We’re ok here. And just this hour got word that Jane is out of surgery and will be home today.
We didn’t get too badly hit by the weather, but my second vaccination had to be postponed because of the weather delaying planes—as in, they didn’t want to ship during the storm. They say they’ll tell me when my revised appointment is.
Spokane is otherwise prepared for this kind of weather. Our roof will withstand a couple of feet of snow, easy, and our insulation is in the walls and overhead, on both the underside of the roof and atop the ceilings, while our pipes run through the basement, under the main floor. The insulation is 8″ thick and rated for this kind of cold. Unhappily—not the case down south where venting heat and withstanding wind and rain are the priorities.
I am very worried about Ben. He seems to have just gotten a break, and now he’s in the middle of one of the hard hit areas, in Houston.
Sweetbo too; Texas is in a bad way right now. Too much cold is not good for salads!
Sweetbo in Texas emailed when I wondered about not being able to get delivery days for BCS’s groceries in Houston.
She says:
I’m in Texas and haven’t had electricity since 2am Sunday. It’s between upper 40s and lower 50s in my house, water has been compromised so you can’t drink without boiling (hard if you have no power), and water pressure is down or people’s home pipes are frozen like my sister.
40% of Austin has been out since Sunday with about 10% off and on and the rest on essential grids like hospitals. They have no idea when power will be back. It got down to -15F windchill. Houston is no better off.
We had natural gas pipes freeze and part of several nuke plants go off line on top of wild energy speculation leading up to the storm causing some generators to intentionally shut down. And years back Texas decided they didn’t want to follow government regulations so the refused to be connected to the national grid. We can’t even buy power from our neighboring states. People are freezing to death in their homes and cars. Our infrastructure isn’t built for this. Our homes have vents in the roof to let heat out. Our pipes are either shallow or in our ceiling. The grid collapsed. They’re all but saying the word. Follow kxan.com, texastribune.com, or Houstonchronicle.com correct news on this. National news is currently behind and saying lies to make it look better.
Grocery stores are closed or at reduced hours. We had an ice storm, a snow storm, and ice storm, and now another snow storm the last 8-9 days. Nobody can drive in this and delivery people will likely not resume work til next week at soonest. Hopefully BCS was blessed with uninterrupted heat and water, but that seems rare unless he is on a grid near a hospital or fire station. And hopefully his landlord will think of him. It is a humanitarian crisis right now. I grew up in Chicago area so I have some tricks for this and even I am bone aching miserable in my own house.
Yes, that’d be ok to share. I personally am getting by. Had a flood in one of my bathrooms last night but instead of a pipe leak it was water frozen around the mechanism around refilling the tank causing and overflow. It took me two hours of crawling around inside and out with a flashlight to be sure it wasn’t actually a pipe damage. Then checking every two hours all the water areas all night.
My mom on one of her larks got me a battery pack for Christmas and I got five full charges from it so far. Probably one charge left. My car usb has been acting up this whole time and not working but just an hour ago I did some troubleshooting and got it to start charging my phone too. And warming me.
I am good for supplies. Mainly just eating rice peanut butter and beef jerky and hot tea, but I can hand lite my gas stove so it’s warm food. I had pandemic related food stash already so enough rice for a month. Roads are impassible outside of the biggest trucks and stores are either closed or open for only a few hours with a long lines wrapping around and rationing. I order food delivered because of the pandemic and my immune system issue normally so once service so back up I can order for myself. I’ll be good til then.
Mainly concerned for the old people and those with kids or disability. Beto is doing a phone bank contacting old people and already found one man who had gone two days without anything including eating and got him help.
Sweetbo
(Sweetbo said I could share this with you)
Thank you WOL, for letting us know how you’re doing. We haven’t heard from BCS since the cold started.
I’m glad to hear the good news about Jane!
ReadyGuy and I are happy that Jane’s surgery went so well. We hope her recovery is speedy and complete. Happy full mobility, Jane!
We haven’t been able to schedule vaccinations. If you live in Phoenix vaccine is readily available, but here in the borderland boonies, nada.
Yes! It is good to hear Jane will be home and recovering, your pantry is stocked and the heat is on.
The Wavy Navy has been assisting Ben; after a rocky early winter, relatives arrived and were helping him get his social security and other assistance programs back on track. Then came the storms that had Texas for a snack… one hopes all is as well as possible there!
So glad to hear that Jane’s surgery went well. I know she’ll be glad to get back on her feet again.
We’ve had high temperatures in single digits and low double digits since Sunday here in the TX panhandle as well as about 3-4 inches of snow. The next winter storm will miss us, but hit central, south and east TX — the very people who are already hurting.
Texas has it’s own power grid that is completely independent from the rest of the country. Because it does not sell power across state lines, the TX power grid is not regulated by the Fed Gvt and is not required to maintain equipment up to Federal standards, — so they haven’t. The gas lines to the power plants that run on natural gas were not winterized and froze, and the coal-fired plants ran out of coal and couldn’t get more because of the road conditions. Not to mention a whopping surge in demand. Compounding the problem is a long history of politics and pork barreling* — what a surprise! — that dates back to the 1930’s and FDR. (Also, guess which one of our (GOP) senators was spotted on a plane to Cancun, Mexico yesterday.)
We have been very lucky and have not been without power where I live. My city has a municipally owned electric utility and our plants are better winterized than those down south. We also have a history of having been served by a power company (bought up by XCEL Energy) that not only served a large part of the Tx panhandle, but parts of Colorado and New Mexico. Because they sold power across state lines, they and their infrastructure (including the part in TX) were subject to Federal regulation.
I’ve got rellies in Pearland (south of Houston,) Galveston, Richardson (north of Dallas), and a BFF NW of Houston, none of whom we’ve heard from, either because the cell towers are out or they can’t recharge their cell phones. Or both.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_barrel
Glad to hear everyone’s updates! It’s great that Jane is out of surgery and that WOL is ok (funny, meeting federal energy and capacity regulations turns out to be helpful to people!). Sweetbo, I hope that heat, power and normality (ok, even the “new normal”) return soon. Fingers crossed for BCS—good to hear the he’s got the backing of the Wavy Navy and that relatives have surfaced recently in his life.
We’re having a pleasant, 24 hour+ snowstorm here on the New England coast. I just got back in from an evening walk. The snow is fine, white and powdery and only slowly accumulating. I partly grew up in Montreal, so I love the cold, snowy weather… and New England has the infrastructure to support it!
I got my power back today. Had a scare when the furnace came on when the the power did and was set to 68F (what I had it on the night it went out) and it immediately overdid the system and shut off on it’s own for a good hour. I set it to 52F and eventually it came around and let me gradually up it 2 degrees at a time through the day. Now up to what feels like a balmy 68F. I’m warming up and breathing steam from a thermos as I was getting nose bleeds and ear aches from the cold. Hoping we don’t have any relapse in the grid for yet another hard freeze tonight. I’m very low on trust so I’m leaving my blanket fort up one more night. I’ve not slept in more than 2 hours bursts so hoping to get a full night tonight.
Stores are bare, but I had a friend traveling back from San Antonio who stood in line there for 6 hours and grabbed me some groceries on her way back during today’s melt. I thought she wouldn’t find anything for my specific diet issues, but she said the shelf stable health food was mostly untouched. So I’m good for several days til regular instacart comes back hopefully next week. Having my electric can opener also opened up to me the ability to make soup with all the cans of beans I stared at this week having realized I threw out my broken hand crank when I moved. I did make up for that by having a tea kettle for the gas stove instead of an electric one that everyone keeps harping on me to get.
The stories coming out of this continue to be grim. Found out about a cold related death discovered in my county and that’s not counting all the crashes and house fires I feel are also related. The elderly lady on my block I was worried about had her son there today trying to shovel her out with a broom so I’m glad to see she’s fine.
I imagine even snow shovels are hard come by in the southern end of Texas. Strong good wishes for WOL and Sweetbo and Ben, and anybody else caught in this mess. At least when we were power-out up here a few years ago we had a fixable, definable reason why: a number of big pines and firs had crashed down atop the power line, one of them only a block away from us. At least we had insulation.
Good that FEMA is beginning to work, and I hope soon. Hugs to all and special hugs to people in the storm zone.
On our front, Jane is doing great, and we are under snow ourselves, but expect to be in this season. We’re working on the book.
For about a half second I had it it in my mind to shovel out my neighbors walkways (like I used to do as a kid up north) and then remembered even I didn’t have a shovel down here. Or my winter boots. Or my winter coat which I left up north with my parents for when I visit. I’m going to have to see to the shovel situation at least. Just for my peace of mind. But I’m not sure they sell them here.
Winter storms of a more benevolent nature can produce a lot of good memories for kid’s snow days and a nice excuse for some hot beverage to go along with book writing. Hopefully the next one for the good folks of Texas is more like that.
First off I’m happy to hear that all my known characters on here are at least either well, or saying as healthy as they can. Characters, makes this sound like some reality show, but I don’t think we know each other well enough to claim that we’re BFFs. Oh Gods I’m digging myself a hole here. Just going to stop, and start again.
Hello all, it’s nice to be back after so long away.
Great news that Jane is doing so well and that both of you are alive and kicking.
Went for my Covid test yesterday. It’s a requirement here when going into the hospital. Monday I go for the one year follow up colonoscopy for my cancer surgery a year ago. I feel I really dodged a bullet on that one. Had one one dime sized polyp/growth removed with nothing else found, so no need for chemo.
I am sure CJ will agree with me when I say,”GET THOSE COLONOSCOPIES, PEOPLE!” They are lifesavers.
As Raesean said earlier we have been having a slow snow here in New England (I am in southern RI). Started Thursday morning and finally ended late last night. Total accumulation three to four inches so not a problem. We aren’t even going to have the driveway plowed. The roads were clear yesterday.
I am not going anywhere until Monday morning, when, of course, it’s supposed to rain. Living a few miles inland, storms vary by whether they stay on or off shore by a few miles.
I am not a fan of winter, but even I must admit that this is pretty. There was no wind, so we are living in sugar land!
As for Texas, I feel for people having to deal with what is natural for us here in the north. I never expected to see a state turn into a third world country overnight. Toes crossed that all are managing to survive.
WOW! I have driveled on for a while. Son gave me a new computer. I am loving it!
Hey there folks. Deesha here, trying to extract my Foot from my Gub !!! So glad to be able to read all your news, and perhaps share my own. Now,I’ve not been on here for a few months, though I continued to read some of C,J, `s posts on Facebook. My news is that we still have limited facilities going on in Scotland. Going to Work, shopping in Supermarkets, thats it for us right now with everything else still shut down. Heard the news about the 6th Jan on the news and also U-Tube where I followed a number of news feeds and commentators. Glad to hear that the 20th went through without further shame. My Mother got her first vaccination jab on that same day. Not much other news other than to say that this morning was watching a part of the news channel here and it mentioned Garden Radio. Now Garden Radio is a website that I’ve recently just looked up because if that article. You get to spin the Earth and tune into Radio Stations, both local and afar. Here I am sitting on the sofa in Blantyre, Scotland, whilst listening to Radio in Spokane, USA. There’s a few to chose from. Any you would recommend?
Comment uh, oh yes, the snow? we had that too and last week our heating and hot water went off. Now we’re Council tennant, so phoned them up, and that was a pain trying to get through. Promised to send someone to check on it, and left a message with work ( I was backshift that week 2pm start ) I was waiting for heating engineer. But the man came and cut the condensate pipe, which was apparently frozen and causing the boiler to shut down. He said that someone would come and fix that in better weather. As the house was starting to warm up I unplugged the small electric radiator that I had set up beside my mother’s chair. was about forty minutes late for work. Hey, warned them though. so I going to make lunch you guys take care
Deesha, we’re all Salads, here. I am pleased you’re doing reasonably well. Here in Vegas, we really have no weather to speak of, unlike our salads in Texas.
I hope all are well.
Good news, everybody! I just got an e-mail from Ben! He is getting things started up again; his power was off for 25 hours and irregular for 2 more days after; it was cold, but he survived. The new kitty got out twice (but was retrieved). He is back online, so we may see him posting once more. He and his relatives are still working on getting things turned back on or restored that he had let lapse while things went pear-shaped last year, including finances. He had thought his storage space was gone, but it had not been closed and emptied, so that is being resurrected. Ben says he is making slow but steady progress, and attributes most of it to our help when he was down and out.
Very glad to get this news of BCS… please let him know that folks have been worried about him.
Sounds like things are turning around!
Hi folks! Yes, without help from folks here, I don’t think I would have made it in Dec. and Jan. The storm took out electricity for over a day, then power was mostly off, only on for minutes or a couple of hours for the next two days, with water pressure going down to zero and no hot water. Very cold and too little sleep. What we got looked more like frost and ice than snow, but I didn’t go out and check. To top it, the new kitty got out twice, so I was out there trying to get her back in for too dratted long, but she’s back in and (sigh) totally clueless that she could’ve been lost or otherwise harmed by her little adventures.
My relatives are helping a little, but my situation is still too shaky. (I’m between the illusion of thinking I’m fine again versus waiting for the other shoe to drop.) My cousin’s a plumber, so he’s going to have more business than he can handle for a while, which is good, but means he and his wife won’t be able to come help me directly for a while. I am digging out from under the mess created when everything went bust. (Soc. Sec. and Medicare are still on the to-do list but not done yet.) A vet trip for the cats is due, and I may strain a point and get a real haircut rather than, ahem, shaving my head. (Yeah….) Plus, the storage space needs to get done. (It’s been so long, I’m not sure what’s there and what never made it into storage. It’s all stacked up, so weeding through it will be a chore. I can’t just move it all into my apt., it wouldn’t fit. Heh.)
I had actually scheduled a grocery delivery, but it and Amazon, Petco, everything from Wavy Navy salads had been delayed by the storm’s aftermath, so I just received some things today, with more coming. Er, and I am going to be in the odd but good position of being overstocked on most food items and dry cat food for a while after those arrive tomorrow and next week. I’ll update the team when I’ve revised my list, but I’m hoping to resume doing for myself while I can. I’m unsure how overly optimistic I’m being there, versus realistic. To the folks who have helped with that, thank you all, you have no idea how much this was needed and what a lift it has been to my spirits. And practically, getting fresh veggies or goodies especially wanted, both made an intense difference. Some of the products have been new to me and very tasty! Getting necessary supplies too, and cat supplies, really helped.
My phone number has changed, but my email address remains the same. I don’t yet have my websites back online, they are still to move and reconfigure. Real-world stuff is also still getting settled. I will snail-mail my new contact info to the folks who’ve been managing things for the team.
While I was without web and cell phone, all I had was what was downloaded to my computer and Kindle, which wasn’t much. I’ve been listening to audiobooks for CJ’s and other authors’ books, and ebooks are harder for me to see now, with printed books a chore to see enough to read. — I’m doing a re-listen to the Chanur books, which turned up all sorts of questions while I didn’t have enough to do, so cut off from everyone and everything. — Now, I’m downloading audiobooks and ebooks I already own, and can maybe borrow or rent or buy a few as I go. — Apple won’t let you play TV or movies you already own, even if you had downloaded the files, within iTunes / TV app. I was not happy with that, as I don’t have many videos on disc anymore. I have been starved for things to read, listen to, and watch. But that’s getting better now, bit by bit. That has included techie learning and reference materials as well as novels and entertainment. In between any real-world stuff, I’ve been listening to novels and off-and-on inching through a tutorial on EPUB3, to learn it, for personal projects and as a marketable job skill. I am not sure how “employable” I am these days, until I can get health care for my eyes and teeth. Also, I’m turning 55 in less than two weeks. I got a letter from AARP, haha, but don’t think I can afford to subscribe until I have income stable again. I am now not only “middle-aged” but a “senior citizen.” I am not ready for this, even though my eyes and teeth show otherwise.
Things went so bad so fast, and leading up to it was why I was so stressed and so shook up that I was going overboard with all my emotions and over-posting / over-sharing here. I was so isolated, it was about the only place I had to be with anyone and share, even as vicarious as it was. So thanks to you all, especially to C.J. and Jane, for your forbearance and also for your concern and real help. I would not wish on anyone what I’ve been through, particularly in Dec. when my electricity was off for a week before things began to turn around toward help.
I hope to have some better news, but it’s slow going.
It is good to know that others here are doing OK, and that salads from Texas are making it OK, but in similar straits to what we’ve had in my city.
I’m getting back in touch with folks, and will be in email or phone contact soon. It looks like I’ll have a flurry of deliveries through next week or so.
Take care, everyone. It looks like we all have a while to get through some very tough times this year, with water and the pandemic. It is so good that there are associates, salads, friends, relatives who care, even when we may think things have gotten too bad. I was astonished to get help from folks here and for my cousin to pop up independently, as my search hadn’t yet revealed those relatives new whereabouts. I am still very isolated, but glad to have some support again, and hope to get through this. I hope others will be fine too. I’ll check in when I can, and post occasionally.
Glad to hear from you, BCS! Many of us have been very worried. Ouch to all the issues hitting you, including getting your electricity shut off in December for a week. I wish that you had the protections and public supports that we do in Massachusetts. I work in public benefits advocacy here in Boston doing fuel assistance, SNAP and other benefits. Unfortunately — the downside of the US’s strong, states-based governmental system — Texas very much is not set up with a broad base of supportive services.
However, GETCAP (Greater East Texas Community Action Program) is the Texas sister agency to the Community Action program I work at in Boston. It looks as if it does have some energy assistance (likely monetary) help that may be of use to you:
https://www.get-cap.org/energy-assistance.html
(I would wait until the current weather crisis calms down a bit, however, as any call you make is likely to be lost in the voicemail pile up of messages, at least in the early part of this week).
So very glad to hear from you, Ben.
Amidst my own health problems I have thought of you often.
Optimism when combined with reality is a good thing.
Comment It was nice to hear CatShip back on here. I regret that I wasn’t one of those able to send assistance the way others have rallied. My credit limit was slashed drastically last year, and my credit card is barely short of its limit now. I can hardly blame them I suppose, I had to take a bank loan at the start of the year to get a second hand car & to reduce my C,Card debt. The repayments are painful, but barely supportable. I have been donating goods at the Supermarket for the local Food Banks, not that Thats of any help to Ben. We do what we can, where we can. Other News, A roof tile slid off the roof yesterday, but the Council won’t be able to deal till I call them on Monday. Emergency Number was no use at all
Ben, I’m interested in paying for some of your vet bills, but so far the Wavy Navy hasn’t actually found a way for me to transfer the ducats…
Let Hanneke or Chondrite know they can pass your phone number to me and I will call to make arrangements, gift card, check, venmo, etc.
We are most delighted to hear Jane is home and recovering; we wish quiet, restful recovery and peace for you both, CJ. W and I are doing okay, weather in PA is the usual mix of grey, snow, and ice, though we are used to this. The assistance of kind neighbors and a powerful snowblower means W gets to be the neighborhood hero. He does the walks and driveways; they do the finer details. Broken ankle, leg bones, brain surgery … WHAT? There’s SNOW out there lol. Glad Ben is doing better, and others have some heat again! Spent the weekend gladly shivering off the welcome side effects of our 2nd vaccine doses; hopefully on to a better year, and wishing for faster vaccines for all! Stay safe and well.
@ready4more – I will need to send my phone number (new) to CJ and Jane and by mail to Chondrite and Hanneke. The others of the Wavy Navy who’ve been helping are all welcome to email, phone, or (snail) mail me. A caution: The previous first vet visits and shots have been around $230 per cat, except I got a (grin) group discount for Peppercorn’s kittens. The fee for spaying (neutering) her was also about that. IIRC, annual booster shots were less, maybe $70 to $100. What Goober might need, I’m not sure. I think (hope) that they are both parasite-free, but I’ll need to get them tested for that and get Brindle tested for FIV / FeLV. Goober is, I hope, still free of FIV and FeLV, as he had his vaccinations over a year ago, and is overdue for his annual boosters. I’ll know once I get them seen.
The times I’d taken a cat / cats in after the pandemic, for Goober and Ned, and IIRC for Peppercorn and her kittens, before getting them to Special Pals, I didn’t get into the exam room, but the vet came out and spoke to me after checking them. I hope that may have eased, but expect it has not.
I already have upcoming bills for cell phone and web/cable to pay for the upcoming month, and will do that Monday.
I still have to get PayPal straightened out, but once I do, there was a PayPal Donate link for a secure way for people to donate to me, personal or wearing my hat as a single-owner small business, which hasn’t yet borne income. At this point, I am not sure if I will be able still to continue font development, but I intend to try and see. I want to get my websites switched to a new hosting company (the old one) and maybe get them reconfigured, restarted, this week, but t might extend into next week, given the necessary wait times for the transfer between hosting companies to happen.
I read on Facebook, that C,J, was going to be cutting way back there, as she concentrates on the 2nd Alliance book. She described it as JR`s World, and that completely threw me as to my Generation, JR is synonymous with the Dallas Ewing Sagga. Now I still haven’t been able to get my hands on a copy of that book yet ( Hinder Stars ),so no spoilers please. I can only imagine that it’s as complex with multiple characters as Downbelow Station was. All that aside, wishing both C,J, and Jane well. Hoping Jane recovers from her operation fully, and that C,J, remembers to come up for air every so often. Books are big projects, and the quality of C,J,s work shows just how deeply she can get `Involved` when she’s working.
Respects to all our Association here.
Ben, maybe a low cost spaying/neutering clinic would be an option at least for Brindle. A quick internet search for such shows most shelters and many other groups offer low cost spaying for far less than a vet, yet give good care. Not sure which are near to you, but you will know if you do the same search. That might free more funds for your older cat, as well as other needs. Just an idea …