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BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Mrrzy Date: 18 Feb 21 - 05:51 PM Snow, ice, it is winter here. I am enjoying it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Feb 21 - 10:44 PM Power came back tonight in North Texas after being off for four days during a week of sub-freezing weather - Tuesday overnight it was below zero. I think I got a screenshot of -1 on my weather app. The house got down to the high-40s, but after Richard Bridge sent a tip about using candles and terracotta pots (and as a gardener I have a lot of those pots!) I set up six of those stations around the house. I used jar candles to prevent wax spills or anything tipping over, and was able to keep the indoor temperature at around 50o. Many people were a lot colder in their houses. To keep us all warm (myself and three dogs) I moved clothes out of the closet and dug out backpacking gear. I made a stack of inflatable "Thermarest" pads for me and left one for the dogs and built a pallet for them that was beside mine. The first night they were a bit puzzled and we made a couple of trips out during the night, but Tuesday and Wednesday night they had caught on and were perfectly content to sleep in there with me. There has been snow on the ground since Sunday, but with temperatures so cold, it stuck around. Hopefully it will melt by the weekend (and then comes the mud). We're still being careful about using much power; I'm going to wait to do any laundry until it's warm again (this weekend). I had to throw out a lot of food from the fridge and the frozen vegetables in there were all sodden. There is meat that defrosted but was always cold and that will get cooked tomorrow and either frozen as part of other dishes or eaten this week. Stores are going to be empty for a while because they lost power and will be tossing all of the defrosted and warm food; everyone who has food left in their houses needs to keep eating it for a while until the marketplace catches up with the demand of millions of households that had to throw out a lot of food all at once. We don't have a boil order here (so far) but in places where there was so much demand (because of water main breaks or because millions of people had water dripping) the water pressure dropped and they safety of the supply couldn't be guaranteed. I have four large stock pots filled with water in the kitchen (so if the order comes I have good water to use for the day or more it takes to test and certify the water safe again. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Jeri Date: 18 Feb 21 - 11:08 PM You know clams are happy because they're always smiling. Maggie, glad you're re-electrified, and I hope everything keeps improving! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 19 Feb 21 - 02:52 AM we have an old saying in Australia about a cold night being a 3 or 4 (or higher number) dog night. sandra in sunny Sydney (26C/78F close to 7pm) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: JennieG Date: 19 Feb 21 - 05:20 AM There used to be a band called "Three Dog Night". |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: keberoxu Date: 19 Feb 21 - 10:43 AM Steve et al., the entire figure of speech as I learned it was: happy as a clam at high tide. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Stilly River Sage Date: 19 Feb 21 - 06:23 PM Three Dog Night is a term well-known here, as is the band. Mama Told Me Not To Come Joy To The World Never Been To Spain One Is the Loneliest Number etc. They were a big deal when I was a teen. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: robomatic Date: 19 Feb 21 - 06:35 PM I always thought the '#' dog night was originally an American indigenous thing, probably Eskimo. But antipodean language is quite infectious. When I was young you'd never hear a Yank say 'no worries'. Now I hear it all the time. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: JennieG Date: 19 Feb 21 - 08:40 PM Those songs take me back to my giddy youth! Rob - Aussies have also been known to make a spoonerism of "no worries" with another word in the middle, so it becomes "no wucking furries". Probably not in polite company though...... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Donuel Date: 19 Feb 21 - 08:40 PM Extremes are the norm in the days of climate change. Stilly are you being stoicly funny or did you not suffer consequences from the Texas cold snap in terms of cold or thirst? ONLY 1.4 million people were stricken. I recall many a 3 dog night in the upstate NY Catskills, Buffalo and Rochester. I even went to the original 'Hail Fredonia'. They were all cold but I discovered later that 60 below F is deadly dangerous in minutes by instantly reaching inside wool and parkas and not letting go. I haven't heard from gillymor. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Stilly River Sage Date: 20 Feb 21 - 01:59 AM Stilly are you being stoicly funny or did you not suffer consequences from the Texas cold snap in terms of cold or thirst? Those were the most miserable four days I can ever remember, frankly. I had some yogurt cups and ate oatmeal cooked over Sterno for many meals because they were the easiest to manage and I spent three nights sleeping in a clothes closet with my dogs. They thought it was a camping trip, but I knew different. Time dragged with the only pursuits being reading or writing or flipping through the phone while trying to not run the battery down much, when not trying to figure out more ways to warm the house. I made a point of taking photos to document the weirdness of the situation. I have to pull them together and see what they add up to. I'm still putting the house back together. I was fortunate in several ways: I grew up in a cold climate and I have a lot of backpacking and climbing gear. Frankly, the most helpful thing was Richard Bridge's message that offered this tip that was an "aha!" moment and I started pulling bricks in from the yard and made a trip out to the greenhouse for clay pots. I built six of them around the house and was able to keep the temperature at about 50 degrees (it had been steadily dropping)—several friends described their houses as in the high 30s indoors. I had a lot of candles in jars I used under those pots to radiate heat. I walked around with an old AM/FM cassette player that ran on AA batteries and headphones and listened to public radio during the day and a classical station in the evening. My part of town didn't get hit with the boil order for tap water, but I had already filled four stock pots and two large plastic tubs with water for drinking, cooking, washing, and flushing. Lots of things occurred to me and my neighbors as the event evolved. We shared ideas, we checked on each other, text and calls. And when my elderly next door neighbors, who have a generator that their son would come over and start then refuel, seemed to need another heavy duty cord to run through their house I offered the one I use for my electric trimmer (weed whacker). They realized that had an unused bank and outlet on that generator and ran my cord from their generator to my back door. I was able to plug in my freezer overnight and save everything, and during the hours that I was up and in that room it ran (intermittently) a lamp, a radio, an electric kettle, and charged various things. I had a radiant oil heater plugged in in the kitchen when the power finally came on. My hands are still painful from the chapping of doing everything that involved really cold water. Smearing Vaseline (petroleum jelly) and wearing acrylic gloves over it is helping. I should have worn gloves doing those chores, but didn't think of it till too late. People died of cold and of carbon monoxide. Now people are hungry and don't have water. It's a really rough winter in Texas this year. The kind of thing that novels and movies are made about. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Donuel Date: 20 Feb 21 - 05:24 PM No suburban wilting flower are you. You sound like the pioneer heroine in the movie 'Texas Ice' the movie. I used to store alcohol to burn in huge bowls for heat but candles are safer and long lasting. I have a huge generator and a portable one. Iains had a stream powered generator. I need to get an electrician to wire the furnace for generator functionality. I wired the old one myself but we have a new system now. Yep your storm was tragic for more folks than a hurricane. Politiclly we know who to blame and how private corporate greed is at its heart. It is callous of me to say but Texas was more prepared to fend off an imaginary invasion of UN troops with the National Guard than their preparations for cold weather. I just thought about the demise of millions of lovely TX house plants ;^/ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 20 Feb 21 - 09:16 PM congratulations, Maggie, you are prepared for emergencies & resourceful. My battery radio is dead, & my phone is a stupid phone, besides the battery doesn't last long. I have 2 good torches & a couple of camping lights I kept after selling my camping gear (I prefer on-site vans & hotels these days for festivals!) & all use AAA batteries & I always have a good supply of them, but anything beyond a short blackout or a notifications of upcoming repairs to water pipes would be beyond me in my apartment on the edge of Sydney's CBD. I do have warm bedding & clothes, but we are more likely to need a bit of cool here. Some years back I came home from a festival to a blackout, & as my neighbour only had tea lights, I lent her a torch & a camping light. The power was back later that night. I've been looking at pics of snow in Texas & Greece & other freezing places, & hope life gets back to a comfortable level soon. sandra |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Mrrzy Date: 22 Feb 21 - 09:24 AM You go, Stilly. We were supposed to get more ice but it is just cold, cold rain. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Charmion Date: 23 Feb 21 - 10:06 AM It's still snowing in Stratford, Ontario, where we're used to it and equipped to deal with it. Thank God. The province-wide lockdown has been relaxed for now in the Huron-Perth region, and we can contemplate such exciting activities as eating in a restaurant (carefully). So far, most people still prefer to eat at home and get their exercise outside. Three or four patches of the ice on the Avon River have been cleared for skating, and the other day I saw a bunch of kids playing pond hockey. People also ski in the parkland along the river and around the Festival Theatre. Walking the dog is a major social experience, a rare opportunity to interact with strangers. (I'm a cat person, but I always greet dogs. The dogs politely acknowledge me, and the human at the other end of the leash will usually say hello back.) The little group of women who meet at my house to play tunes has expanded to four. Fiddling, picking and strumming resume on Thursday. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Stilly River Sage Date: 23 Feb 21 - 11:11 AM The stories are now coming out about how awful it was in some places - as miserable as those of us were in our cold houses, prisoners were stuck in cold drafty buildings with broken windows, not enough blankets, frozen water lines, non-flushing toilets. When you consider that Texas, like almost all states, often imprisons people who can't afford cash bail (before they've even had a trial to determine guilt or innocence) this is the abomination that is the "criminal justice system." It was torture for everyone stuck in those situations. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: skarpi Date: 24 Feb 21 - 02:37 PM Well , we have Iceland as Green Country in Covid 19 , and we thought now we can Relax a little bit ..but no , since ten this morning on the South west corner of Iceland we had till now 1000 + Earthquakes the strongest 5.7 and they said on the news few min ago , that the big one is yet to come that could be 6.5 + I live now in the Eastern Region of Iceland so at the moment I can´t feel for this , the strongest I have felt is 6.7, what we fear at this moment is that a magma is on it´s way up, and it will start a eruption near the Capital of Iceland Reykjavík . take care all all the best Skarpi . |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Tattie Bogle Date: 26 Feb 21 - 03:54 AM Stay safe, Skarpi! We have had a few earth tremors here in SW Edinburgh too, but they are caused by blasting in the local quarry! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: keberoxu Date: 28 Feb 21 - 07:52 PM There is a thread up above the BS section, by the way, regarding Mudcat member Leadfingers, a/k/a Terry Silver. He's alive, following a potentially deadly accident last year, but he isn't using computers/ getting to the Internet. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: keberoxu Date: 01 Mar 21 - 08:14 PM Keep checking in! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: skarpi Date: 02 Mar 21 - 10:29 PM Newest update, 14000 Earthquakes in just over a week and magma is rising in a champer, so likely there is a eruption coming up near our capital Reykjavík. All the best from Iceland Skarpi |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Donuel Date: 03 Mar 21 - 02:55 PM https://www.severe-weather.eu/news/iceland-earthquake-swarm-reykjanes-eruption-fa/ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 03 Mar 21 - 07:40 PM thanks for the link, Donuel. 14000 earthquakes is not something I can visualise or understand I have once felt an earthquake way back in 1989. I was at work & near the windows when the world moved & the lights went out - some of my colleagues were in inner rooms, & some must have been in the toilets or lifts. Everything was back to normal for us very quickly as Sydney was about 150 km (100 miles) from the epicenter, but 13 people died in Australia's worse earthquake disaster |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 04 Mar 21 - 05:30 PM meanwhile on the other side of the world - New Zealand tsunami warning: evacuations follow swarm of earthquakes Tsunami warning for Norfolk Island after three earthquakes hit near New Zealand Residents on Norfolk Island are being warned to move to higher ground after three earthquakes near New Zealand triggered a tsunami warning for the south Pacific territory. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: skarpi Date: 06 Mar 21 - 03:33 PM Jahérna ? big one in New Zealand hope you are all save there , we had 2584 earthquakes last 48 hours over here , and its´not going away people are getting tired , both Covid and then this , all though Iceland is now at the moment Covid free , unless at the border where people who are coming from abroad have Covid 19 , well all around the world we have trouble , so stay save , watch your health , watch out for your love one´s what you have today , you may not have tomorrow.. all the best Skarpi Iceland . |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: keberoxu Date: 06 Mar 21 - 10:13 PM Skarpi, here's hoping the Mudcat still has YOU tomorrow. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Mrrzy Date: 07 Mar 21 - 09:51 AM Thought of you, skarpi, npr was talking about no covid in Iceland. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Mar 21 - 02:42 PM The graphics (charts) are beautiful in that article that Donuel linked to about the Icelandic quakes. I find it interesting how often weather people end up reporting on these geological events, though geology and weather are generally not linked. But with the atmosphere being impacted by eruptions, and because weather bureaus are the most up-to-date sources of reliable information on things like weather, they step up to the task. Our weather here in Texas has improved significantly and now we're into the pollen season, though many plants that would be budding now were damaged or killed in the mid-February freeze. There are still plenty of large oak trees around to pollenate the air supply (and upset my sinuses). Yesterday I mowed the lawns for the first time in 2021. Mostly weeds so far, the turf grass is still dormant. And I have to go out and trim out dead brush from many of my shrubs and see what sprouts back from the roots. Last year at this time I was beginning to go out and start driving after knee replacement surgery, so this year I'm hoping to get a lot more done that was too painful before. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: skarpi Date: 08 Mar 21 - 04:00 PM The magma has 1000 mtr left to the surface, are we getting another eruption like 2014 ? Stay save. Kv Skarpi |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 08 Mar 21 - 08:51 PM ‘Swarm’ of 20,000 earthquakes rattles Iceland - 2800 on Sunday alone ... “People in Reykjavik are waking up with an earthquake, others go to sleep with an earthquake,” Thorvaldur Thordarson, a professor of volcanology at the University of Iceland, told the New York Times. “There’s a lot of them, and that worries people, but there’s nothing to worry about, the world is not going to collapse.” The Icelandic government said that the earthquakes may signal an imminent volcanic eruption in the southwestern region of Iceland, where volcanoes are common. There are more than 30 active volcanoes throughout the country ... ... The Civil Protection and Emergency Management’s Science Board in Iceland later contradicted the government’s warning of volcanic activity. “It is the scientists’ assessment that the latest data does not indicate magma moving rapidly closer to the surface,” the board said in a statement. “While this situation lasts the likelihood of an eruption is not high, but a possible rapid change in the status must be assumed.” According to the board, the “likeliest scenarios” include a decrease in earthquake activity in the “next few days or weeks”; an increase in the swarm with quakes up to 6.0 in magnitude near Fagradalsfjall; an earthquake of 6.5 magnitude near Brennisteinsfjoll; and potentially some “magma intrusion” near Fagradalsfjall, which is unlikely to threaten the population. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Stilly River Sage Date: 15 Mar 21 - 09:07 PM A month after Winter Storm "Uri" the number who died (so far - I won't be surprised of solitary homeowners turn up eventually having died during the cold) is 57. Dallas Morning News story: Dozens of Texans died as a result of last month’s brutal winter storm that knocked out power and water to millions of people across the state, according to preliminary data the Department of State Health Services released Monday. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: keberoxu Date: 17 Mar 21 - 09:59 PM Not to speak of the electric bills -- like something out of an English satire, maybe Dean Swift! And here in the eastern U. S., Brood X of the seventeen-year cicadas is set to spend the spring and summer in its reproductive cycle, and they say it's going to be massive. Especially Washington DC for some reason. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 19 Mar 21 - 08:22 PM Iceland volcano: eruption under way in Fagradalsfjall near Reykjavik ... While Iceland’s Keflavik international airport, the country’s largest, and the small fishing port of Grindavik are only a few kilometres away, the area is uninhabited and the eruption is not expected to present any danger. Volcanic eruptions in the region are known as effusive eruptions, where lava flows steadily out of the ground, as opposed to explosive ones which spew ash clouds high into the sky. However, all flights in and out of the airport have been halted. The Krysuvik volcanic system has been inactive for the past 900 years, according to the meteorological office, while the last eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula dates back almost 800 years to 1240. But the region has been under increased surveillance for several weeks after an earthquake of magnitude 5.7 was registered on 24 February on the outskirts of Reykjavik, followed by an unusual number of smaller tremors – more than 50,000, the highest number since digital recordings began in 1991. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: keberoxu Date: 19 Mar 21 - 10:26 PM Effusive rather than explosive: many thanks for that distinction. It's still unsettling to read that an interval of 900 years has passed since the last time of volcanic activity at that site. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: keberoxu Date: 21 Mar 21 - 05:08 PM We now have active threads about Iceland volcanic activity and USA's periodic cicadas. What else is happening out there? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Mark Clark Date: 21 Mar 21 - 05:29 PM Checking in from Eastern Iowa, USA. Have been worried about Skarpi. Glad to learn he is under no immediate threat. – Mark |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Helen Date: 21 Mar 21 - 05:51 PM After a long, long period of drought, then bushfires, then COVID, now a large area of Australia is being flooded. NSW flooding to intensify Queensland It's even raining heavily in the centre of Australia at Alice Springs and Uluru. That's very unusual. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 21 Mar 21 - 08:35 PM it's not just in Sydney's west where 3 great rivers create the ideal conditions (video - Bathtub effect, The extreme danger of Hawkesbury-Nepean floods) & housing has spread over the floodplains. Here on the edge of the CBD we have had intense rain falls - multiple episodes of pouring rain over the past few days & nights, & local flooding in nearby suburbs. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Helen Date: 21 Mar 21 - 09:47 PM Hi Sandra, I tried to find a news article which mentioned all of the areas of NSW being flooded. It's mostly along the whole of the east coast of Australia but also there is a swathe of rain from the top west down to the bottom east of the country. And I forgot to add the mouse plague to the list of disasters, but it's possible the floods might help to reduce the number of mice. Can they swim? The mouse plague came about because the drought had broken and the farmers were finally getting some healthy crops growing. How much disaster can a koala bear? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: JennieG Date: 21 Mar 21 - 10:24 PM A few weeks ago our geriatric cat - Bianca, aged 18 and a bit years - caught a mouse. At least, we presume she did; woke up to find a deceased mouse under the coffee table, and we do, after all, have a cat. Ergo, cat killed mouse. We caught another in a trap last week after Bianca chased it. Two mice is two too many, but we aren't as badly overun with meeces here as some people are. It is raining. Having grown up in this town and lived through many floods, there is a reason why we bought on a hill well away from the river. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: keberoxu Date: 24 Mar 21 - 01:50 PM Meeces! That brings back memories of the Saturday morning cartoon show with the cat who said I Hate Mieces to Pieces! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: keberoxu Date: 26 Mar 21 - 10:26 PM Keep those check-ins coming. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: fat B****rd Date: 27 Mar 21 - 04:44 AM Mr. Jinx ? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: JennieG Date: 27 Mar 21 - 07:21 AM It was indeed Mr Jinx, with Pixie and Dixie. "I hate you meeces to pieces......!" |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Mrrzy Date: 28 Mar 21 - 02:18 PM We had an amazing thunderstorm at dawn today. Thunderstorms here are usually an afternoon, summer, phenomenon. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Stilly River Sage Date: 30 Mar 21 - 09:58 AM As the US races to inject vaccines into arms, Americans race to see if they can't manage one more surge of the virus, apparently for Old Time's sake. These new variants are part of that mix. Here in Texas we're still figuring out what plants are completely dead and which may sprout from the roots again. And reports are out that the arctic blast named "Uri" by The Weather Channel that wiped out a lot of our landscaping also killed more people than Hurricane Harvey (named by the National Weather Service). 111 so far. Everything from hypothermia and asphyxiation (carbon monoxide) to vehicle accidents and slips and falls. And they're not finished counting, apparently. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: skarpi Date: 03 Apr 21 - 06:21 PM Hallo , again some country s are closing down again , now in Iceland people have to go to special hotel for five days , all people who are from red and orange zone , shjæsss this is not over far from it , people are getting tired of this sorry I say this china shit ....these words has nothing to do with people from china please take care all , and now people who already got vaccined are infected with Covid ? what is going on ...don´t take the mask off if you go with many people, but what do I do at home , well I have work , and between work days , I make music read books go to the store and take long walks , be with my grandchildren , I play and sing folkmusic , but I am studying more music , little bit of jazz , rockabilly, country and bluegrass ..so what do you do ? stay healthy , all the best from Skarpi . |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Apr 21 - 10:07 AM The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are now telling us that vaccinated Americans can travel within the US as long as we wear masks. Vaccinated Americans are at low risk while traveling but must still wear masks, the C.D.C. says. Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus can travel “at low risk to themselves,” both within the United States and internationally, but they must continue to take precautions like wearing a mask in public to avoid possibly spreading the virus to others, federal health officials said on Friday. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: skarpi Date: 04 Apr 21 - 11:10 AM Lucky you , can get vaccine right away, we have to wait and wait ...and wait....not every one are at the same table in this world does it . take care Skarpi . |
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Subject: RE: BS: Check in Mudcatters world wide From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Apr 21 - 11:34 AM I know, Skarpi. I think it would do the US well to share the vaccines sooner rather than later, or help with the manufacturing exceptions that the World Health Organization can grant so more of the vaccine can be prepared. There is a Canadian company asking for such an exception and I think the guy who owns it is eyeing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, that is already being manufactured by several companies (outsourced). The link is to the radio interview and the transcribed story. I've pasted the whole thing here in case you can't open it from your location. A Canadian company challenges vaccine rules to increase access For decades, the small Canadian company, Biolyse Pharma, has specialized in making injectable cancer drugs at its plant in St. Catharine’s Ontario. |
