|
|
Post by Mini Mia on Jan 26, 2011 0:43:46 GMT -6
Too bad the water from the flooded areas can't be pumped/shipped to the dry areas. I made that suggestion several years ago: That they build 'water' pipelines and 'water' silos to move/store flood waters. Maybe one day someone will figure out how to do that. 
|
|
|
|
Post by Siren on Jan 27, 2011 8:04:45 GMT -6
More snow for some already wintry areas today, including New York. Sheesh - those folks need a break! I hope all is well where you are, Gams.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mini Mia on Jan 27, 2011 18:33:18 GMT -6
What happened to global warming? 
|
|
|
|
Post by stepper on Jan 27, 2011 22:55:15 GMT -6
Haven't you heard? All this cold is the result of global warming.  |
|
|
|
Post by Phalon on Jan 29, 2011 7:42:22 GMT -6
I've been meaning to get in here and catch up for days now...
Give up my porch-sit due to a bit of a chill? Pfft! I'm out there everyday all throughout winter. In fact, I just got back inside after being entertained by the squirrels that made the hollow trunk of our maple out front their winter home. This morning, I watched the black squirrel defend its home from another black squirrel - sheesh, what a ruckus they made! The hollow is inhabited by a black squirrel and a gray squirrel - I've got a hunch this spring there will be a new batch of patchwork babies to entertain me while I sit on the porch.
And yep...I was out there even during when the temperature was 0.9 degrees! Of course, it had everything to do with the dog, who seems impervious to the cold and my urging her to hurry and do what she needs to do. I don't think even my crows were out that morning.
Crows. Not blackbirds. There's a huge difference - they're not even in the same family. Comparing a crow to a blackbird is like comparing a dolphin to an elephant; they're both the same color, and both mammals, sharing the traits that all mammals share, but similarities end there. In the bird world, crows are way more intelligent...and entertaining than blackbirds.
I'm with you, Siren!!! Whether it's 9 degrees, or 0.9 degrees - it's damned cold! That's all I care to know!
I agree - you can watch the scenes on television, or read the media reports, and still it's hard to imagine what these poor people are experiencing.
Hope you're still having your beautiful weather, Katina.
With water being the earth's most precious natural resource, and its supply limited, it would seem inevitable that somehow flood waters could be captured, and be put to use.
All is well here. Aside from that hideously cold morning, we've actually had a pretty good week - snow fell a couple of days, but not in unmanageable amounts, the temperatures returned to the twenties, and yesterday, the low thirties.
Hope everyone is staying warm.
|
|
|
|
Post by stepper on Jan 29, 2011 23:59:46 GMT -6
Winter isn't over here yet. Tonight the weather guesser said next week we could have the lowest temps we've had in more than a year. Then he pointed out that our area of the country has never experienced a below zero reading. Hopefully that comment was just pointing out that we aren't International Falls.
|
|
|
|
Post by Siren on Jan 30, 2011 10:13:03 GMT -6
Big winter storm due in Oklahoma in the next couple of days. Granted, our definition of a "big" storm is quite different from in Phalon's country, where they really know what winter is all about. But central OK is due some ice and snow that will make the roads pretty bad for a few days.
Oh, Gams, those little patchwork squirrels will be real cuties!!
|
|
|
|
Post by stepper on Jan 30, 2011 17:07:07 GMT -6
It's been a long time so I wouldn't mind seeing some snow, but I can do without serious accumulations. We get ice here more often than snow - it's not nearly as much fun.
|
|
|
|
Post by Phalon on Jan 31, 2011 7:36:34 GMT -6
I'm not quite so sure, Siren. The gray squirrels are cuter, I think - all cuddly looking with their white tummies and huge, fluffy tails. The black squirrels' tails in comparison are kind of scraggly - see-through, almost, if that makes sense. It seems as if the black squirrels' genes are stronger - every mix of gray and black I've seen results in a black squirrel with a grayish-red scraggly tail. Not-so-cute but still entertaining....in an annoyingly pesky way.
That storm coming your way in a couple of days is supposed to hit here too....so says the weatherman. During last night's forecast he called it "the BIG One", going on and on about how much snow we were supposed to get, and how it'd be the worst storm this year. He even went so far in his predictions to predict schools would be closed on Wednesday. Eye-roll...because then he had to clarify that the storm was still off the coast of California, had to travel cross-country, which of course, means there's a big possibility it might veer 100 miles south or north of us. So why make such a big deal of it so early?
Probably because there's an overstock of milk and bread at the grocery stores, I'm thinking. (another eye-roll)
I'll say. Our snow's turned to ice. The above-freezing weekend temperatures melted the top layer, which refroze during overnight; it was 12 degrees this morning. Even the dog had a hard time walking on it this morning. Kind of a cool-thing though - it sounds like breaking glass when you walk on it. Maybe not as fun as snow, but sometimes you gotta take your fun however you can get it.
No skiing in the forecast....unless the weatherman's predictions are right.
I also saw on the news last night, reports of the wildfire burning north of Oklahoma City. Hope you and yours are out of harm's way, Siren.
|
|
|
|
Post by Siren on Jan 31, 2011 22:31:16 GMT -6
We are, indeed, Gams, thank you. I read that there were 25 wildfires across the state Saturday evening. The whole state is lacking moisture. That's one good thing that will come out of the winter storm we're expecting. They say there will be blizzard conditions in some parts of the state, and that central OK will get 10-12" of snow. Down here in SE OK, we should get 4-6", after a bit of ice. Gonna be yucky. Okie drivers are the WORST, anywhere. Add a bit of winter to the roads, and it's a nightmare. Oh well, the tow truck drivers should make some good money this week.
Oh, by the way - have you all noticed how much some men enjoy helping total strangers get their vehicles out of ditches and drifts after a snowstorm? They'll even drive around town, looking for people to help. My boss was all excited today, in anticipation of this. Said that if he had "the right kind of truck", he would spend all day doing it.
I'm still adjusting to small-town life. I went to the grocery store today in anticipation of the storm (I know *eye roll*), and was prepared for their milk and bread supplies to be nearly all gone, as they always were, pre-storm, at my OKC neighborhood market. I was so surprised that my hometown grocer had plenty of everything. My mom says, though, that there would be "snatching and grabbing" at Walmart, and that bread and milk supplies there would be low. I hate that place, and the toll it takes on small town business people, and am willing to pay more to not endure it.
|
|
|
|
Post by stepper on Feb 1, 2011 22:32:09 GMT -6
The local weather guesser officially used the 's' word this evening, and since it's not going to get above freezing until late Friday or Saturday, anything that comes down will stick. And he said it would be more than flurries. What you have to understand is that it hasn't actually snowed here since something like 1985. That's a lot of people who have never driven on snow - dream weather if you own a body shop - not so much for those who will end up needing repairs.
|
|
|
|
Post by Phalon on Feb 2, 2011 7:58:15 GMT -6
BOLL! Yes, I noticed....all throughout my childhood. Dad was one of those men driving around town, looking for people to help. He had an International Harvester Scout - I'm not sure of the exact year, but it looked exactly like this, (except it wasn't a convertible and was a powder-blue color): www.scoutregistry.com/profile.php?id=24Dad's Scout had a winch on the front, with a heavy chain and hook. He loved that Scout and winch....and snow. Sometimes he'd take my oldest-younger brother and me with him on his rescue missions, (youngest brother was still a baby when the Scout was around). It was always exciting for us kids, especially when it was at night. I'm not sure who had the bigger thrill - us kids or Dad. Yes!!! My sentiments exactly! The Blizzard of 2011 hit here yesterday afternoon. School today was canceled even before the last bell rang yesterday; even Hubs office closed for today by the time he left work yesterday. The snow was accompanied by ridiculously strong winds, which seem to have died down for the moment. It's still snowing though, the wind is supposed to pick up again, and the blizzard warning is still on until 7pm tonight. Kind of a weird thing: I was out with the dog early yesterday afternoon while it was still fairly calm. Suddenly, and out of nowhere, probably close to 50 blackbirds (not crows) flew in from all directions and landed in my across-the-street neighbor's burning bush. The bush is only about 4' by 4' and to see it completely covered in birds was a very strange sight. Stranger still was that they were blackbirds; I haven't seen a blackbird here since fall. I wonder if it was one of those times when animals can sense upcoming weather, and maybe they gathered because there's safety in numbers? They flew off as suddenly as they landed though, and not all in the same direction. Whatever the reason, since then I've had that nursery rhyme stuck in my head... Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye. Four and twenty blackbirds, Baked in a pie. I'm as unsure of what the words mean as I am of why the blackbirds converged on the bush. |
|
|
|
Post by Siren on Feb 2, 2011 9:34:07 GMT -6
Strange that those birds flew in from all directions to land in the same place. I wonder how they communicate their plans? This is a particular mystery to me when I see a flock flying in a close flock, flying fast, and changing direction almost at one. Sometimes, they look like a solid sheet of birds, they're flying so closely. And yet, they change direction almost at the same time. Very odd. Those crazy strong winds hit Oklahoma, too. Up in the northwest part of the state, they had gusts to 45 miles an hour! They had the most snow in the state up there, too. We got about 5" of snow in my front yard. In OKC, about 90 miles from here, they got about 12". My sis, about 45 minutes from OKC, got enough that the drift was even with her porch floor, about a 2' drift, I'd guess. And David in OKC told me that the drifts went all the way up to the bottom of his car windows. I'm on my second consecutive snow day from work - so strange for me. My station is under the jurisdiction of the Chickasaw Nation headquarters. When the headquarters closes because of weather, we close, too. So strange for me. It's one thing for the office and sales staff to be told to stay home. It's entirely another for the airstaff to get a day off. But since the computers that run the station audio don't have to drive in, the station rolls on. What a sweet memory of your dad's "rescue missions", Gams. ("rescue missions" made me laugh) I think that, for those rescuers, it's a feeling of accomplishment, and of helping someone, and of "man against the elements". And in the case of having a keen vehicle like your dad's, with a hook and winch, it's a case of getting to use guy toys, always a good thing.  |
|
|
|
Post by Phalon on Feb 3, 2011 5:38:41 GMT -6
I've wondered the same thing. Some of those flocks appear to be hundreds strong, and not a one is out of sync!
All said and done, the blizzard dumped about 15 to 20 inches of snow here; the amount depends which weather report you listen to. We never really get an accurate forecast (if there is such a thing), because the reports come out of the bigger cities, all of which are at least 50 miles from here. Our town was though, mentioned in an AP news report of Michigan's "Blizzard of 2011" - when a restaurateur and his wife opened their cafe for breakfast yesterday morning. (eye-roll)
Hope you enjoyed your day(s) off, Siren!
|
|
|
|
Post by Siren on Feb 3, 2011 10:12:50 GMT -6
15-20 inches?? Wow! So, how high are the drifts?
This is my third day off from work, due to the cold temperatures. I have enjoyed the sleeping in. But being at home has made me a bit nervous. It reminds me of when I was unemployed. So, I am ready to get back in the old routine.
It was zero degrees outside when I got up this morning. Has been below freezing since the storm came in. But I think we'll work tomorrow, as they say it'll finally be above freezing then, and should loosen the ice on the roads a bit.
|
|
|
|
Post by stepper on Feb 4, 2011 13:06:38 GMT -6
As a point of reference, one of the things mentioned on the news today was that we had nearly 72 hours in the twenties or lower. They started keeping records sometime around 1885 and since then the past couple days account for only the sixth and seventh days where the temperature didn't get to at least thirty sometime during the entire day. In other words, we don't normally have extended hard freezes. This one is finally passing. Well, as many other people in the country experienced, this artic front included snow and everyone got excited. Of course, the excitement was misplaced. At the last moment a wedge of warmer air moved in. The falling snow melted but immediately froze on contact resulting in black ice - on everything. Eventually the freezing rain turned into graupel - partially melted snow pellets. There was just enough of that to cover the ice. The storm moved on just before daybreak but with everything frozen work was delayed until noon. I was in the truck on the way in when the cell phone rang to let me know they had cancelled the afternoon too - still too much ice on the roads in some areas. So after all the fussing and anticipation of snow, this is what I woke to.  Something that bugs me, this is how you have to protect pipes here. For what ever reason - one that I'm sure involves money - they don't build homes with spigot cut offs. I was expecting an inside cut off valve so I could turn off the water to the outside spigots, then open them up and let 'em drain. But no, you can't do that here. They sell a styrofoam thing that fixs over most outside spigots but the operative word is "most". The pipe on mine extends a bit too far so none of them work. What you are seeing is a couple old T-Shirts and duct tape to hold it all in place. At least I got the day off - mostly.
[Edited To: Resize the second image. Nothing else was changed. ~Mini-Mia]
|
|
|
|
Post by Phalon on Feb 5, 2011 8:14:05 GMT -6
We don't have cut off valves for the outside spigots either. I can't ever remember having such a thing in any of our houses, so I asked Hubs just to verify that turning off the outside water wasn't one of those things he always does that I wasn't aware he did. Nope. Just disconnect the hose when the temperatures drop in fall, and don't turn on the outside water until the danger of freezing passes in spring.
Maybe it's because we've always had basements? The pipes don't freeze because the basement temperature isn't below freezing.
Hope you mostly enjoyed it! (Nice use of duct tape, btw.)
I walked downtown yesterday morning to meet a couple of friends at the coffee shop. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but oh-so-brrr-cold! I was going to walk down to the beach afterward, but quickly changed my mind once I thawed out inside the shop with a couple of cups of steaming hot coffee. Inside, we got a window-side table, and I watched a big front end loader fill up dump truck after dump truck with snow from the huge mounds the plows left in the main public parking lot. There seemed to be an endless stream of them; we where there for about an hour and a half, and the trucks never stopped rolling in. In the foreground of activity, the zamboni was busy at work on the ice-rink under the pavilion, (like the leaf-sucker truck, I've always wanted to drive a zamboni...just once).
It's Ice-Breaker Festival this weekend, and everyone was getting ready.
|
|
|
|
Post by Siren on Feb 5, 2011 9:29:25 GMT -6
The winter does reveal more of duct tapes myriad uses, eh Step? Yesterday, my mom recalled improvising snow boots for me, using bread bags held in place with duct tape (or, if really desperate, rubber bands). She said, "They weren't much good. You probably didn't get down the steps without the bag tearing." But I had to cry when I got off the phone, thinking of her trying to keep my feet dry. And I smiled, thinking of us girls being sent out on the important tasks of spreading vegetable peels and wilted lettuce leaves for the wild rabbits and deer and chicken feed for the wild birds, and to gather snow for snow ice cream. I used to love following the little tracks from the wild rabbits, and used to delight in the rare sighting of deer tracks in the snow. It made me feel good to think we had helped the animals get through a hard winter day.
To this day, snow makes me cheerful.
What happens at the Ice-Breaker Festival, Gams? And why aren't Okies smart enough to have basements, like you folks do? I know very few people here who have a basement.
I need to check to see if we, too, are having a record string of very cold days, Step. I'm still marveling at it being zero degrees when I awoke the other day.
|
|
|
|
Post by stepper on Feb 6, 2011 15:29:27 GMT -6
I'm surprised to hear that Phalon. Water freezes in the pipes and has been known to crack them. When they thaw the resulting flood usually requires turning off the water to the house while it's repaired. We had a basement cut off in NJ and I'm sure the heat in the basement kept the pipes in the house from freezing, but the outside spigots were opened so they could drain instead of freezing up.
It holds all winter, but starts to give out about spring. That works out okay because it's easily removed.
Congratulations Siren! You have no idea how many people insist in saying "myriad of".
It may be because of the dirt there Siren. Here, the land is actually a kind of clay, or sand, but mostly clay. The problem is that clay expands and contracts quite a bit depending on moisture content. That means during the summer when it doesn't rain much the land contracts away from foundations and basements. When the rains return, the ground expands again. That movement is extremely hard on foundations and destroys basements. It takes extensive and expensive adujustments to have a basement here. The cost is prohibitive so builders simply don't make homes with basements here. Maybe it's the same there.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mini Mia on Feb 6, 2011 19:37:24 GMT -6
 Dat-Dang-It! Why do the skunks have to keep spewing their vile odor around my heat/air unit? I had to smell it all night and whenever I'd wake up my first thought would be that wires were overheating somewhere and the house was going to burst into flames ... and then another breath would remind me what the smell actually was. It was faint when I got up to go to church, but really strong when I got back home.
At least he wasn't too close to the heat/air unit. One time one skunk was so close my house stunk for several weeks. He must have spewed while the fan was blowing air into the house. ... I kept waiting for someone at church to sniff the air and ask if anyone else could smell skunk. 
|
|
|
|
Post by katina2nd on Feb 6, 2011 20:46:55 GMT -6
Sheesh this looks like a nice place to visit.  Sorry for the extended absence folks [ nope I didn't pop my clogs ] but had some drama with my brother in hospital for several days. He's home now and seems in fine fettle, so alls well that ends well as the saying goes .................. plus there's the added benefit of having me back.  |
|
|
|
Post by Mini Mia on Feb 6, 2011 21:13:38 GMT -6
Sorry to hear your brother was in the hospital, Kat. Glad he's home and doing fine. 
|
|
|
|
Post by Phalon on Feb 7, 2011 11:51:16 GMT -6
Katina!!! I'm sorry to hear your brother's been in the hospital! I'm glad he's home now, and feeling better...hopefully you are too, the stress and worry from the last several days gone.
Can't say why the houses we owned (two right outside Cincinnati, and the one here) never had shut-off valves to the spigots. I checked around - nobody else has them either ("nobody" consists of my neighbor and my two brothers). I haven't seen anybody (which has a much larger population than nobody) use little spigot jackets either. <shrugs> Just one of those unexplainable things, I guess.
It's similar to any other small town festival, Siren, except with icy festivities. Ice craving on the sidewalks by amateurs and professionals with chainsaws (something most people want on their town streets - amateurs with chainsaws)....ice rink activities, the Maritime Museum always shows winter on the Great Lakes movies, Euchere tournaments, sidewalk sales (leaving a wide berth around the chainsaws), and of course - food! In the case of Ice-Breaker, it's a chili cook-off; there's nothing better to get rid of the icy cold than spicy-hot chili.
Sorry for your stinky woes, Joxie. Have you tried spreading used kitty-litter around the area? We've discussed this before, haven't we - the wonders of used kitty litter. Of course, I'm not sure which would smell worse - the skunk spew, or cat urine.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mini Mia on Feb 7, 2011 18:20:31 GMT -6
The back yard is littered with cats, so I'm sure the whole area should smell like cat urine, if not cats. I did dump some of my indoor cat's used litter around the heat/air unit years back, but it's the clumping kind and it was more mess than help. The non-clumping litter would work better outside, but it's more of a mess dealing with it inside than the clumping kind.
Skunks eat ants though, so for that reason I like having them around. Better that the ants end up in the skunks tummy than in my house covering my sweet treats and counter tops. I also usually feed the outside cat's during the day and try not to throw out any scraps after dark, but lately I've not heeded my routine, so I'm assuming that the skunk came up to eat and the cat's took offense. The skunks really only irritate me when they spew where the odor can get sucked into the house. I've known two people who loved skunk smell, and they'd probably be in heaven living in my house. Alas they're both dead.
|
|
|
|
Post by katina2nd on Feb 7, 2011 20:30:24 GMT -6
Thanks Jox and Gams. Hope your own problems are short lived, skunk odor and chainsaw wielding amateurs, not sure which is the most worrying.  |
|
|
|
Post by Siren on Feb 8, 2011 8:17:23 GMT -6
Katina, mi amigo! Good to see you. I hope all is well with your brother soon.
Another winter storm is headed our way, predicted to dump 4-8" of snow in the next 24 hrs. Oh well - at least I bought the obligatory "bread, milk, and toilet paper" last week. The obligatory "cokes and cat food" need to be replenished today.
|
|
|
|
Post by Phalon on Feb 10, 2011 5:48:58 GMT -6
Siren, hope your cat's got food and you've got your caffeine in the form of Coke fix (or is it a Southern-type "coke" which doesn't have to be Coke, but maybe 7-Up?). I heard most all of Oklahoma got hammered. (There may be some whiskey in that coke, there)
This one missed us, except for the cold. Thought my ears were going to fall off yesterday after walking just a few blocks to the library.
|
|
|
|
Post by Siren on Feb 11, 2011 8:13:54 GMT -6
Lol! No, Gams, to me, a Coke is a Coke. The generic term for me is "soda". Though, I was once asked if I was a Yankee after using the term soda. You're right - many folks here say Coke in reference to any kind of soda pop.
I hope your ears thawed out all right. We have had some ear and nose-nipping cold here, too. In fact, Nowata, OK recorded the coldest temperature in OK history yesterday - -31 degrees. As you and I discussed the other day, there are just some temperatures you don't want to know about!
Lots of snow to go with the cold, too. Tulsa has broken its season, monthly, and yearly snow total records. In far northeastern OK, some areas had 25" of snow, which is just unheard of here. One truck stop in that area had 200 trucks snowed-in on its parking lot, as drivers got off the highway to wait out the storm. Homeless shelters and Salvation Army facilities are running out of food. It has been a crazy, crazy situation.
All together, we got about 8 inches of snow here, and not much ice. So, we got off very lucky. And the snow ice cream was delish!
As for that whiskey & coke, a friend invented a new drinking game based on local news coverage of the snow. Her drink of choice varied between a hot toddy and Bailey's & coffee.
|
|
|
|
Post by Phalon on Feb 13, 2011 7:40:39 GMT -6
Bailey's and coffee is always a good choice!
Is all that snow and below freezing temperatures going to be just a not-too-distant memory there after this week, Siren? It's supposed to be above freezing all week here, even reaching into the 40s and 50s! Hubs is all giddy, acting like spring is here. Pfft. I'll miss the snow.
(Sniff) I went last-chance skiing yesterday before the meltdown - just to the track because I didn't have a lot of time. There was a church group there, walking laps for charity. Because the track is wide open, and we had about six more inches last week, there were some pretty decent sized drifts. It was kinda funny watching the church people try to plod their way around the track; their path was all zig-zaggy from trying to avoid the deepest areas. Rather than make my own neat oval trail, I just followed in their all-over-the-place pattern. ARGH! Every time I'd get a nice smooth set of ski tracks to follow the next time around, they'd mess them up by walking on them, turning the snow to mush....which of course stuck to the bottom of my skis. It was not fun by any means....but a needed good workout; I've been stuck inside for the majority of the week with LX, who's been sick (but made a miraculous recovery in time for "Winter Fest" at school on Friday).
There was disharmony between the squirrels yesterday. They were making quite a racket arguing back and forth. Gray was on the tree trunk screeching at the nose of Black, which was just visible sticking out of the hole in the tree. Whatever Gray said made Black vacate their home, which Gray promptly re-entered. The hole is only about the size of my fist, and Gray - the bigger squirrel - has to wiggle his way in, taking some effort to get his mid-section through. He sat in the hole, guarding it by his head sticking all the way out, and yelling at Black every time he got near. He looked ridiculous with his head stuck out like that, and I wish I'd had my camera handy.
Maybe their close quarters are getting to them, and like Hubs, they're getting antsy for spring.
|
|
|
|
Post by Siren on Feb 13, 2011 9:48:17 GMT -6
Lol! Domestic squabbles among the squirrels, eh? I guess its nice to know we humans aren't alone in that.
Hubs may not be alone in getting spring fever, Gams. Yes, we do have much warmer weather this weekend. And my mom is afraid that it will make the apricot trees think it is spring, too. They do tend to jump the gun on blooming out, and then get nipped when the cold weather comes again.
On an unrelated note - has it not been amazing, watching the resolution in Egypt unfold? And as a Xena fan, I got a kick out of hearing some of the Egyptian women ululate with a cry very much like the Warrior Princess'. I had read that that native cry was the inspiration for Xena's. Very neat to hear it, and in joyful celebration.
|
|
