Day 4445

Another very cold day. We got up later than usual, but the temperature refused to rise. When we took Dawn on her morning walk, she quickly did her business and returned to the house. She had no interest in completing our normal one mile loop. Dawn is the smart one in the house. She is comfortable sleeping on the bed all day. Janet and I feel compelled to stay busy.

I didn't really want to take a long walk today, but I was bored doing nothing. I waited quite a while but it never got warmer. Actually I think the temperature dropped a bit after breakfast. Eventually I put on my warmest clothes and took my long walk. I walked my entire six mile route without encountering anyone. Actually I did see one person on the way home. As the red parka came closer I realized it was Janet. Her gym was closed because of icy roads and she decided to take a walk too. We were the only two people in the park.

Oddly my feet didn't hurt too much today. Maybe they were just numb from the cold. I haven't seen the eagles since their nest fell, but I did see the geese and Muscovy Ducks. There were only five pelicans at Sunset Bay. I wonder where the rest went? Most of the Double Crested Comorants were gone as well. Clearly birds have contingency plans for the weather but I wonder what they are? The pelicans would have had to fly a long way to escape the cold.

Janet and I didn't drive anywhere today but both started our cars in the driveway and let them warm up. I don't know if this helps anything, but we started doing this during last winter's extreme weather and it has become a habit. I hate the sound of an engine that won't turn over on a cold day. When I was growing up in Alaska, all cars had crankcase heaters. You always plugged your car in when it was not running and it would easily start even if the temperature was 40 below. I remember that all the parking meters in Fairbanks had electric outlets so you could plug in your crankcase heater while you were shopping.

The roof leak has returned in the office. How is this even possible? The temperature didn't even get above freezing today. I guess the heat from inside the house caused some of the ice on the roof to melt. For some reason freezing weather in the Winter causes more leak problems than hot weather in the Summer. The leak wasn't bad and has already stopped dripping. I'll have to leave the bucket out though and hope that I don't trip over it if I get up to go to the bathroom at night.

I don't think conditions in the world are going to improve tomorrow, but maybe it will get warmer in Dallas. The world may be doomed, but it's still easier to deal with on a nice day.

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4075

It's still cold, but the snow is melting rapidly. ERCOT says that operations have returned to normal and that the crisis is over. Plumbers, on the other hand, say the worst is yet to come. I'm surprised at how many people have had their pipes burst. Even brand new buildings have had frozen pipes. I don't know if we did everything right or just got lucky, but our water is still flowing. 

It finally got above freezing today, but only for a little while. That was enough to get a lot of the ice off the roads though. The road in front of our house is almost clear. I don't think we'll have any problem going grocery shopping tomorrow. The problem will be finding food. A lot of the grocery stores in town have been emptied out and I'm not sure how quickly they can be restocked.

It got warm enough today that we were able to do a load of laundry and take showers. The blame game will go on for months, but I think the worst is over for this storm. With the temperature expected to reach fifty degrees this weekend, I think everyone can finally begin to relax. It's ironic that this is the time of year when retailers have their big winter sales. There were some great bargains on gloves and coats, but it was almost impossible to get to the stores.

We're going to try to give Dawn a walk tomorrow. During the cold spell she had become increasingly reluctant to leave the bedroom. This is not a good sign. Hopefully with warmer temperatures she will enjoy being outdoors again. Dawn needs some variety in her life and she could certainly use a little exercise.

Janet and I are definitely getting our exercise. It's surprising how much more strenuous it is to walk in the snow. We've been pretty tired after our walks this week. Oddly, Fitbit doesn't give me any extra credit for these cold Winter walks. I feel tired, but my heart rate is actually lower for some reason.

I've always thought the slogan of the Post Office was "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Apparently this isn't true anymore because we haven't gotten any mail all week. I can understand curtailing deliveries during the worst of the storm, but there was no reason that mail couldn't be delivered today. As far as I could tell, the roads were clear. The trash folks seemed to have mixed feelings about picking things up today.  The recycling folks emptied all the blue cans, but the regular trash pick up trucks were nowhere to be seen. I put out the trash anyway last night because I knew that if I didn't it would almost guarantee that the trucks would arrive on schedule.

I don't think it was really necessary to start the car today but I did it anyway out of habit. Sitting in the car this week while waiting for it to warm up has reminded me of the Groundhog Day movie. It was the same thing over and over again twice every day. I've never claimed to get good gas mileage, but I was surprised that I used up an 1/8th of a tank of gas just sitting in the driveway.

It's been a long week, but we really didn't suffer much. We had electricity. We had water. We had WiFi. And we had food. What more do you need? I do think we've had enough of winter though. Let's move on to Spring.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day