The issue in Texas is, it is hard to be prepared for something that happens once every 100 years.
Here in KY we had a bad ice storm in 2009 , power was out for weeks for some folks. I was out for 7 days. I do not have a generator, but I have Kero Heater, Coleman lanterns and coleman stoves and a fireplace. Water is city and hotwater heater is gas. So I could cook , keep warm, shower etc. have lights.
I stuck all of our freezer and fridge goods outside in the cold, so I did not loose food during power outage. Someone on another forum complained about having to run generator for fridge during ice storm. I said heck put it outside.
I had to bone up on Kerosene and some other goodies before this last round of winter storms, we got hit by three in a row, ice storm the first one, 9 inches of snow second and 3 inches of snow the third. Roads are clear now, but they were bad for about a week.
When I lived in Texas we had an ice storm in Houston , They would not cancel college classes no mater what. so I had to go during the freezing rain. I was the only one on the parking lot with an ice scrapper in my car. i could have made big $$ scraping windshields that day, I had to laugh beacuse people were trying with cassette cases, spatulas etc. People in Tex also do not know to start you car and let it run as you scrape so it will warm up.
Good evening all.
Hurricanes. We have been in only one. Crossing the pond on QE2. Interesting to say the least. Next day the Atlantic was like a millpond. So calm.
I did not make a Cherry Pie. Instead I baked a Egg & Bacon Pie plus some Strawberry Jam Tartlets.
English Fish & Chips with Mushy Peas. Simple and easy.
Stay Safe.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
I am always prepared for a hurricane!
My house has impact windows and a category 5 roof, so there is zero work to do there.
My car can move at 70 MPH, hurricanes rarely exceed 15 MPH, so they cannot catch me.
Not much chance of me ever freezing. The only fear from a power outage is loss of air conditioning, I think we will survive.
The house is always full of snacky-food, so provisions are not a concern.
What many people do for hurricane preparedness is absolutely silly. They get dry beans and rice, and lots of canned food. Pallets of bottled water and survival gear. Hurricanes are not the Zombie Apocolypse.
All you need are big blocks of ice and about twenty 5 gallon buckets of water to flush the toilets.
You just need to make it ten days, that is all.
After hurricanes my kids were out in the neighborhood eating bags of doritos and drinking ice-cold pepsi while the "prepared" neighbor kids were hoping their dad could get the propane stove fired up so they could eat kidney beans with warm water.
All those young ants would come over and beg for twinkies and nutty-buddies!
Grasshoppers for the win!
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Good Morning,
We have been going to Thief River Falls about 4 times a year for the past 25 years. Our friends actually live on a quarter section north of town but we are in town every trip. It is a nice place and has a good restaurant that does great ribs. Outside the train station is a Soo Line mikado on display. The small roundhouse and turntable are still intact, at least they were last time I looked. North of town there is a locomotive re-builder. All sorts of old diesels sitting outside. Once we went to a craft fair at the arena. I have never seen so many blonde, blue eyed kids in one place. When I was a small lad I would have fit right in.
I have to make a bird seed run soon.
CN Charlie
K
Track fiddlerWhen I grow up I want to be a grasshopper. So I can run next to Brents when I'm fresh out of pizza
And you would be welcomed along with everyone else TF.
Man those washing machines are heavy.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Here's a photo of their replica "John Bull" taken at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania from a trip there in 2005. My grandson still talks about that trip.
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
BATMAN SeeYou190 Grasshoppers have a lot more fun than ants. Yes, they do, but the Grasshoppers go running to the ants when there is no pizza left. My two neighbours are definitely Grasshoppers.
SeeYou190 Grasshoppers have a lot more fun than ants.
Yes, they do, but the Grasshoppers go running to the ants when there is no pizza left. My two neighbours are definitely Grasshoppers.
I thought I learned my lesson from that story book when I was a child. Apparently I didn't!
When I grow up I want to be a grasshopper. So I can run next door to Brents, when I'm fresh out of Pizza at my house I would remember to take my fiddle with
P.S. Voice texting can be somewhat dangerous sometimes, if you don't make the corrections before you post
TF
SeeYou190Grasshoppers have a lot more fun than ants.
My wife has relatives in Thief River Falls. So far, we have three diners who have connections to that small town.
It's a small world.
York1 John
SeeYou190 Grasshoppers have a lot more fun than ants. -Kevin
Grasshoppers have a lot more fun than ants.
Yes they do!
One of my favorite childhood books my Grandmother used to read to me. I can't remember the name of the book. The grasshopper was lazy and would play his fiddle all day while the ants were working hard telling him he better get busy.
Towards the end of the story book, Winter came and the grasshopper had nowhere to go to get warm and he started to turn purple.
The ants decided to take him in under their wing and take care of him for the winter hoping he would learn his lesson and get busy in the following spring.
There is a not as well-known celebration by the Finlanders in Northern Minnesota. St. Urho's day it is called on March 16th. It is celebrated pretty much the same way as St. Patrick's Day. The only difference is the color is purple instead of green.
BATMANBack when I use to do a lot with groups of kids one of my favourite questions to get them thinking was...
Back when I was dealing with groups of kids, one of my favorite questions was "What do you all want on your pizza?"
Then they would hang out all day.
Good morning
The world is a beautiful place
White Pass also known as the Dead Horse Trail, is a mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border of the US state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia, Canada.
Good morning from the sunny edge of the Pacific Rim.
Went out with the dogs at 0630hrs as the sun was coming up and heard the roosters doing their thing welcoming the new day. It was somehow reassuring hearing that for some reason with spring starting to show up.
I feel bad for all those in Texas suffering but at the same time, it leaves me shaking my head thinking people can be so unprepared. Back when I use to do a lot with groups of kids one of my favourite questions to get them thinking was. If you had to find water to drink and nothing was coming out of the tap and the stores were empty, where would you get it? That question always leads to the best conversations and it is a good time killer if you get held up waiting to board a flight going to a hockey tournament. It sure gave the kids something to think about. When my kids went off to University they both had survivals kits in their dorm room closets.
Living in Earthquake territory (long overdue for the big one) we have 160 litres of water stored in the garage, plenty of food rations and cash on hand. No power, no water, no problem. We have six houses along our stretch of road. Two of them are always whining when we have a bad storm and expect the Nanny state to save them. I just go back to watching hockey with the generator purring away as do the other three on the street that are pro-active when it comes to their own well-being. The Government runs ads saying you should have enough water and food to last at least 72 hrs. We could go for 72 days and probably a lot longer.
I have had a couple of ice dams that lead to a bit of water leaking inside over the years, I was not about to climb up and try to clear it. I hooked the hose to the hot water tap, stood on the ground and let her rip. Even at -10c, it melted the blockage.
Well time to go rip up some more flooring, the end is in sight and then I need to go get about 20 sheets of 12.5mm plywood for the new subfloor.
All the best to all.
Howdy .... Our winter adventures of past two days.:
There has been no boating here at the lake because it is iced over.A neighbor lady lost control of her SUV while driving on snow and ice down the steep hill at the beginning of our road. She crashed into trees . No injuries.We had a power outage for about three hours yesterday.Water began dripping into our family room from a ceiling light fixture yesterday from an apparent roof leak and melting ice.Weather conditions are forecasted to be improving over next several days.
Cheers !
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Ray,
That is part of the clouds falling so Partly Coudy
NorthBritRay Perhaps we may be able to meet when Covid is over.
Here's hoping!
Morning Folks! (Note I didn't say "good" morning, just Morning.....)
Not a terrible day here in the Finger Lakes today. Sure glad I don't live in Texas at the moment. At least I have many ways to stay safe during a horrible winter storm! I have two stand alone gas heaters in the house that could do a nice job (and have a couple times) of keeping the house warn even in sub zero temps and a portable generator that could keep the fridge and a few lights on.
I spent quite a bit of time checking out what effects Big Sur have had on my computer. So far except for checking some apps before opening them (meaning it takes longer to open a file) everything works well and I have had no real problems (hope I'm not going to regret saying that....). Have been gathering proof that I have completed the Author Certificate for the NMRA Achievement program. Sent a bunch of files along to our AP Manager in my Division yesterday. Hope to hear back from him soon. With tha one completed I am just one certificate away from MMR I guess. Been sitting on things for a few years now, so maybe I should get busy and finish the requirements. I only have either cars or Motive Power to do to complete the requirements.
I found out that the article I got published in MR a few years ago gave me almost all the points I need for the Author Certificate. I wrote a regular collumn for the NMRA Division Newsletter so I am using them to complete the rest of the needed points for it. I am still the Asst. Superintendent and the newsletter editor for my division.
Hmmmm.... Looking out the window I see a lot of little white things falling out of the sky. Partly cloudy??? Probably!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Good morning all. Ed. An excellent journey throughout. Thanks.
Ray Perhaps we may be able to meet when Covid is over.
Kevin. Yes. When the children ring and ask for Mom I know all is well.
Coffee time.
I have been asked to bake a pie. I think I'll bake a Cherry Pie.
Thoughts & Peace to All who Require.
Good morning all
Live from Sebring this morning. I'll have a regular to go please Zoe. So far so good here. Into second qualifying and the first sprint race today. We made some good improvements to the cars over the off season so we're happy there. The car we took out of a ten year storage and went through is working well also and the drive is getting up to speed nicely.
On the northern front the house passed inspection and the soil test came back good so it's moving along. All for now. I'll try to catch up later. Ciao, J. R.
Ohhh! She is just as cute as my little Brittany. She still likes to get together with me to do a craft project to this day. The last one we did was the Black Pearl pirate ship It's a good thing your little one can listen to some good tunes now, because of her Dad helping her
I would also like to thank Ed for doing such a great job with the diner this month, and last month
P.S. I never thought about the borders Charlie. I hope they get them opened up pretty soon too. And I also have a friend in Thief River Falls as well
I spent about an hour on the telephone video chatting with my youngest daughter today. She bought a stereo system and could not figure out how to hook it up.
I had to walk her through stripping the speaker wires, dual tape deck ins and outs, surround sound, etc.
It was a lot of fun. When my wife answered the phone and I heard her say " I NEED DAD!" I got real worried very fast. She only asks for me when something is seriously wrong that mom-love can't fix. I was so happy when she needed help.
Now I am missing my baby-baby an awful lot.
The World Is A Beautiful Place.
Good Evening,
Just recieved the latest Classic Trains issue and the traction feature is on Winnipeg! I remember riding on streetcars when I was small lad. They stopped when I was 7.
TF, yes there are a few palm trees on the west coast. I remember seeing a few the last time we were in Victoria. By road it is an 8 hour drive north to Winnipeg and then about 3 days west to Vancouver. Hope they get the border open by next year so we can visit our friends in Thief River Falls and get home. It has been closed for all non essential traffic since last April.
Just took Robbie out and it feels positively balmy.
Good Night All,
Ed,
Thanks again for doing such a great job of hosting the Diner!! Every post is interesting and informative. Your considerable efforts are much appreciated.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Let's walk across the street from the Strasburg Depot and visit the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
They offer a neat 360° view of some of the equipment.
http://rrmuseumpa.org/about/musviews/
Pick one of the subjects and rotate, pan or zoom in to look at the details. This is a pretty neat feature.
Tomorrow we couple the diner to a Pennsy local and head in to Philadelphia, where we can spend a little time seeing the sights until we again head off into Anthracite country around Scranton, Pennsylvania to visit Steamtown and a coal mine museum
Pennsy_downhill by Edmund, on Flickr
Too bad we won't be able to watch the "Flip Board" at 30th Street Station anymore
Cheers, Ed
Good evening
I guess I just freaked Judy out Brent. We are both almost 60 years old and neither one of us realized there's palm trees in Canada.
We have never even thought to go North to get somewhere warm. And she's laughing right now
The trip to Vancouver is now in the works. I can't erase the excitement after after she viewed the pictures.
I don't believe in flying these days. We drove to Wellington, North Dakota one time. Vancouver can't be too much farther North-West I hope.
I've said it before and I'll say it again that I never was too good with geography though.
I've always liked to drive out on the open road. Apparently, according to Judy, I will be doing that soon
Early spring in Vancouver it is!
Double post. Please delete.
I got the email today that Kalmbach is giving subscribers free access to the digital version.
There's another thread about it, but I just tried it, and I think it's great.
Steve, if you're reading this, thank you for making this available to us.
Track fiddlerIt is early spring now as I noticed it was light out till 6:30 last night. The clocks are turning back the other way! The tables are turning I think spring will be here before you know it guys
I just realized I'll be cutting the lawn in a couple of weeks. Time is flying. In the meantime I'll enjoy the palm trees in Vancouver.
There it is!
Love that hockey rink Brent. Just wish I could put on my CCM Super Tacks just one more time and skate on my bad knee If I was there then, I would have.
Ice dams are certainly a problem. I hope you had your roof done not too long ago Henry. And have that six foot of ice and water shield on the edges of your roof under the shingles. The dripping ain't the problem but the back damming is as you know. Sounds good that you got that problem remedied today.
Freezing and thawing is always a big problem in the early spring. It keeps a lot of guys pretty busy.
It is early spring now as I noticed it was light out till 6:30 last night. The clocks are turning back the other way! The tables are turning I think spring will be here before you know it guys
When you get up in the morning so happy to jump out of bed. Stretch your arms up in the air and do that one more last yawn. Stroll out to the patio with your cup of coffee and that great big smile on your face. Listening to the birds singing, welcoming the bright sunshiny day Life is good!
Looked out the window and saw it was sunny and raining, and then I realized it wasn't raining, I had an ice dam on the roof.
Yesterdays' sleet had slid down the roof, filled and overhung the gutters. My neighbor lent me his ladder and I shoveled out the gutters with a small gardening hand shovel and then poured a couple buckets of hot water in, to melt the ice around the inside of the down spouts.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley