Day 4785

The weather was dismal today. The temperature never got above freezing and the sleet that everyone had been predicting has finally arrived. I think it's going to be like this for the rest of the week. This is definitely not my favorite type of weather, but there's not much I can do about it.

I shouldn't complain though. The furnace is working well and the house is warm. Although it is currently sleeting outside, the volume of water falling from the sky is much less than a heavy rain. Maybe the roof won't leak. I didn't drive anywhere today because I didn't want to encounter icy roads, but the weather didn't stop me from walking.

I wasn't the only one who wore two coats today. Even Dawn wore two coats on her early walk. It was still dry outside this morning, but it was very cold. We were all glad to return home to a warm house. After breakfast I went out walking again. I wasn't ready to give up on getting my daily steps. I dressed very warmly, but this was one of the coldest walks I've taken in over a year. At about mile three I was beginning to question my sanity. I probably should have gone to the gym instead because the sleet and freezing rain didn't start until after dinner this evening. There certainly weren't many people on the trails today. I only encountered two other people on my walk.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I tried to make a doctor's appointment, but never could reach anyone. After a long wait on the phone, I was just told to leave a message on voicemail. I ended up making the appointment using the clinic website. I don't think anyone picks up their phone anymore.

This afternoon I filled out my 2023 credential application with the 45th Space Wing. This should have taken about ten minutes but ended up taking hours because the PDF document the Space Force sent me was formatted wrong and it was almost impossible to enter my information. I should have just printed out the blank form and entered the information by hand. Eventually I finished the form and sent it back. The information on this year's form was exactly the same as it was last year. Nothing had changed. Even though I wasted a lot of time, it was worth the effort. There are always a few launches where the Space Force provides much better access than NASA. You can't have too many credentials if you want to chase rockets.

I don't think we'll be going anywhere tomorrow. If the sleet continues, there's a good chance that the roads will be icy. We'll still probably take a morning walk with Dawn unless the weather is really bad. I'll reserve judgement on walking further. I like getting my steps, but I'm not fond of falling on my ass. If it's slippery outside in the morning, we all may just stay in the house all day. Dawn is not fond of nasty weather. I think she'd rather stay under a blanket on the bed.

Malcolm is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4424

We got ice and a little snow, but our heavily hyped winter storm wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated. We never lost power, so the house stayed nice and warm. This was important because it was very cold today. I hope our good luck continues because it is supposed to be even colder tomorrow. It's probably good that last night's freezing rain turned to sleet fairly quickly because the trees never got coated with a lot of ice. I didn't see any downed trees in our neighborhood.

Janet and I had planned to just stay in the house all day. That was certainly Dawn's plan as well because it was hard to even get her to go out in the backyard and pee. Some dogs love snow. She isn't one of them. After several hours of doing absolutely nothing Janet and I got bored and decided to go on a walk. It probably wasn't the wisest thing to go walking on ice when the temperature was 20 degrees but we both had cabin fever. I knew I couldn't wear my Hoka shoes on a day like this so I dug out my Dad's old Pivetta hiking boots. These boots are almost 60 years old and they are still better than anything you can buy today. A pair of`Pivetta boots was the gold standard for serious hikers for many years. It's too bad this fine Italian company is no longer in business. Lord knows what a pair of hand made boots like this would cost in today's market. You just can't get things like this anymore.

The sleet and snow made the ground crunchy instead of slippery. Even going downhill felt fairly safe. We stayed away from roads wherever possible and stuck to dirt trails. For the most part there wasn't a wind. That helped a lot. When the wind did pick up near the lake, it was brutal. We didn't set any records today, but we did walk almost four miles. Even though we were both very cold when we returned to the house, the walk was much better than sitting around the house staring out the window. I think we have both become addicted to movement.

I don't know why it is going to be so cold tomorrow. The storm has already moved well beyond us. I'll be glad when it is above freezing again. There's a lot of ice on the roof right now and I hope the pumps still work when the ice starts melting. If memory serves, these type of conditions frequently cause roof leaks. Heat from the house melts the ice from the bottom while the layer on the top is still frozen. the water can't escape and it typically finds a way inside. The pumps froze up fairly quickly last night, so they won't be much help until things get a lot warmer.

We both started our cars this afternoon and kept them running until the engines reached operating temperature. This is a habit we got into during last winter's extended freezing spell. There's nothing worse than the sound of an engine that won't turn over on a really cold morning. I won't drive on ice unless it's absolutely necessary, but I do want a reliable car in the winter. I learned how to drive on ice when I was going to high school in Fairbanks, Alaska. On an empty road I'm generally OK. It's the other cars you have to worry about. Very few Dallas drivers have any idea how to drive on ice and snow.

I feel bad for my friends out at McDonald Observatory. It's five degrees and snowing out there. I think they are essentially trapped until conditions improve. Everyone is well prepared though. They stock up on food ahead of time and if things get really bad they can all move temporarily into the Astronomers Lodge which has a large emergency generator. It's only when gasoline for the generator starts to run low that things start to get dicy. I miss my time out at the observatory. Not in the winter though. Being trapped on a mountain in a snowstorm is not for me.

Dawn is such a lazy dog. She had a good time just lounging on the bed today. She had no interest in going outside whatsoever. Janet finally got her to go outside and poop, but she had to put Dawn on a lash to get her out the back door. Needless to say, Dawn did not join us on our walk today. 

Tomorrow will probably be more of the same. I hope a lot of the sleet and ice blows away or evaporates. I don't think it is going to melt. The temperature tomorrow morning will be nineteen degrees.

Casey 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

Day 4074

Somehow they can flawlessly land a rover on Mars, but they can't keep the lights on in Texas. I watched the Perseverance landing today and I'll have to admit that I was impressed. After traveling almost 300 million miles, the spacecraft landed within 115 feet of it's target. I can't say that I'm very impressed with Texas. Other states seem to be able to cope with winter. Why can't we? Not planning for a storm like this is like not putting antifreeze in your car because you don't think it's going to be cold. Jeez. I can't predict the future. Can you? I'd like to see a little contingency planning. If the utility company's were cutting corners to save money, then why is my electric bill always so high? Something seems fishy to me. At the rates most utilities charge, there should have been plenty of money to winterize everything.

It still hasn't gotten above freezing, but it was a little warmer today. Maybe tomorrow will be the magic day when everything starts to thaw. We still have power and no pipes have frozen. I'm glad that our water pipes are buried under the slab. Most of the burst pipes in town seem to be located in exterior walls or uninsulated attics. For once the design of our house is working to our advantage. Even the snow on the flat roof is providing extra insulation. This is no time to let down your guard though. I think we'll leave our faucets dripping until it's t-shirt weather again.

I hope we don't have problems getting Dawn to walk again when this cold spell is over. She seems awfully comfortable sitting on the bed and doing nothing. Most dogs would be upset if you left them behind on a walk. Dawn doesn't even leave the bed. She just gives us this look that says "Bye you crazy fools. I'll keep the bed warm for you." 

Our shorter walks seem much more tiring than the longer ones we used to take when the weather was warmer. It's hard to walk on crusty snow and icy roads. Neither of us wants to fall. Your bone density gets worse as you age and I don't think a bad fall would be very forgiving. My boots aren't very forgiving either. I don't think the orthopedic surgeon who looked at my feet would approve of these boots, but they are waterproof and keep my feet warm. I'll go back to wearing the special running shoes when all the snow melts.

They say that most grocery stores are running out of food because trucks can't get in to restock them. I hope that changes in the next day or two. We've got enough food left for a couple more days, but the refrigerator is starting to look a little bare. I'm glad we stocked up on grocery day last Saturday. People who didn't plan ahead are living on Cheetos now.

While I was watching the Perseverance landing on NASA TV today I kept thinking how ironic it was that I abandoned my attempts to go out to JPL in California because of Covid. It never even occurred to me that if I had managed to get press accreditation, I wouldn't be able to go anyway because a winter storm had closed all the airports. It just goes to show that it doesn't pay to predict the future.

I"m not going to predict what will happen tomorrow. I do hope it gets above freezing though. This winter storm has worn out it's welcome. It's time to go back to regular weird weather.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day