Friday, February 19, 2021

Friday - so, here's the Texas weather report

Never in our thirty years at our house has the pool frozen.  Well, there's always a first time. 

This has been a record breaking ordeal.  And after the sweetness of Valentine's Day - a little snow,  comfy pants, good meal, and chocolate - the true test of marriage began as Texas Weather, Polar Vortex temps, and Snowmaggedon descended upon the fair land.   (We declared a rule - no cannibalism)

Rolling power outages started after early Monday 2/15 morning - 2am,  3 am, 6:45 am....and that did not roll. It stopped.  NO POWER and outside temp was  3 degrees.   Yikes.  Inside temp dropped rapidly. We had under counter drawers open, dripping faucets, and Ray rigged a space heater to our large propane grill tanks and brought it all into the house.  He then used a shovel to bust up pool ice. 

Electricity outages were spotty.  My work was fine so we drove the 15 minutes to Omega. Roads were dicey but not much traffic. One tech was there -Zach and I did work. Ray hung out.  We did our best and left around noon.  At home, it was futile - the pool froze again, pump was frozen. It was SO COLD.   We hunkered in one room with blankets and the heater. 

Continued outage.  Read by flashlight, went to bed under a mound of blankets. House temp - 55 or so. 

Tuesday dawned pretty - but bitter cold - 2 degrees. Still no power.  We headed to Omega - I worked. Ray hung.  We could microwave a hot lunch.  Afternoon - got to Ray's folks - they had power. We enjoyed a hot shower and a snooze.  Headed home - wanted to be there over night in case of pipe issues. 

Wednesday - awake and still no power.  House temp at 49 or so.  Back to Omega to warm up, charge up, communicate with the outside world. (Some friends had no power, others no water, it was a mess) After work, tried to find more propane for back up. Ha Ha! Too late for that.  We did go to Chili's nearby - open and warm and functioning - a hot meal was yummy. We feasted.  Home to continue our marriage test.  Still talking. Some laughter. We had alternated some meltdowns, but truly did pretty good. 

 Wednesday night - 11:45 pm - ding....power is on!!!!   Wow.  Heater started cranking.  No obvious water disasters appeared. Hot water working.  It took all night, but Thursday we awoke to our normal house temp. Hot shower felt great. Tasty breakfast in our own home - hooray.  Ray drove me to Omega to work, then came home  to do a deeper check of things. Too soon for the pool - lots more thawing must occur.  He picked me back up and now I'm catching up on blog posts, comments, and real world home stuff. 

We are happy and grateful we do have a house, food, light, etc. 

Texas, the state, failed in its infrastructure, response, etc. Reports from ten years ago showed what should have been done or upgraded to "winterize" wind turbines, natural gas flow, etc.  Nope - no doubt politics and money and greed truly caused this epic fail.  And sadly probably cost people their lives. 

Mother Nature.  Weather.  Climate changes.   Some are weatherwise, some are otherwise - Ben Franklin

16 comments:

  1. Hi Joanne - thanks for the update and news ... it sounds like you were lucky with work and with our in-laws ... and now having power back on. It must be truly trying for many ... just glad you're ok ... stay safe now and here's to Texas coming out of the freeze ... just all the best to Texas, you, your friends and family - love the Franklin quote ... cheers Hilary

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    1. thanks much. Not much we could do at times - just wait it out. We were in good shape - feel bad for so many who have nothing. I appreciate your good thoughts.

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  2. I'm so glad you were able to catch moments of reprieve at work, and that Ray could go with you. It must have been a really worrying time, watching the temperatures dip so dramatically. Hopefully the weather will begin to warm for you. Stay safe x

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    1. thanks much - we hung in there. Some moments good, others - mild meltdowns. Hard when one has no control over events. Believe me, TX will go immediately to summer now. It's crazy. I definitely appreciate your good wishes.

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  3. Hope there's no damage to your pool. Less than fifty in the house is damn cold. Yes, crappy time to have a frozen wind turbine.

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    1. Ray found a cracked part in the pump this morning. Have to wait for a full thaw to assess damage. We've come out of this okay in the scheme of things. But I do appreciate civilization and creature comforts. Thanks for keeping in touch here.

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  4. I can't even imagine what you and Ray have been going through, but I'm so glad you had some reprieves along the way and are finally warm and safe. I hope the rest of your friends and family are doing well, and your pool will be in working order. It's unbelievable that the predictions were ignored 10 years ago. Stay safe and continue to take good care of each other.

    Julie

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    1. Have been able to keep in touch with folks and heard from many friends - we have enjoyed the support. And we'll make things work - we are lucky in the whole scheme of things

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  5. .....And I thought our weather horrible.
    You have been through alot Joanne.
    Keep warm, safe and well.

    Yvonne.

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    1. Ray is quite the pioneer - we managed well.

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  6. I've been so worried and distressed for friends in TX. Such an ordeal! Glad you had your work and in-laws' places to go to. Take care of yourselves and stay safe and warm. Hugs.

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    1. Thanks much. It is a small world after all. We've had lots of outpourings from friends and family. All much appreciated.

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  7. Wow, that truly stinks. But you made it through so that is grand. None of what went down sure is funny. Funny watching people who aren't used to snow scrabble when they get it, but all of the stuff Texas went through is another level. If only greed and politics didn't screw the pooch.

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    1. yep. We were in good shape. So many are dire. And that's sad when it's so unnecessary. Thanks!

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  8. Hi Joanne - I gather another difficulty added in - I sincerely hope you and Ray were able to deal with it ... look after yourselves - with thoughts - Hilary

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    1. Thanks. It's just been a very crazy week/year. I'm headed to work this am and it should be a "normal" week.

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