In the three hours the power was out, my pretty insulated house (but with really dated and not at all good at keeping cold out windows) dropped almost 6 degrees.
I pity all the poor people and animals out in this shit. This is just brutal out.
Also, congrats to the Seminoles (sorry Betty).
Just Some Fuckhead
Disregard previous.
The Dangerman
Auburn covered.
A nice way to go out of the BCS era; another nail biter in the Rose Bowl (see Young, Vince).
ETA: Fine news on the power, but do read the thread below about water dripping to prevent pipe damage.
Omnes Omnibus
Are you in AEP country?
Corner Stone
@Just Some Fuckhead: You don’t think he actually reads anything here, do you?
Plus, he was too busy eating some sexy baguettes and getting aggressive loving to worry about the weather.
Valdivia
glad to hear you’re back to being heated. Here in my ‘hood in DC I can hear the wind raging outside and the temp is around 12. Probably lower with the windchill.
And the city council sent emails about helping get the homeless into shelters for the evening.
Hope they managed it.
John O
A balmy -15/-33 in the NW Chicago burbs now. It was a little colder earlier today, my poor (and cold-weather) dog is having a terrible time with his feet and finding a place to poo, and all in all is yet another example of Mother Nature reminding us who’s boss. It’s pretty paralyzing.
Suzanne
@Corner Stone: I already suggested a visit from Ladyfriend. Nothing makes you forget the cold like the secks.
Comrade Mary
Pet count! All present and accounted for? /gives Fuckhead the side-eye
OK, I’m off to bed. I have to attack the new skating rink in front of my house again in the morning.
Anoniminous
Our power goes out all the time. Once it was a snake that had crawled up a power pole to grab a baby bird for it’s dinner and coming down touched two wires at once. We lost power while the electric repair guys waited for the snake to stop burning. Another time wind caused the high tension line to snap which wrapped itself around a power pole and yanked that down on top of a transformer. It’s just Life in rural New Mexico.
Anyway, we have a wood stove and a cord or so of wood for back-up.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Suzanne: Especially if she is cold, tight and responsive, like a good pair of boots.
pseudonymous in nc
@The Dangerman:
But the guy who got 500/1 last January on Auburn being 2014 national champions doesn’t get to cash in his ticket. I’m glad that a non-SEC team won, but I wish it wasn’t FSU. Onwards to the playoffs and a new set of arguments about how to resolve the season.
It’s bloody Baltic here: -17C/2F (I really can’t work with Fahrenheit below freezing) and dropping, windchill making it feel a lot lower. The wood I brought in radiated cold for a while. Furnace is on, stove is on, cats are claiming the warmest parts of the house before we can get to them.
max
@Just Some Fuckhead: Disregard previous.
See! I told you! Lily or Rosie will spill some water or pee on the floor in the kitchen and Cole will come in and WHAM! And then… it’s FACE-EATING TIME!
max
[‘Just like that Six Feet Under episode.’]
trollhattan
@max:
There’s a song for that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3dTc4kyIOU
cmorenc
@John Cole:
There’s another captivating rescue animal out there somewhere who needs person who’s a sucker for taking in another piglet to snuggle on the couch. Looking at you, John :=)
ira-NY
Big time college sports are corrupt at so many levels. That said, they are entertaing as hell.
Just Some Fuckhead
You could cut the sexual tension in here with a cold-hardened nipple.
trollhattan
@cmorenc:
Sarah will deliver this one personally, with a down comforter and hot chocolate.
MattR
@pseudonymous in nc:
I read that he was in Vegas but decided not to hedge his bet, partially because the odds on the money line were so poor. I wonder if he changed his mind when FSU was losing and was +150 or better to win (or if at that point he was afraid of jinxing Auburn or was too confident that they would win to hedge). Hopefully he bet $10K on FSU at that point.
Omnes Omnibus
@Just Some Fuckhead: Don’t knock it ’til you try it.
The Dangerman
@pseudonymous in nc:
Figuring Top 4 could be interesting; figure P12 Champion (Oregon, Stanford, UCLA; put the names in a hat and pull one, they should all be good), SEC Champion (Alabama will be loaded but there’s always a chance for the upset), and FSU doesn’t look like it’s going anyplace but #1 preseason…
…it’s going to be a dogfight for that last spot.
max
@trollhattan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3dTc4kyIOU
Good call, sir!
max
[‘We have a theme song.’]
srv
Why don’t you have a dog-trot house like regular hillbillies?
Then you could have a sandbox for the animalites.
cg
Plastic (you don’t need to use the hair dryer) works wonders insulating old windows. Cheap too. -26 F. here in NE MN But we live for this shit. Wood stove. Sorry. Zeus be with all you who are suffering.
CaseyL
Cole, I am *very* glad to hear your power came on. The utility crews working out there tonight deserve medals, and huge bonuses. Get a generator, for FSM sake. This shit may happen again.
“The Day After Tomorrow” is a 2004 movie about GCC with Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal. I always thought it was a decent little movie, but it was savaged by people for presenting “preposterous” GCC scenarios.
One scene had a sort of tornado of extremely cold air come down from the outer troposphere/upper atmosphere to freeze people where they stood. Lots of global climate change deniers complained about that scene: “Hah! Nothing like that could possibly happen!”
Sigh.
pseudonymous in nc
@ira-NY:
Last bastion of bullshit amateurism. The whole booster phenomenon. Perpetuator of Cult of Coach and a really creepy racial subtext about civilising young African-American men (I can’t believe that Herbstreit described a big lineman as “so well-spoken” during the commentary.)
A bit like road cycling, in that you know that it’s fundamentally dodgy, and yet, and yet.
jharp
Took a walk in my woods at -11 a few minutes ago. Amazingly quiet, yet quite a bit of creaking from the big trees. Nary a soul outside.
Love stuff like that.
Omnes Omnibus
@pseudonymous in nc:
To be fair he was the the commentator with the better record on race. Musburger once wrote this about the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics and never walked it back: “One gets a little tired of having the United States run down by athletes who are enjoying themselves at the expense of their country,” he wrote. Musburger then infamously called Smith and Carlos “a pair of black-skinned stormtroopers.”
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Thanks. Like I needed another reason to hate Brent Musburger.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Peter Norman, the Aussie on the stand with them, was a class act. Carlos had forgotten his gloves, so Norman suggested the left and right hand thing. He considered taking part, but didn’t think it would be appropriate.
max
Musburger once wrote this about the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics and never walked it back
Musburger always sounded too slick to me, like he was the Big Brother’s favorite announcer. Or pump ‘n dump broker.
max
[‘3M probably churned him our as a special order at the polyurethane factory.’]
reality-based
@Steeplejack:
ha. -32 below F here in my neck of ND last night (-70 windchill. )
I went out to start my car this morning (plugged-in tank heater, new battery, full tank of gas) – –
– – and the car groaned and said “really? You want me to START? in this shit?. ”
and then it started, like I knew it would, and I went to work – where I replugged my car in during my shift.
It’s now a balmy -11 here.
North Dakota, I tell you – state motto: “40 below keeps the riff-raff out! ”
(it worked, too, till Fracking got so damn popular. )
Steeplejack
@reality-based:
My family lived in Minot while I was in college. Loved coming home for Christmas vacation. Although, paradoxically, I often didn’t feel as cold there as I did at college in Missouri. Because in North Dakota you have to dress for the weather or you will die. You can’t just throw on a jacket and run to class.
Omnes Omnibus
@reality-based: My Saab pauses for a moment before it starts in weather like this. I see it as a blank stare, “are you fucking serious?” moment. The car always starts.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: I went sockless to class on many a day in Wisconsin. OTOH, it is possible that, in many ways, I am an idiot.
reality-based
@Omnes Omnibus: yeah, but it’s that pause that makes you nervous – that’s what my Taurus does, too – like one of these mornings, it will just say to hell with it.
scav
Do we have word on how far south the square-tire phenomena has been sighted? I failed to get frozen soap bubbles, but am going to try again in the morning further away from the building.
ETA, ok, not really square, but that’s what they seemed to be called.
Omnes Omnibus
@reality-based: I figure the girl was built in Sweden and lives in Wisconsin; she’ll come through.
Steeplejack
Okay, Weather.com has me down to 6° as of 1:05 EST. I’m bundling up the housecat and going to bed. And I’m leaving the oven open on “warm” to help the laboring central heat.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: We are at -14 with -40 wind chill. I’ll use all three bars on the seat heater tomorrow.
ETA: Landlord provided heating is iffy; I have used the oven for a number of things. Pizzas, nachos, etc. Doesn’t hurt.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Anoniminous:
Our office building once lost power because a squirrel stepped on the wrong wire. That was kinda gross.
Geoduck
39 degrees near Seattle. I like living in this part of the country very much.
MattR
It’s a balmy 10 here with a -8 wind chill so the trip outside to walk Ellie was not too bad. As usual, she was not in any rush to get back inside even after completing her pee, poop, pee routine.
Omnes Omnibus
@Geoduck: I could live in Vancouver. Seattle? Less so.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@MattR:
I’m laughing because over at my brother’s house the superannuated Italian greyhound Dick Cheney can’t just take a whiz and come back in. No matter how cold it is, he has to check his p-mail at several different spots along the block. “Reply all: fuck you!”
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Weather, Chicago style.
Did I mention that it’s 48 degrees above zero where I am?
max
They were projecting -6 a couple of days ago, but it’s supposed to bottom at 2. Down to 5 now, windchill in the teens. No snow. So not bad.
Timur, Dog Emperor of the Mongols would totally charge outside in this, barking the whole way (as would Demon Dog), but you ain’t gettin’ me out there.
max
[‘Because why?’]
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
But what’s the wind chill?
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
No snow at that temp. Who wants that in the winter?
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Steeplejack (tablet):
Weather Underground says … no wind, so no wind chill. ;-). They include a “feels like” measure to account for wind chill or heat index.
In Chicago, it “feels like” -18 right now. I’m fine where I am, thankyewverymuch.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Me! I like snow for about three consecutive days. Then I’m over it.
MattR
@Steeplejack (tablet): You would think a greyhound would be freezing and eager to get back indoors. Ellie is part husky so I am not too surprised that she likes the cold and snow. She usually pees/poops in areas that others have already cleared out because they have good smells, but she is just as capable of pee/pooping in snow up to her belly if there is not a clearing. I think the only thing she dislikes about winter is the salt/snow melt that makes her footsies hurt (or forces her to wear booties)
(EDIT: To be honest, she is pretty adaptable. She is quite happy outside in the 90+ degree heat and humidity of east coast summers as well)
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): Yes, you have made that clear. Other people like seasons.
goblue72
@Geoduck: Personally I’d rather be back in Oakland (low 60s today), but at least I can afford to own a home up here. So I guess the drizzle has that going for it.
Geoduck
@Omnes Omnibus:
I wouldn’t want to live in Seattle proper. I’m halfway between there and Portland.
scav
@Omnes Omnibus: And the possibility of seeing if soap bubbles really freeze. Maritime and Continental provide different thrills, and other seasonal patterns are available. Maybe Mnem’s just overcompensating due to a little insecurity in her weather orientation.
MattR
@scav: And it is cold enough to do this.
scav
@MattR: Aaahhh, that specific crunchy snow noise too! The one with the water gun in Canada is good too, but lacks that crunch.
MattR
@scav: I work for a refrigerated/frozen warehousing company. When I used to travel to install software and we were at a facility with a freezer, that was always one of the practical jokes we played on newbies. Take them for a tour of the freezer while carrying a mug full of boiling water, then pretend to trip and throw the water towards their face (always making sure to aim so you will miss them if the prank goes awry)
wasabi gasp
Glad you survived, John. Guess it’s a little too late for a yule log.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCEuQ3u7mJw
YellowJournalism
@MattR: you know, I just read an article about that and how many people are scalding themselves trying it out.
Where I am, we don’t have roads anymore, just long sheets of black ice used to skid from place to place.
Anne Laurie
@Anoniminous: Our best power-going-out story (please goddess it stays that way) came courtesy of Hurricane Sandy. Horizontal rain at almost-freezing temps brought down many tree branches across wires on our block — including most of an oak in the waste plot between our yard and the neighboring storage-rental facility — and caused several transformers to burst into flames. Nothing like watching the crane crews working just outside one’s side yard to dowse the flames shooting up even while the rain is lashing down!
We had power back within a couple hours, too. One of the advantages of living in a vestigal residential pocket surrounded by light-industrial and warehouse properties…
MattR
@YellowJournalism: One of the advantages of being in a temperature controlled warehouse is you can be pretty sure the experiment will work the same way in each of the freezers. But we were always smart enough to aim away from the person, just in case. (Another fun weather fact is that it would rain inside the docks of our Tampa warehouse fairly regularly during summer afternoons)
I had to take the booties off Ellie because she needed the extra traction of her nails to navigate the ice.
@Anne Laurie: We got screwed during Sandy because the substation that served our condo complex sits in the middle of a swamp and they needed to bring in special equipment to create a path for the regular equipment to get through. Absolutely brilliant planning.
The only thing that made it worth it was that it was kinda fun to listen to all the conservative Republicans complain that the next town over which owns its own utility company had power restored in a couple days while we were stuck for more than a week without power. Turns out government can actually do something right, but of course once the power was restored nobody actually proposed our town take over our electrical service. Instead they will just complain again next time
CarolDuhart2
I’ve been fascinated by this:
http://windturbineshome.net/
The Sailor
-8 (f) when I got up. -8 now.
I would be comfy if the pipes hadn’t froze.
Gathering enough snow to flush the toilet is a pain. Chipping enough ice is a bigger pain.
Paul in KY
@pseudonymous in nc: AJ McCarron’s mom made a nasty comment about the FSU quarterback.
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@scav:
It’s happening in SE MN (well, it did before I put my snow tires on)
For what it’s worth, kids friend posted a youtube video of urine evaporating as it exited.
Chickamin Slam
Screw Florida. The only thing they’ve brought us lately are Rick Scott, Marco Rubio, Diaz-Balarts, just your normal crop of creepy Republicans. But then again I repeat myself.
“The football team looks so good on TV.”
Whatever.
Jay C
A (thankfully) minor power outage here in the Scenic Berkshires ™ last nite as well: Mrs. Jay woke me at 02:35 to inform me that the power was off: I went to call the utility on our hardwired phone: and they (or their recording was) were glad to inform me that: yes indeed, there was an outage in our town! Nice to know my [astonishing-high] rates are being put to good use. Fortunately only an hour-and-a-half or so. Sunny and a “nice” 11.1F right now
.@pseudonymous in nc:
You do know that you’re supposed to put in in the fireplace or stove, and then set it on fire, right?