General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy fellow Texans, please check in.
San Antonio here and it’s been one hell of a ride the last couple of days AND I’ve had it a hell of a lot better than most.
How are my other beloved Texas Democrats? Everyone safe?
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Horse with no Name
(34,213 posts)Roads are awful.
It’s so cold.
Luckily I still have power.
Not taking that for granted.
I hope the majority are realizing we need to do something different than our outdated grid.
Stay safe!
fleur-de-lisa
(14,703 posts)
ananda
(34,472 posts)Hangin out here at home.
Roads are very dangerous right now.
We start getting weather relief Thursday.
I managed to schedule an HEB order to
pick up Sunday.
So far so good. Just fuckin lucky, I guess.
Response to ananda (Reply #2)
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USAF Brat
(61 posts)
Luz
(901 posts)are closed along with restaurants and roads. Its just miserable here. I prefer the dog days of summer in San Antonio.
hamsterjill
(17,076 posts)The roads aren’t going to be better for a while and everything is still going to be closed today.
marble falls
(71,130 posts)hamsterjill
(17,076 posts)They reduced hours here in SA but driving there is impossible. Curbside is certainly non existent for COVID.
HEB does an outstanding job and I’ve never seen it this bad. They are doing all they can considering the circumstances.
marble falls
(71,130 posts)... by phone to everyone.
When my 90yr old dad comes in from AZ the first place he wants to go to is "Heb's" and the only thing from Texas my daughter misses is there being an HEB down the street.
KatyMan
(4,332 posts)No power for 24 hours now, very cold but we have gas so the fireplace and stove work.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)First time in seventeen years I've called in... but I get an asterisk next to that as it turs out the office is closing for the day. Currently it's six or seven degrees and despite hearing about the rolling black-outs all around me, I've yet to experience it myself (I just jinxed myself).
Since I live only a mile from the office, and I decided to walk yesterday rather than spend 45 minutes prepping the car (completely iced). Dressed in layers and the 30 minute walk wasn't as bad as I thought-- but I didn't take snow drifts into account (hey, it's Texas-- do we ever take snow drifts into account?), and was a little winded by the time I arrived. Three hours later, the two employees in my dept. who also showed up and I (out of 27 employees total) got word we'd close early and left at noon.
So today I'm just sipping coffee, dressed in sweats and a fleece robe, and wondering about the next round of snow tonight.
blogslut
(39,087 posts)Better than the last few days with temps in the sub-zeros. This kind of weather is bad but we have harsher winters than lower portions of the state so, there's that.
The rolling blackouts are going into effect today. That's unusual. We're on a different power grid (SPP) than the rest of Texas.
Here's an interesting article about that:
https://www.texastribune.org/2011/02/08/texplainer-why-does-texas-have-its-own-power-grid/
USAF Brat
(61 posts)Electricity was out from Late Saturday night until last night about 11PM. it came back for about 5 minutes 4 or 5 times yesterday; just enough to be annoying. The cell tower for my area was also nonexistent yesterday too, so no updated weather, phone calls or news all day. My son less than 3 miles from me never had the power out even once!
A water main on N. Nachadoches broke and enough water was released to make about a mile of road clear of all ice, otherwise even the main thoroughfare of Thousand Oaks was very icy at 3:30 PM when I ventured to said son’s house to cook and get warm. Traffic was never over 12 MPH and many were still slip sliding along.
I am just happy the power is back on and my phone works!
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Hot as Hades during my time there in July and August!
TexasBushwhacker
(21,097 posts)but I woke up and it's still 47 upstairs. Cold as hell, didn't sleep well last night. Boss said I didn't have to come in if I didn't want to and I might take him up on it.
Shell_Seas
(3,566 posts)Hello from the northern tundra. The ice and snow has been treacherous. We've been confined to our home for four days now. On Sunday night, we lost power over night multiple times. So last night, we let the three little kids sleep in our bed with us (ages 1, 6, and 7), in case it went out again. Have you ever slept in a bed with five people? Needles to say, I'm exhausted and my back hurts.
Our dog is an American Eskimo. If you're unfamiliar with the breed, they are like small Huskies, except they're all white. I've let him out and then wait about 5 -10 minutes at a time. Then, when I open the door to let him in, he runs away and rolls around in the snow. I've had to bundle up to go outside, pick him up, and carry him in like a baby. He's 12 years old and not as young as he thinks he still is, but he hates being couped up in the house.
My eldest son, who will be 21 next week is from the same generation that eats Tide Pods. While, I don't believe he ever hopped on that trend. The other night, when the wind chill was -10 and it was heavy snowing, he told me he was going to walk to the store. Which is a mile away. I had to tell him how fucking stupid that was and how he could get frostbite or hypothermia, while still "not treating him like a kid." He didn't wind up going. But we did get into an argument about weather or not I respected his judgement. He's going to move out of my house soon. Whether he likes it or not.
My older son did make it outside yesterday to build a snowman, which he built in the driveway, rather than the yard. Late yesterday afternoon, my husband (slowly and carefully) drove to the closest convenience store to get beer and he had to drive over the snowman. Now, it's snow roadkill.
I'm a full time blogger, but it's impossible to get anything done with all of the kids here. Going 4 days without blogging is making me twitch and I've been using my phone for research as I sit with the kids. They obviously don't have school, nor do they have remote learning because of all the power outages.
It may be another two days of this. But we're safe. No one is working or going to school. We'll be fine as long as the power stays on (knock on wood).
duforsure
(11,885 posts)Doing ok, and 12 degrees, 63 inside , and suns outs . Longest blackout was 2 hrs 45 minutes.
Liberal In Texas
(16,000 posts)Haven't tried to drive. Driveway is covered with ice topped with snow. So is the street. Power goes out and you don't know if it'll be a few minutes or hours. Very hard to plan what to eat since it's unknown if when you start cooking if you'll be able to finish.
We have a tankless water heater outside. When we had it installed there was no thought that it might get down to 6 degrees or that it would last for days and days. Years ago I put heat tape on the outside pipes covered that with insulation and now there is a metal cover too all to beat the occasional cold snap, but without power they don't work and when it does come back on it's too cold for them to free up the pipes. So, no hot water and no showers.
No snow shovels and don't have any ice melt or sand so the sidewalks and driveway are going to stay covered with ice and snow until it melts. Which will be this weekend when temps may get up into the 60s.
I hate this weather.
Horse with no Name
(34,213 posts)I didn’t have a shovel so I tried to clear my back porch and steps with a dustpan. I’ve just added anew dustpan to my Amazon list. Lol
Liberal In Texas
(16,000 posts)on the front porch. The bottle has been sitting in the cabinet for years and don't drink vodka, probably somebody gave it to us, so put it to some use. LOL
AwakeAtLast
(14,315 posts)She's in South Austin and still has power for the time being. They are preparing in case that doesn't last.
I'm in Southern Illinois, so I can only talk to her on the phone.
Sending love and hugs to all of you!
ananda
(34,472 posts)Toughin it out till the weather changes.
PurgedVoter
(2,678 posts)The water has froze from all but a few brave spigots. Ice everywhere. It is cold but I must walk the dog.
I may be a while.
Solly Mack
(96,396 posts)Thinking of all of you.
mindfulNJ
(2,440 posts)Are these low temps a complete anomaly down there? I know you do have winter down there but what is a normal low?
Wishing you all warmth and safety!
USAF Brat
(61 posts)We might get two to three freezes per winter, rarely does it get down into the 20’s. The last snow of any amount (and I do mean any amount LOL) was in the 80’s.
Down in the valley around McAllen they get cold snaps and the occasional freeze. West Texas is desert and mountains and have entirely different climates as does north and east Texas. I have no memory of it being 32 degrees or below at either Galveston or Corpus Christie, but I’m probably wrong!
DFW
(59,755 posts)I had to run down to Barcelona yesterday, and because of the crazy haphazard flight schedule, wait until today to fly back to Düsseldorf. There are no more direct flights, so I had to connect through Palma de Mallorca. When I got to Palma, they said my Corona test was too old, so I couldn‘t fly home. I pointed out to them that their own rules said people who flew down to Spain for work and stayed less than 72 hours were exempted from having to get tested again to fly back to Germany. The guys at the airport in Mallorca said their own website was wrong, and refused to issue me a boarding pass.
So, I made them stop my bag from being loaded onto the plane, got the name if a clinic in Palma that did fast testing, went there, got my test, called my friends in Barcelona and asked them go find me a hotel, where I now get to vegetate—not even a room service menu—until breakfast tomorrow morning. There are no flights to Düsseldorf from Palma tomorrow. At all!! So at noon, I get to fly to Hamburg, an hour‘s flight north of Düsseldorf, change, turn around and fly back southwest to Düsseldorf.
Sure, it‘s pretty with a nice view of the marina, but I know no one here, have nothing to do here, and am stuck until tomorrow morning when I try my luck again at the airport.
I‘m sure it‘s better than being stuck in 0° weather in Texas somewhere, but it‘s a major drag all the same. If I were looking for a mini vacation, I at least would have brought an extra change of underwear.
Liberal In Texas
(16,000 posts)Learned that from experience.
Good luck to you!
DFW
(59,755 posts)But that‘s because I had planned to stay the night in Barcelona. Just not in Palma the next night!
Solly Mack
(96,396 posts)
budkin
(6,849 posts)We must be near a critical circuit. It’s the only explanation for why we have not lost power.
IHaveNoName
(102 posts)We're getting hit with a little ice storm this morning. The good news is that we're expected to go up to around 40 F by the afternoon, and then slowly work our way up to the 70s by the weekend.
I haven't lost power, myself (probably because I live across the street from a hospital, so I may be on their cell). The cable is up and running, but the local channels are out (so I can watch CNN, but not get any local news). The biggest issue is water right now. My entire apartment complex has none -- we're thinking there's a break or frozen pipes leading into the complex. I have plenty of bottled, and will likely be OK until the ground warms up tomorrow.
I'm also lucky that I can work from home.
Stay warm, folks!