Yesterday was a pain in the butt.
BW took the day off so that we could take TM to the doctor. She needed a pre-surgery check-up & ok for her cornea transplant.
The newsghouls were predicting an icenado, due to sleet the day before. TM was trying to cancel on Monday night-after BW took the day off. The morning news was desperately trying to tie every car wreck to icy roads. We called & told her that we were coming anyway & drove on smooth, clear roads. of course, when we pulled up at the doctor’s office it was dark & closed. BW called the answering service & they said the dr “hoped to be open at 10” It was 8:30.
TM decided she wanted to go grocery shopping at the base. We drove out there & the commissary was closed until noon with a sign saying the base was closed to non-essentials. On our was out, BW said to try the BX. There are two Bx stores. One has cigarette, liquor,lawn & garden & furniture. It used to be connected to the commissary for one stop shopping. The other one has electronics, clothes, cigs, jewelry & some household goods. For whatever reason, the Commissary and the BX are run by different companies.
The smaller BX was open & we wandered around in there for awhile. TM wanted to look at microwave ovens. She had bought a new one a couple of years ago. And she bought one for her granddaughter at Christmas. BW was fuming because she thought TM was buying one for Sis. So we shopped & compared prices, features ,etc & settled on the one she wanted. I was about to put it in the cart when TM said that she didn’t want it. She was just planning for when her current microwave gives out. Arrgh!
So we get back to the doctor’s office & it is 10:00 & still dark & closed. But now there were a few other cars in the lot waiting. Finally, a nurse drove up & let us in & said that the receptionist was “10 minutes” away . She didn’t have acess to the computer to reschedule or do anything, really. None of the patients that we talked to had been notified not to come. (One lady was on a walker & 93).
Dr. Le finally got got there & signed off on the surgery. The worrisome thing is that TM can’t take her Comudin 4 days before the eye surgery. But it can’t be helped.
After that we took TM to Red Lobster, her favorite. By then it began sleeting a little. Three or 4 inch icicles on the car while we ate-but still dripping.
We took her home after that & the sleet ended as fast as it started. No problems on the drive home. But still, schools were letting out early (the ones that hadn’t canceled) and the news people went into their “we dodged the bullet” mode.
Editor
Rabbit
10 years ago
Heya, Sven.
You are probably gone now, due to my slow-typing.
Hump Day salutations from Happy Larryville, Iceland, GN!
Hey, RabBeet (t’anks for your tale) and Sven!
Well…the ice storm warnings sure weren’t hyperbolic; it’s really treacherous outside ’round here. I’m very glad we can hole-up for the next couple of days. Had to exert a little force just to break the ice-seal on the back door to open it for a rather unwilling Jackson; it’s a good thing he has teh equivalent of 4WD.
The gentle clicking noise made by the mini-hail currently falling is a bit weird just ’cause it’s so unusual (and my ears tend to zero-in on “unexpected” sounds).
Teh tops of our deck railings look like ice-glazed frozen chicken…and I’d imagine that K8-E’s driveway would make for fun -- if pantaloon-soilingly terrifying -- sledding. 😉
So long we can avoid a prolonged power outage, this “historic weather event” won’t rise above the level of nuisance for us…at least until we run out of Fruity Pebbles and Mountain Dew.
Hope teh other local Gerbs -- and their families -- are also safe and secure.
Good morning, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, RabBiT, Sven and Fatwa!
Glad to hear that y’all are safe -- let’s hope the rest of the GN is, as well.
Long day today -- class, staff meeting after school, promotion party for a gent at work, then a church budget meeting. I should get home around tomorrow.
Thoughts and prayers, Rabbit, and for the rest of you guys facing that winter weather. Me and Paddy are going to be sweltering out here as the temps reach the 80s. Maybe we can cut a deal: some warm air for some water?
Good Morning EveryGerbillyBody from the still-cold-’til-tomorrow Central SE Texas prairie!
the news people went into their “we dodged the bullet” mode.
Yeah, the local Houston weather guy was saying that too. Didn’t stop me from dropping my speed on the way home from my meeting last night, and certainly didn’t alter Mr. X’s plans to leave extra early for the new ortho appointment (I should be hearing shortly how that went).
::fingers crossed::
Our fire dept. got called out twice to the same residence yesterday morning. First call was because the homeowner smelled something “weird”. They called Brenham for their thermal imaging camera -- nothing showed up.
Mr. X was home *maybe* five minutes from that call when the pager went off again for the same residence. When they got there the second time, there was little more than a “weird” smell -- there was a growing brown spot on the wall behind the fireplace.
o_0
The homeowner had already moved all the furniture from the area, so getting to wall was easy -- and they started taking down the drywall. What Mr. X *thinks* happened is the heat from the fireplace melted the insulation on the wire for the gas igniter and that’s what caused the first arc. The breaker did what it was supposed to -- tripped. What’s unknown is who and how many times it was played with, because the 2x4 that wire was stapled to was gone.
Crisped. Which is what caused the scorch mark.
The homeowner was EXTREMELY lucky that his contractor sprayed foam into the headers below the attic -- denying the fire any oxygen. They checked the attic anyway to be thorough.
Mr. X told the homeowner it would be a good idea to contact a fireplace store or his/an architect and find out what the code is for the fireplace -- we needed a one-inch air gap for the woodstove, but for an in-wall installation, Mr. X wouldn’t even make a guess at the code. BUT had there been an air gap, that insulation wouldn’t have melted.
The only problem Mr. X had with the whole experience was the Fire Chief immediately rendered his “opinion” on the cause of the fire: electrical. Problem is, it’s a “chicken and the egg” -- could have been electrical, then again, if the code states their should have been an air gap, that would fall on the GC, not the electrician. Mr. X, um, cautioned him on doing that again. The Fire Chief took the advice with equanimity. 🙂
Other than that, I’m sitting on the couch working ‘cuz my back is still playing games -- I’ve got an appointment with my PCP tomorrow, and I’ve got a couple of ideas to try before I see the pain doc in ten+ days. Hopefully, she’ll play along.
Bummer that your back is still vexing you; hope the PCP will cooperate.
Maaaaaaaan…why do people not understand that there’s almost always a good reason for a breaker to trip? And if it hasn’t been resolved, multiple resets are a really, really bad idea. Criminy.
==============
Our street, which has a slight slope to it, is ice curb-to-curb. BigKidK though it might be fun -- and I concurred -- to empty out the big laundry basket and go “sledding”. Unfortunately, a few neighbors have left cars on the street (as opposed to their sloping driveways) in the event that driveways were unnavigable but streets were.
This is not the case today (as it likely will be tomorrow).
As she was upstairs attempting to find some appropriate garb, I had second thoughts since once that basket started moving, it would be completely un-steerable and unstoppable until it reached the bottom of the slope and slowed on the next uphill bit…or hit something, like one of the vehicles.
Fortunately, my wonderful wife understands basic physics (damn you, Isaac Newton!!!) and readily conceded that sledding under such conditions was probably a poor idea. Even if I scurried ahead of her with a broom sweeping the ice furiously. (Which I wouldn’t have been able to do, as I’d have been on my ass in seconds once I stepped into the street even wearing lugged work boots.)
While the kid in me was pretty excited about the whole business, it’s probably just as well teh adult prevailed.
Excellent!
We lost power for about an hour -- just in time for a little nap. The light freezing rain is still coming down steadily here though so who knows.
The Financial Times reports that Spain is considering a new change to its citizenship laws that would allow the descendants of Jews expelled from the country during the Spanish Inquisition to obtain citizenship.
Har! Guess they need an economic boost. (Or they’ve run out of homegrown Joooooos to persecute.)
…the Spanish law would apply to people who were expelled from the country, and not recently but five centuries ago.
Yeah…thanks but no thanks. ¡Besame culo peludo Hebraico, perras!
Editor
Kate
10 years ago
another power outage. only 15 minutes this time. Too short for a nap.
O grabbin’!
Hi Rabbit!
Yesterday was a pain in the butt.
BW took the day off so that we could take TM to the doctor. She needed a pre-surgery check-up & ok for her cornea transplant.
The newsghouls were predicting an icenado, due to sleet the day before. TM was trying to cancel on Monday night-after BW took the day off. The morning news was desperately trying to tie every car wreck to icy roads. We called & told her that we were coming anyway & drove on smooth, clear roads. of course, when we pulled up at the doctor’s office it was dark & closed. BW called the answering service & they said the dr “hoped to be open at 10” It was 8:30.
TM decided she wanted to go grocery shopping at the base. We drove out there & the commissary was closed until noon with a sign saying the base was closed to non-essentials. On our was out, BW said to try the BX. There are two Bx stores. One has cigarette, liquor,lawn & garden & furniture. It used to be connected to the commissary for one stop shopping. The other one has electronics, clothes, cigs, jewelry & some household goods. For whatever reason, the Commissary and the BX are run by different companies.
The smaller BX was open & we wandered around in there for awhile. TM wanted to look at microwave ovens. She had bought a new one a couple of years ago. And she bought one for her granddaughter at Christmas. BW was fuming because she thought TM was buying one for Sis. So we shopped & compared prices, features ,etc & settled on the one she wanted. I was about to put it in the cart when TM said that she didn’t want it. She was just planning for when her current microwave gives out. Arrgh!
So we get back to the doctor’s office & it is 10:00 & still dark & closed. But now there were a few other cars in the lot waiting. Finally, a nurse drove up & let us in & said that the receptionist was “10 minutes” away . She didn’t have acess to the computer to reschedule or do anything, really. None of the patients that we talked to had been notified not to come. (One lady was on a walker & 93).
Dr. Le finally got got there & signed off on the surgery. The worrisome thing is that TM can’t take her Comudin 4 days before the eye surgery. But it can’t be helped.
After that we took TM to Red Lobster, her favorite. By then it began sleeting a little. Three or 4 inch icicles on the car while we ate-but still dripping.
We took her home after that & the sleet ended as fast as it started. No problems on the drive home. But still, schools were letting out early (the ones that hadn’t canceled) and the news people went into their “we dodged the bullet” mode.
Heya, Sven.
You are probably gone now, due to my slow-typing.
Happy Birthdays to those I missed.
See ya later.
Hump Day salutations from Happy Larryville, Iceland, GN!
Hey, RabBeet (t’anks for your tale) and Sven!
Well…the ice storm warnings sure weren’t hyperbolic; it’s really treacherous outside ’round here. I’m very glad we can hole-up for the next couple of days. Had to exert a little force just to break the ice-seal on the back door to open it for a rather unwilling Jackson; it’s a good thing he has teh equivalent of 4WD.
The gentle clicking noise made by the mini-hail currently falling is a bit weird just ’cause it’s so unusual (and my ears tend to zero-in on “unexpected” sounds).
Teh tops of our deck railings look like ice-glazed frozen chicken…and I’d imagine that K8-E’s driveway would make for fun -- if pantaloon-soilingly terrifying -- sledding. 😉
So long we can avoid a prolonged power outage, this “historic weather event” won’t rise above the level of nuisance for us…at least until we run out of Fruity Pebbles and Mountain Dew.
Hope teh other local Gerbs -- and their families -- are also safe and secure.
Good morning, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, RabBiT, Sven and Fatwa!
Glad to hear that y’all are safe -- let’s hope the rest of the GN is, as well.
Long day today -- class, staff meeting after school, promotion party for a gent at work, then a church budget meeting. I should get home around tomorrow.
Be safe.
Thoughts and prayers, Rabbit, and for the rest of you guys facing that winter weather. Me and Paddy are going to be sweltering out here as the temps reach the 80s. Maybe we can cut a deal: some warm air for some water?
Despite having grown-up along teh Great Lakes, I’ve never seen the phrase “ice pellets” bandied about so much as I have the past three days.
At least it’s not “rabbit pellets” dropping from the skies.
Yeah…I went there.
Ha!
Good Morning EveryGerbillyBody from the still-cold-’til-tomorrow Central SE Texas prairie!
Yeah, the local Houston weather guy was saying that too. Didn’t stop me from dropping my speed on the way home from my meeting last night, and certainly didn’t alter Mr. X’s plans to leave extra early for the new ortho appointment (I should be hearing shortly how that went).
::fingers crossed::
Our fire dept. got called out twice to the same residence yesterday morning. First call was because the homeowner smelled something “weird”. They called Brenham for their thermal imaging camera -- nothing showed up.
Mr. X was home *maybe* five minutes from that call when the pager went off again for the same residence. When they got there the second time, there was little more than a “weird” smell -- there was a growing brown spot on the wall behind the fireplace.
o_0
The homeowner had already moved all the furniture from the area, so getting to wall was easy -- and they started taking down the drywall. What Mr. X *thinks* happened is the heat from the fireplace melted the insulation on the wire for the gas igniter and that’s what caused the first arc. The breaker did what it was supposed to -- tripped. What’s unknown is who and how many times it was played with, because the 2x4 that wire was stapled to was gone.
Crisped. Which is what caused the scorch mark.
The homeowner was EXTREMELY lucky that his contractor sprayed foam into the headers below the attic -- denying the fire any oxygen. They checked the attic anyway to be thorough.
Mr. X told the homeowner it would be a good idea to contact a fireplace store or his/an architect and find out what the code is for the fireplace -- we needed a one-inch air gap for the woodstove, but for an in-wall installation, Mr. X wouldn’t even make a guess at the code. BUT had there been an air gap, that insulation wouldn’t have melted.
The only problem Mr. X had with the whole experience was the Fire Chief immediately rendered his “opinion” on the cause of the fire: electrical. Problem is, it’s a “chicken and the egg” -- could have been electrical, then again, if the code states their should have been an air gap, that would fall on the GC, not the electrician. Mr. X, um, cautioned him on doing that again. The Fire Chief took the advice with equanimity. 🙂
Other than that, I’m sitting on the couch working ‘cuz my back is still playing games -- I’ve got an appointment with my PCP tomorrow, and I’ve got a couple of ideas to try before I see the pain doc in ten+ days. Hopefully, she’ll play along.
Hai, TeX!
Bummer that your back is still vexing you; hope the PCP will cooperate.
Maaaaaaaan…why do people not understand that there’s almost always a good reason for a breaker to trip? And if it hasn’t been resolved, multiple resets are a really, really bad idea. Criminy.
Our street, which has a slight slope to it, is ice curb-to-curb. BigKidK though it might be fun -- and I concurred -- to empty out the big laundry basket and go “sledding”. Unfortunately, a few neighbors have left cars on the street (as opposed to their sloping driveways) in the event that driveways were unnavigable but streets were.
This is not the case today (as it likely will be tomorrow).
As she was upstairs attempting to find some appropriate garb, I had second thoughts since once that basket started moving, it would be completely un-steerable and unstoppable until it reached the bottom of the slope and slowed on the next uphill bit…or hit something, like one of the vehicles.
Fortunately, my wonderful wife understands basic physics (damn you, Isaac Newton!!!) and readily conceded that sledding under such conditions was probably a poor idea. Even if I scurried ahead of her with a broom sweeping the ice furiously. (Which I wouldn’t have been able to do, as I’d have been on my ass in seconds once I stepped into the street even wearing lugged work boots.)
While the kid in me was pretty excited about the whole business, it’s probably just as well teh adult prevailed.
(And yes, we were going to take video.)
But then, later that day…
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Excellent!
We lost power for about an hour -- just in time for a little nap. The light freezing rain is still coming down steadily here though so who knows.
Ahahahahaha*snort*hahaheeheehee…I may soon be eligible for Spanish citizenship:
Har! Guess they need an economic boost. (Or they’ve run out of homegrown Joooooos to persecute.)
Yeah…thanks but no thanks. ¡Besame culo peludo Hebraico, perras!
another power outage. only 15 minutes this time. Too short for a nap.