Arctic blast

[sofadoc]

Northeast Texas is getting one. At least what "passes for" an Arctic blast around these parts. You guys up north would probably consider this pretty mild.

The temps are in the 20's. The streets are icy. And for southern drivers who aren't used to it, they can be a little treacherous. The schools have been closed for 2 days, and are opening late today. Most big retail stores are open while the small mom & pop stores are closed.

Activity in downtown Greenville consists of the Police station, the Court House, a few bail bondsmen, and some moron who has an upholstery shop. Everything else is closed.

What I've been hearing the most from people, is how they're going stir crazy from being cooped up for the last couple of days.

I always wonder how you guys deal with being hunkered down for much longer stretches of time. And how do you convince your clientele that life really DOES go on while we experience a little foul weather.

I'm quite the opposite of the "norm" around here. I don't see why people want to pull up to my shop with a truckload of furniture during the hottest part of the summer, and stand outside in the 105 degree heat and talk about it at great length.
THAT'S when I want to go into hibernation. They could take August off the calendar, and I wouldn't miss it one bit.

[cajunpedaler]

South Louisiana here, near Baton Rouge..we are under the line of freezing snow and ice, but getting hammered with rain.  It's a cold rain. 
We call this the "punish weather". It's the sh*tty bad weather you get before the nice weather.
We must have been really bad, because this is the worst in a while..

I keep thinking of getting one of those day-lights...just to try to offset the doldrum blues...

Perry

[brmax]

Its treacherous no matter, I feel the same way talking with friends in Minnesota or the Great North.
The calls made here in the Midwest about getting the roads clear for emergency and in reality its for the Mall shopping its seriously unbelievable. Been on that end and in the trucks many moons ago.
We have got use to the seemingly clean part of salt, calcium, brine and beet juice yet the re freezing of this is proof its not enough there has to be an aggregate on E designated arterial roads $.
Ice sucs, unless your skating! heres to ya
good day there

[Darren Henry]

Northeast Texas is getting one. At least what "passes for" an Arctic blast around these parts.

Sorry; I got sick and tired of that 30 below crap and sent it on a holiday. Lucky for you it had to go through Arizona first and warmed up LOL. This week is still below normal cool but not that real cold [by OUR standards] crud we have had. I just flipped the weather network over to *F. We are at 2 below but the wind chill makes it feel like 24 below F. Not too bad for those of us that own toques,mittens,winter boots,long john's etc...but I'm sure if you walked into your local Wall-mart and asked for a pair of long johns and a pair of bush packs (style of winter boots , BTW) they'd look at you like you were daft.

Have a bit of Foxworthy style fun with it. Come tax time tell the IRS you had to burn all your paper records to keep the water pipes from bursting and then had to sell your computer to buy some wool socks and a pair of bush packs !!! More credible than "the dog ate my home work".

BTW, why do you not have basements in Texas? Florida---no brainer---it's an indoor pool, but Texas is always portrade (sp?) as being arid in the movies etc... 

[Mike]

its warmed up here in recient days here sunset last night this is called alligator bar on charlotte harbor

[Mike]

Darren dig down 5 feet you hit water, I installed a sand spike well by hand a pvc pipe and well point vonnected to a water hose and install your own irrigation. unlike my house in NH we had to drill 150 feet to hit water  with a lake right there too

[kodydog]

We're having some of the strangest weather. It's been cold all day, upper 50's. Around 5:00 it started warming up. The weather man says it'll keep warming up till about midnight then drop like a rock. The wind is howling now.

Hay Darren, we do have bomb shelters here in Florida. Remnants from the Cuba crises. Don't know if Sofa in Texas has any.

[sofadoc]

Hay Darren, we do have bomb shelters here in Florida. Remnants from the Cuba crises. Don't know if Sofa in Texas has any.

No bomb shelters around here (we're Texans..........we always knew that we could whip Cuba's ass single-handedly). We worry more about an attack from Oklahoma.

A lot of the older homes around here do have storm shelters though. My stepdad's mother used to get in hers every time it even got cloudy outside.

[SteveA]

New York has been an ice box for the last month.  I'm used to it but what drives me crazy is that customers are impatient when it comes to their work.  If you say you're behind due to weather related issues or you can't pick up because the roads are icy they complain enough to make you slam the phone - sorry - hit the off button !
SA

[Mike]

We're having some of the strangest weather. It's been cold all day, upper 50's. Around 5:00 it started warming up. The weather man says it'll keep warming up till about midnight then drop like a rock. The wind is howling now.

Hay Darren, we do have bomb shelters here in Florida. Remnants from the Cuba crises. Don't know if Sofa in Texas has any.

I learned in later years after nobing to Burlington mass that there were at one time cold war missle bases in town
http://coldwar-ma.com/Nike_Missile_Bases.html
http://www.wickedlocal.com/article/20130213/News/302139592

[sofadoc]

[BTW, why do you not have basements in Texas? Florida---no brainer---it's an indoor pool, but Texas is always portrade (sp?) as being arid in the movies etc...

I did some extensive research on the subject (which means I Googled "Why don't they have basements in Texas?"). The main reason is, it isn't necessary to dig more than a couple of feet deep in order to keep pipes from freezing in Texas, so a basement would be an extra expense. Also the clay soil shifts dramatically.

[gene]

The first time I went to Florida many, many, many years ago, I was looking at an elevation map and thought it was interesting how they did not put any zeros on the map. They had "3", "15", "24", instead of "300", or "1500". I was told that those were the actual numbers. Wow. It really is only 3 feet above sea level.

It's been below freezing this entire week. I'm ready to start complaining about the heat.

gene

[Darren Henry]

Okay that makes sense Dennis---to a point. Where do you usually put your hot water tank/furnace/ storage/ etc... that would normally be in the basement or crawl space (as applicable). You folk need to A/C in the summer like we need to heat in the winter [24 below - 40 below windchill this morning/ -29 & -42 metric ] so I would think that you would want to minimize the square footage of your exterior walls as well.

[JuneC]

All storage is basically in the house, Darren - or the garage if you have one.  No furnace - it's called the sun.  No double-hung windows.  No storm doors.   The garage holds the washer and dryer, water heater is hung above the dryer (in my house) - it's a "short 40".  The garage also holds hurricane shutters and all lawn equipment because we use it year-round - winter is like vacation since the grass only needs cutting twice a month instead of every 5 or 6 days.  Pools only get drained to be resurfaced and we don't swim when the temp is below 83 or 84.

Insulation is basically non-existent.  The above-stove vent is open to the outside of the roof with no damper.  The attic vents are open, year round.  On a cold night I can feel the draft around the windows above my head in bed - yes, I need new windows. And right now the AC is cranking to keep the house at a comfortable 77.  It's been on since Saturday.  My orchids on the back fence are blooming.  Such is life in SoFla. 

Now August is another story.

June

[sofadoc]

Technically, a basement is feasible in Texas. But it would have to be built to extremely high standards. During the summer, cracks form in the ground big enough to lose a small child in.

Most homes built in the last 50 years are on a concrete slab. Not all of the slabs have piers sunk beneath them, but the ones that don't will likely develop serious foundation problems within the first 20 years.

Most water heaters are either in the garage or in a closet. The furnaces are usually in the attic or enclosed in a hallway. Storage is at the mini-warehouse on the edge of town.

A couple of winters ago, I went out to the garage, and found my cat sleeping on top of the water heater huddled up with a possum. Strange bedfellows?