BS: ICE - the winter kind

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: gnu
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 07:08 PM

A pizza party with a whole bunch of good lookin women trying to get warmed up? SON OF A PUP!

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: ranger1
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 06:19 PM

Just got the power back at home about an hour ago, but the apartment is still very cold. Neighbor Kathy and I decamped to SINSULL's for pizza with Sins and Jeri. Hopefully, the electricity will be back on at work tomorrow, but if it's not, not such a big deal, my only heat source there is a woodstove, so I've got heat.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 04:59 PM

Phot....maybe you could get a landrover fix with our 1966 series 2 sometime, she's running good but I like my car with a heater in the cold weather!

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 04:37 PM

We only lost power for about five mins (can tell from the time on the electric clock). But lots of power outages round here - - I went to visit a client on Saturday at noon to find they had been without power since Thursday -- and they have two small children! I told them off for not calling me on Friday and scooped them up and bought them back to our house where they remain - welcome and warm. Ny biggest challenge was no cable at home - therefore no Mudcat.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: kendall
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 03:17 PM

Get used to it folks. Thanks to global climate change it will only get worse. The fact is, this planet was not designed to suit us, and it is we who must adjust. The dinosaurs all died off because they could not adjust. Is that to be our fate?

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Alice
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 01:21 PM

Video from the weather channel about our part of the country:

"Crazy" cold
weather channel video report

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: gnu
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:31 PM

Yup. Some nasty footage on the TV. Stay safe down there.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: jacqui.c
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:23 PM

Up here in Newark it's got a little warmer and drier but yesterday, when we were watching He Who Walks On Water play football it was cold and went and my toes almost froze solid. However, we have heat and light and all that good stuff.

Much as I miss my darling husband I will, very selfishly, say that I'm glad I'm here right now.

Jeri - take good care of yourself. Never mind the pipes - make sure you get warm.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Phot
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:15 PM

Sounds like you guys on the other side of the pond are having a pretty shit time, but its not Aldershot! Here its just grey, wet, and dull. Fiona is being all the ill, wrapped in a mixture of blankie, and cats. At least the fire is lit!

Khatt, at least you have a Landrover, my old girl is now in the motor club, for the next two years! Yep, it's major rebuild time.

Wassail!! Chris

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: SINSULL
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 11:18 AM

Doesn't take much to instigate at a party at SINSULL's. Three dogs four cats and an assortment of people sharing in the light warmth and hot water. They smelled better when they left than when they came in. The silver lining in the cloud.

Jeri, are you heading up for an overnight?

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Cats
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 08:39 AM

I have just seen the footage of the ice storms on TV. I am so lucky to be here in a, relatively, warm Cornwall. Hope all is well with all of you. {{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Alice
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:36 AM

That storm heading to the Dakotas from here is the blizzard with high winds and below zero temps. I hope she has already reached Fargo.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:17 AM

A friend just left her mother's home in Minnesota to drive back to Fargo, ND. She was slightly ahead of a big ice storm. There seems to be a lot of heavy weather out there.

Stay warm and safe, all of you!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 12:16 AM

Alice, stay put! Man, I remember those kinds of storms and do not miss them! I am glad you are holed up!{{{{HUGS}}}} to you all!

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Amos
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 11:27 PM

Or in single malt....



A

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Alice
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 09:32 PM

Just got a call from a friend of mine who lives in the country and was pretty much out of food for himself and the cats. He tried to get down the road but the car could not get through the snow... stuck. He had his cell phone with him, called his nephew in the next farm and he came with the tractor. They had to drive across the field, as the road drifts were too deep.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Joe_F
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 09:27 PM

For a vivid description of how ice attacks wires, see George R. Stewart, _Storm_, "Seventh Day", Sec. 2.

Ice belongs in bourbon, not underfoot.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: ranger1
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 08:02 PM

On the phone with Jeri right now, from Sinsull's. We have no power, either. Party at Mary's house!

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 07:55 PM

Sins, I just tried Jeri...no answer. Maybe she went to the neighbours?

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 07:53 PM

This bit esp: ...their section of blue bordered with a lacy tapestry of diamonds in the upper branches of the black locust trees by the road. What beautiful imagery!

There is something special which can come about when you face such trials and know that you can and do manage through them. My Rog and I did, many times, out on our small ranch in WY about 15 miles from town. So many blizzards, loss of power, all water had to be hauled all of the time; the last year with no heat but a wood stove. It was an adventure and fortunately we could laugh then, a little bit, and a lot more now, when we look back and shake our heads.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: gnu
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 07:41 PM

Awww, Maeve. Beautiful post. Woulda brought a tear to my eye if I wasn't such a crusty old curr... sniff.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: maeve
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 06:30 PM

We were fortunate. Our power was only out from 12 pm on Friday until 3 pm today (Saturday); 27 hours. Over 115 households and businesses are still in the dark, down from over 200,000. New Hampshire and Massachusetts are also seriously affected. We checked with several neighbors and were glad to learn that they were managing fine and staying warm enough. Tonight will be bitter cold.

We kept the bird feeders stocked with suet and seed. I shared a dipper of sunflower seeds with our bantams, who were content to stay inside their little house for the duration. Chickadees, hairy and downy woodpeckers, juncoes, goldfinches, and mourning doves are a few of the visitors to the feeder in the last couple of days.

Our local ravens graced us with a conversation and lazy circle over in today's stunning blue sky. I looked up when I heard their cro-oak calls to see them winging overhead, curving around toward the Sheepscot River, their section of blue bordered with a lacy tapestry of diamonds in the upper branches of the black locust trees by the road.

We kept warm, and could cook our food as usual on the coal and propane stoves. The oven wouldn't light, so our bread baked in dutch ovens or with the pans wrapped in heavy foil; all on top of wood and coal stoves. Worked fine, with a brief flip-over to brown the tops.

We had filled buckets and bottles with water for drinking, washing, and flushing before the power went out for the last time. Early this morning we carried "mud" buckets down to the brook at the back of our yard and filled them again (for flushing), then carried them back up the icy hill to the house. The oil lamps and shielded candles gave us light. The work crews worked around the clock, even calling us at one point to see whether they had managed to restore our power yet. They hadn't, but we thanked them for their efforts and assured them we were fine until things settled down.

I love the times when my husband and I can rely on the grace of God and each other. I am thankful to have had such an opportunity with this ice storm. I missed my friends here.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: gnu
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 06:27 PM

The rain and wind last night were as bad as I have ever seen but the thunderstorms didn't materialize. It was all over by 10PM. Woke to sunshine and -3C this morning.... an NO ice anywhere. We were darn lucky that the worst of it slid by us.

Hope all youse down south make out okay.

Anyone hear anything from Jeri since this morning?

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: SINSULL
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 06:16 PM

Just got off the phone with Jeri. She is just a bit stir crazy. Battery gone on her laptop. Power out, no lights, no TV, no Mudcat.
If you have her number, call her. Right about now, she wishes she had a dog or a six pack to offer her neighbor who is running his generator to power a big screen TV. LOL

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Amos
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 06:04 PM

Someone who's been everywhere in Maine.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Amos
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 05:50 PM

Ayeh, SINS. The one thing above all else I miss about the East Coast is people who sound like Kendall Morse.


A

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: SINSULL
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 04:29 PM

Hint Amos - check out the Bert & I thread and get homesick.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Alice
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 04:21 PM

Here in the little apartment (a small old house converted to 4 studios behind a motel) I'm actually warmer than I'd be at home. My house has drafty old windows and doors that need to be replaced. I'm so glad I have my laptop with me! Roads are closing and people are warned to stay inside. Why do I live in this climate? Remind me?

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Jeri
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 04:04 PM

I'm going mildly stir crazy. Last I heard, it may be Mon or later. I'd leave, but I need to keep the fire going to keep the pipes from freezing. Need to find a place to recharge my laptop battery. Just about dead.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 03:49 PM

I know someone who was supposed to drive a kid from Seattle to Yakima today....I hope they stayed home.

We here in MD/DC area have it easy...so far...lots of rain last 3 days, but just cold & sunny today.

(Now I've probably jinked us)

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Alice
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 03:44 PM

our forecast:

"There is a potential for three to six inches of snow in the valleys and 12 inches or more over the mountains.
Strong north winds will produce dangerously cold wind chills and ground blizzards. Temperatures will fall to 20 below Sunday morning and 30 below by Monday morning."

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: goatfell
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 03:24 PM

Ice the winter kind, how can you get Ice outside during the summer, execpt if you lived in the north/south pole.

is there any other kind

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Amos
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 12:01 PM

Wow. I admire you all, honestly. I am reminded why I emigrated from the New England world.


A

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Alice
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 10:55 AM

I'm watching the storm blowing in here. I decided not to drive home 150 miles yesterday and just stay in Billings over the weekend, as I'd have to drive back here to work on Monday probably in a blizzard.

The company got a little apartment for me to stay in for the few months I'll be working here, so the only reason I go home on the weekend is to check my mail, do laundry and water the plants. Better to stay off the highway in this kind of weather. Laundry will be done in the sink, my son can go put the mail inside.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: SINSULL
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 10:50 AM

Just got cable back. Power went out 4:25 Friday morning and we froze all day Friday. Got power back about 7:30 Friday night. I didn't go to work on Friday but apparently most did.

The kitties hated being cold and complained bitterly until I crawled into bed with the bunch of them and we all warmed up.Wish I had had that generator fixed.

Sun came out on Friday afternoon and I cleaned off the car and the steps and put down lots of salt.

Freddie carefully picks his way across the perfecly dry porch and steps - guess he learned his lesson.

Jeri, there is a warm bed and heat here.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Midchuck
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 09:06 AM

Very lucky here in western Vermont, about halfway up. We got mostly snow, with a little ice on top, so no power losses to speak of. Fifty miles south OR east, it's a mess.

Of course, we were right at the center of the freak wind in April '07, and had several days of lost power and major road blockages from massive numbers of downed trees, and that was very local to us. So it all balances out.

Peter

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Jeri
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 08:45 AM

I have a wireless modem, and I'm down to 20 minutes of battery life.

Slept warm with a mink blanket, down comforter and a hat. Didn't want to get out of bed. It only got down to about 44° but I didn't want to get out of bed. Today, I'm off in search of a gas station with power. If I'm successful, it's home again for chocolate ice cream soup for lunnch. If I'm not... well, I'd better put a sleeping bag in the car.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Becca72
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 07:08 AM

Stayed at my sister's Thursday night and most of the day on Friday. No work because my building was without power. Bummer. I drove home around 3:30pm yesterday and the roads were fine. The major problem was the fact that most of the traffic lights were out and no one knew what the hell to do. It was utter chaos at some of the major intersections. Bunch of idiots. Got home to find that I had power and cable and the cats were unaware of what was going on in the world (as usual). Got up really early to come to work this morning and didn't even have to scrape the windows on the car, which is good since I snapped my scraper on the 1" thick ice Thursday night.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 04:54 PM

It was icy in Essex this morning. We had to scrape the ice off the outside of the windscreen, then we had to scrape the ice off the inside of the windscreen! the clock and the speedometer had both frozen! Tomorrow we go out in my car and not the landrover!!

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 04:44 PM

Jeri-

It will probably be 3 or 4 days before power is restored at my mother's farm, but I've learned that there were no major trees down on her driveway and her thoughtful neighbor is planning to chainsaw some of the larger downfall into firewood for his stove. I'll check on her personally on Sunday but everything seems to be manageable.

So you clearly still have phone or cable service, or is your laptop transmitting to some satellite?

We have lots of big pine branches down around our house but no loss of electricity. I even managed to shovel off the slush from the walks and steps, and most of the parking lot before it freezes tonight.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: gnu
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 04:02 PM

Robins up here migrate... well, the smart ones do.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Jeri
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 03:53 PM

Robins don't migrate, but they go into the woods and other places where you don't see them.

I have some firewood. While it was good enough to heat water for coffee, it's not heating the house that much. I found out where a couple of operational gas stations are and will try tomorrow. Supposed to get to 17° tomorrow.

Charlie, it's alaptop with a battery which may have one more boot left in it. They say 3-4 days until power may be restored.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: gnu
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 01:49 PM

Got some great pics this morning. Ice is deadly but it's beautiful in the trees. Got one pic of a crow in the top of a maple against the sky. Feathers all askew from the wet, the branches coated with ice and small icicles.... good shot. And, got some pics of apples in Mum's tree coated with ice... and black capped chickedees and Blue Jays ... AND, a Robin!

It was a young Robin... bugs me terribly. Why is it still here? Injury? Brain injury? Got left behind? Anyway, it sucked back the pork fat I put out for it, until I came back in the house and the crows and Blue Jays put it away from the grub.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: gnu
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 01:14 PM

Gosh again. Just looked up from working away at my desk and I can't see out the window. Fogged on the outside! The tempearture has risen 10C in an hour. The rain is pouring and the wind is coming up quickly. Still no where what NE has, but it seems ominous... probably due to the news from NE.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Amos
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 12:57 PM

Charkey:

I understand your wrath against those who must battle hard but different elements than you do. Save up your anger, and let it all out when it comes time to defrost your driveway, or chain up your tires, or get the storm windows in place, or take stuff out of mothballs. That's what I do when I am faced with my elemental battles and have to overcome heavy obstacles like slathering on sunblock, laundering tee-shirts, or resoling my Birkenstocks.



A

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: GUEST,The black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 12:46 PM

Not all of the UK is feeling quite so temperate. We've bought a farm house 1000 feet up in the pennines. We got within 300 yards of it last Saturday in the car through the snow (trying to deliver a car load of stuff) and had to walk the rest. Dug the car out and took it back down the hill. Since then it has not been warm enough to make a significant difference to the drifts. It is raining now so I might be able to drive up there tomorrow, but the forecast is for -3 Celcius on Saturday night so there will be plenty of ice still.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 12:28 PM

We're still hanging in here with power, 20 miles up the Kennebec River in Richmond, Maine. But my mother down on the coast is cut off with downed trees; her back-up propane generator kicked in and is doing its thing. Her phone lines are also down but she managed to get through to me on the cellphone, although it's kind of hit of miss service. One of her near neighbors actually walked up her driveway to make sure everything was alright and reported back to me.

I hate to think what will happen to all this slush in the parking lot and on the walks when the temperature drops this evening. The resulting glacier will probably probably last until May!

Jeri-

You're lucky you can still post to Mudcat. Do you also have a back-up generator?

Amos-

#@***!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: gnu
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 11:40 AM

Gosh. Just caught it on the news. Sounds pretty bad down there. Our ice is slowly melting. Temperature here in Moncton, New Brunswick is now 3C and there is little rain or wind, but they are still forecasting 15C, 90kph and possible thunderstorms, with temps falling to -6C tonight.

I just checked the New Brunswick and Maine radars and Moncton MAY get by without a direct hit. 60km to our NW, the radar looks wild, but it looks to be moving NW. Of course, if any of the transmission lines get hit, our power could go out as well.

We are blessed, at times, by the Gulf Stream as well. It pushes warm water up the Bay of Fundy and there is not much land between that bay and the Northumberlad Straight, where the water is even warmer well into the winter.

All youse guys down there take care eh! And keep letting us know how you are doing.

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 10:54 AM

Jeez, Jeri, maybe some likely friend will bring you coffee and some gasoline for your car? I didn't realise this was one of those humdingers! Stay safe, all o'youse. Anyone know if Linn tried to go into work today?

Subject: RE: BS: ICE - the winter kind
From: Amos
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 10:32 AM

Jeri:

You got firewood? Aikea stuff you can burn?


A