[Machinator 32,102]

Jim Spencer is having a blast on KXAN.

[atomheartbevo 90,544]

3 hours ago, hookemATL said:

I imagine I’ll just keep checking every two hours until I pass out from stress. 

This will be us Tuesday afternoon

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by atomheartbevo

[crimsonlonghorn 2,313]

In the last 30 minutes or so here in Sugar Land the sleet picked up and now everything is coated in a layer of ice.

I successfully made it across the glazed pool deck and around the side of the house to flip the pool motors back on for the night, but now I feel guilty for using that electricity. 

[elfenix 34,658]

11 minutes ago, Xian said:

I just discovered my guest bathroom toilet is plumbed to hot water. Im so confused. 

the office toilet was plumbed to hot and every time you courtesy flushed was like getting a blast from a sauna.  

[Orange&White 5,563]

7 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Jim Spencer is having a blast on KXAN.

He was BORN for this.

Jumpin' Jimmy is living his best life right now.

[Wally Pryor 5,388]

6 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Jim Spencer is having a blast on KXAN.

Thanks for the heads up.   Didn't have the Apocalypse written into his pre-retirement plans but should be fun.

[atomheartbevo 90,544]

I've been avoiding this thread, because my nerves are a little wrecked.

I'm on team "wrap the outdoor faucets up in insulation, put the foam faucet cover over it, wrap that in a few towels, and put a cardboard box over that, wedged up against the wall, and then run your heat inside around 73-74 and heave a healthy drip in all of the inside faucets.

But I'm leaning towards the drip the outdoor faucets like a motherfucker.

Edited February 15, 2021 by atomheartbevo

[Both Tacos 1,827]

Let's do this!!!!!

[washparkhorn 9,967]

8 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

It doesn't.

Slow but steady, the thickness of a pencil lead.  Use plywood or other to divert the water away as there will be more than a little of it that flows during this Coldpocalypse.   Nice-sized ice patch is going to result but that's fine.  Extra few $ on your water bill but that's a small price to pay. 

The drip doesn't make sense from my frontier living in Colorado and the stockyards of Chicago days. But I grew up all over Texas. It is damn big. And a billion microclimates. Look at is as adventure.

And it's a good learning experience for the kids. If some northern bully comes to them in the future, they can say they survived the ice box challenge.

You have severe winter weather incoming. Be safe. Your conditions are no walk in the park.

Hook 'em and Good luck all.

 

[Dewey 3,325]

20 minutes ago, Xian said:

I just discovered my guest bathroom toilet is plumbed to hot water. Im so confused. 

You weren't supposed to know,  that's an old plumbers trick... when you get confused and mix up your lines. If I were you, I wouldn't dig any deeper into the makings of your house, just be glad you got a roof over your head. 

[washparkhorn 9,967]

21 minutes ago, Xian said:

I just discovered my guest bathroom toilet is plumbed to hot water. Im so confused. 

Some swear by that . . . in Nome.  

No really, I have seen it before. It is not standard but it may work out for you. 

[Guest]

we're shutting down for work tomorrow.  Dude  texts me back, "I've never seen that message in 41 years with the company..."   Yeah, me neither.  The funny part is about half of em are like, 'Fuck that. we can work..."

It's pretty damned cool to read their responses.   It's pretty fucking treacherous out there for us to shut down.

[South Austin 53,153]

This thread has taught me that I don’t know shit about my house’s mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems.

[washparkhorn 9,967]

12 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

I'm on team "wrap the outdoor faucets up in insulation, put the foam faucet cover over it, wrap that in a few towels, and put a cardboard box over that, wedged up against the wall, and then run your heat inside around 73-74 and heave a healthy drip in all of the inside faucets.

But I'm leaning towards the drip the outdoor faucets like a motherfucker.

Dance with the one you brung to the party. ~Amer. Front. Gibbersh

[Machinator 32,102]

 

[ftf82 488]

Come to find out that my "auto-fill" contract, prepaid mind you, with Pinnacle Propane means that it's not really "auto-fill". Checked my level early yesterday and noticed it was 15% (they're supposed to refill before it gets to 20%). Called and they said that they would get someone out this morning. Of course, they canceled this morning and won't be here until sometime late this week I'm sure.  So, in short, I had to call to get a tank filled that was on a PREPAID auto-fill contract, I'll likely run out within the next 4 days, during which I'll only be running my thermostat at 60 degrees, and Fuck Pinnacle Propane. 

[washparkhorn 9,967]

3 minutes ago, South Austin said:

This thread has taught me that I don’t know shit about my house’s mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems.

Buy an old house. 

Fuck around and find out. Love at the start and at the end. The middle - love/hate. 

[AUS-97HORN 11,991]

3 minutes ago, ftf82 said:

Come to find out that my "auto-fill" contract, prepaid mind you, with Pinnacle Propane means that it's not really "auto-fill". Checked my level early yesterday and noticed it was 15% (they're supposed to refill before it gets to 20%). Called and they said that they would get someone out this morning. Of course, they canceled this morning and won't be here until sometime late this week I'm sure.  So, in short, I had to call to get a tank filled that was on a PREPAID auto-fill contract, I'll likely run out within the next 4 days, during which I'll only be running my thermostat at 60 degrees, and Fuck Pinnacle Propane. 

not trying to be a dick... but this is on you.  the first murmer of this shit was 10 days ago.  7 days ago we were getting multiple, multiple confirmations this shit was going to happen.   and its now the day the actual main frozen precip hits you check your propane levels?

7 days ago if you were at 40 % you could have called them and said, hey i might need a fill up before week end. 

Edited February 15, 2021 by AUS-97HORN

[atomheartbevo 90,544]

32 minutes ago, Xian said:

I just discovered my guest bathroom toilet is plumbed to hot water. Im so confused. 

Wait, does that mean your bidet and shower aren't plumbed to your coconut water tank?

Hope you stocked up at Central Market or HEb.

 

[HenryJames 67,115]

8 minutes ago, South Austin said:

This thread has taught me that I don’t know shit about my house’s mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems.

We all know a lot about your mom’s plumbing.

[Francisco 2.0 32,543]

My trusty Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 shows it's 5 outdoors, but it feels like -13

[Bevo&Pevo 5,507]

34 minutes ago, Xian said:

I just discovered my guest bathroom toilet is plumbed to hot water. Im so confused. 

If you had a bidet in there you would have already known that.

[Biff Tannen 46,060]

Raining ice pellets in 78751.

[Chet Steadman 940]

What a way for Jim to go out.  Top Two biggest weather event in Austin’s history in his last few days before retirement.  

He deserves every second of it.  

[ftf82 488]

3 minutes ago, AUS-97HORN said:

not trying to be a dick... but this is on you.  the first murmer of this shit was 10 days ago.  7 days ago we were getting multiple, multiple confirmations this shit was going to happen.   and its now the day the actual main frozen precip hits you check your propane levels?

You aren't wrong. But at the same time, I paid extra for an auto-fill and locked in for 300 gallons less than 2 months ago. They (Pinnacle Propane) also saw this coming. Put it this way. I prepared financially for this storm. They didn't.

 

Edit to say: And further in my defense, we contacted them early yesterday when I was winterizing everything (covering up faucets) and checked the tank

Edited February 15, 2021 by ftf82

[atomheartbevo 90,544]

20 minutes ago, South Austin said:

This thread has taught me that I don’t know shit about my house’s mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems.

Unless you built your house yourself, or carefully monitored its construction, assume they went cheap as hell, and only cared about making sure you were comfortable for most of the year.  All they have to do is get you through whatever kind of contact/warranty/whatever you have with them and then they are free from giving a shit about any problems arising from their construction methods and materials.

We took a slide/walk around the neighborhood this afternoon, and a whole shitload of people have put a lot of faith in those foam faucet covers and nothing else - not even an Amazon box or something wedged up to the side of the house.  

And the pier and beam ones have me really shaking my head - put a little foam faucet cover over the outdoor faucet, and you have a small amount of plywood, with holes cut in it, covered by mesh, surrounding your house, letting a shit-ton of cold air in.

Others were dripping, but not enough.

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by atomheartbevo

[atomheartbevo 90,544]

8 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

My trusty Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 shows it's 5 outdoors, but it feels like -13

My older Craftsman multimeter showed a decent 5-10 degrees difference between next to the house and a few feet out in the yard.  Hope that holds steady.

 

[BillyGoatHill 4,420]

34 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Jim Spencer is having a blast on KXAN.

Tie and jacket off? That's when you know the shit is real.....my old job (let's just say we got busy during bad weather) we would all watch and see if....

1. Was it him, or Dave giving the forecast and....

2. If it was Jim doing the forecast, shit was going to hit the fan ( at least that was his forecast) if he had his jacket off.

[Captainant 28,383]

Getting ice rain in Spring Branch in Houston, and all the outside stuff is already accumulating an ice layer. I hope my jankedy pool noodle, dish towel, and plastic bag insulation on the outside spigots is good enough on top of my inside faucets dripping

[atomheartbevo 90,544]

So what weather site are we trusting?  Dark Skies keeps fucking with us with crazy numbers.  

Weather.com has us hitting around 12 degrees in the morning.  I'll take 12 degrees over 0, because that's a fuckton of difference with our shitty Texas housing construction.  Shit, I'll run/drip the faucets pretty open outside at 12.