Good morning!!!!

[RedNeckGeek]

Please forgive me if this seems like stating the obvious, but perhaps the lesson we should all take away from this winter is that the vernier of civilization is very thin. I don't think you need to go full blown prepper to survive times like this, but having a stock of non-perishable food, a reliable source of water, extra blankets, and maybe a generator and appropriate fuel wouldn't break the bank and would save a lot of inconvenience. Since a lot of us are rural and you have a source of firewood on your property, a wood stove wouldn't hurt to have, either. If the weather goes sour for a week, it's a lot nicer to roll over and sleep in until it gets better, rather than have to go driving on ice or rain slick roads chasing after necessities that have already been picked clean.:2cents:

 

[daugen]

RNG could be like Santee Cooper built nuclear power plant that would never work from the get go design flaw now customers holding the bag or bill

It would appear that we are not ready for this type of natural disaster our basic utility cannot keep up our infrastructure is hurting has been for years. We keep pumping money in the wrong places and are headed for third world status if we are not careful

With the clearly evidenced fire load that much of California has, and the weather patterns there,
it's a challenge to any power distribution company. But it seems there was incompetence there, just like there was incompetence at the BP refinery fire due to
lack of needed maintenance. Expensive lessons to these companies, bankrupted the power co in CA and sure hurt BP's bottom line.

And Santee Cooper has sure been an albatross to its owner, no revenue to pay off investment, and huge cost to clean up now.
Seems the industry as a whole is not self policing well. Just ask the residents of Chernoble and Fukushima.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

RNG, instead of using ballast and 4WD on concrete, could you put pallet forks on your 3pt and reverse up the steep section?

Good point, Eric.:thumbsup: When I made the set of pallet forks, I put connections on it so it would fit on the 3PH. It's impossible to see the relationship between the forks and the pallets when the forks are on the FEL and the pallets are on the ground, at least wile remaining seated, so I've banged up more than a few pallets as a result. And I can see where the fork tips would be quite easily if they were mounted on the 3PH. But (there's always a but, right?) I don't think the forks on the 3PH would reach the top pallet in the stack, so I'd have to use the FEL for that, then move the forks to the 3PH for the rest of the trip to the garage. That's more work, and I'm pretty lazy.:laughing: So for now I'm gonna hope that the little bit of extra ballast on the box blade does the trick. If it doesn't, maybe I'll go scrounging for another section of railroad track and a longer set of bolts.

 

[sodamo]

65°F and .03 inches rain.

Eye exam this morning. Most likely a prescription change so will be ordering new glasses.

If I get dilated that will pretty much be it for my day as normally it takes me rest of day to recover avoiding sunshine.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[Bird]

If I get dilated that will pretty much be it for my day as normally it takes me rest of day to recover avoiding sunshine.

When I had my eye exam last week, they had a new machine/instrument or whatever that I'd never seen before and know nothing about, but it cost me about $45 and the claim is that it does a better job than dilating the eyes did and no dilation required.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Good point, Eric.:thumbsup: When I made the set of pallet forks, I put connections on it so it would fit on the 3PH. It's impossible to see the relationship between the forks and the pallets when the forks are on the FEL and the pallets are on the ground, at least wile remaining seated, so I've banged up more than a few pallets as a result. And I can see where the fork tips would be quite easily if they were mounted on the 3PH. But (there's always a but, right?) I don't think the forks on the 3PH would reach the top pallet in the stack, so I'd have to use the FEL for that, then move the forks to the 3PH for the rest of the trip to the garage. That's more work, and I'm pretty lazy.:laughing: So for now I'm gonna hope that the little bit of extra ballast on the box blade does the trick. If it doesn't, maybe I'll go scrounging for another section of railroad track and a longer set of bolts.

I’ve got most of what need .. for a portable, front mounted camera for my tractors. I’ve got a 9” monitor that can connect to two cameras, a long video / 12 volt umbilical, some 3” x 3” tubing to protect the camera, and a pair of very strong magnets to hold the camera in place on the grill guard, pallet forks frame, etc.

I just haven’t found a camera with a narrow /close view. All seem to be 140-170° field of view i.e. “backup cameras”. I want narrower to focus on forks, tree / post puller, etc.

 

[rswyan]

I had to chuckle here, the pot calling the kettle black for someone from California complaining about the efficiencies of other states.

Actually, it's the inverse ... at in the case of the junior Senator from Texas ... :laughing:

 

[Dftodd]

-1 at our house. Thermometer in the truck showed -7 in one spot while I was taking my wife to work this morning.

Works been canceled till Friday at the earliest.

Guy in charge of the Wichita wellpoint job sent out an email wanting people to be there Friday.

It's nice having a regional manager based out of our location. He called him and told him he bumped his head Trucks wouldn't be rolling out of Arkansas and Tennessee till Sunday to head up there to finish. Both states will probably be shut down till Saturday at the earliest.

It is supposed to be barely above freezing Friday, so i'll probably pick up the service truck Friday afternoon when I pick my wife up from work.

Really pretty out and 7° at the moment. Prefect weather to get bundled up and take the dog for another walk

 

[daugen]

I'm very interested in seeing what you get, I always wanted a camera to see where the leading edge of the bucket was.
I wonder if vibration/jiggling will be an issue on either the picture quality or the durability of camera.

 

[rswyan]

Unless I'm mistaken, Drew, Rick's reply was in response from comments from RS, who I believe dwells in wonderful Ohio.

Having been brought up in Ohio, I can understand RS's disappointment at not having fully participated in Polar Vortex.:laughing:

No need for disappointment on my part ... just have to wait a few days ... it will get here ... :laughing:

I must admit some disappointment in not getting more snow though to really get a chance to use the snowblower to move some serious snow.

But then winter isn't over yet either ...

 

[lostcreekranch]

Actually, it's the inverse ... at in the case of the junior Senator from Texas ... :laughing:

Is your obvious hatred of Texas .. and Texans .. a jealousy thing or what? ..... Not laughing.

 

[daugen]

need to go out for a walk it's so warm out, 47 degrees, high for the next ten days.
Everything is pretty mushy though.
Never thought I'd be saying wish I could send Texas some warmer weather.

 

[riptides]

Your lack of wind power is not the issue.

Read the link in the Texas winter thread.

Good morning. Our temperature bottomed out at 8° this morning and now already up to 14° and sunshine. It should get up to the low 30's this afternoon.

It only got to the mid 20's yesterday but .. with a full day of sunshine .. the surface of what was very fine powder .. melted and then refroze overnight creating a crust on the snow. With forecast temps I suspect the snow will be here at least a few more days. It's supposed to get to high 40's on Saturday and the 60's by Sunday.

Those .. choosing to criticize "Texas" Power Grid management would do well to educate themselves prior to "sounding off". The Texas Power Grid (yes .. we have our own) is managed by ERCOT .. not Texas State and / or local government. ERCOT is independent and in general manages our power well. Texas' decision to create our own power grid was and is intentional. For one thing .. it keeps the Federal Government from meddling with our power.

Our present weather / temperature is a once in a generation event .. last time was 7° in 1989 .. that event was just cold .. not icy as we're experiencing this week.

Do you build your "power system" for the absolute worse case ever? That would be costly and extremely in-efficient .. so no.

It's unfortunate .. that a bad combination of ice storms and long term, low temperatures took the majority of our wind power off line. But that demonstrates that .. had our state been "majority wind power" .. we'd all be freezing to death about now. Prior to yesterday most of Texas was very overcast for last 10 days or so limiting what power came from Solar farms. And a large % of them got iced as well .. further reducing output.

ERCOT elected to use short term rolling blackouts to get through this. Ours have all been 30-40 minutes in duration which is nearly un-noticeable.

My point is that a total conversion to wind / solar is unworkable. We would have significantly less reliable power .. at significantly higher cost. This week hammered that lesson home .. for me.

Hope everyone stay safe and warm.

Prayers to all.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Your lack of wind power is not the issue.

Read the link in the Texas winter thread.

I never said the loss of wind power was the sole issue?

BUT .. losing 25,000 MW of capacity during a "once in a generation" cold spell, with ice, snow, freezing rain .. isn't the best timing.

Losing 25,000 MW of capacity, regardless of the source, is no small issue.

You're free to go solely wind /solar but .. this week demonstrates .. you may not like the result.

 

[txdon]

15˚F at noon, our clear morning sky is starting to cloud up again. Have not had another blackout since we woke up. Mom keeps getting them but she says she is timing her cooking and staying warm.

We bundled up and took Whipper for a walk this morning when it was 11˚F. we stayed in the middle of the street where that one car had compacted the snow. The snow is still dry like the skiing snow I remember on the Colorado mountains. I noticed two of the twenty house we passed had tracks coming out of the garage, so people are venturing about. I never thought I would think 20˚F is a warming trend.

Drew you can keep the warm up there I have lived through too many Texas Augusts. A week of bitter cold is ok, but no more.

Bird we have been using the non-dilating eye exam for years and gladly pay the extra fee for not having to have our eyes dilated. I think the fee was between $30-$50.

 

[sodamo]

Thanks, Bird. Never been offered that option so I guess not available at this Dr. I’d pay the extra fee.

 

[rswyan]

Good morning. Our temperature bottomed out at 8ｰ this morning and now already up to 14ｰ and sunshine. It should get up to the low 30's this afternoon.

It only got to the mid 20's yesterday but .. with a full day of sunshine .. the surface of what was very fine powder .. melted and then refroze overnight creating a crust on the snow. With forecast temps I suspect the snow will be here at least a few more days. It's supposed to get to high 40's on Saturday and the 60's by Sunday.

That's certainly got to be welcome news.

Hopefully this will be the only event Texas has to endure this winter.

Those .. choosing to criticize "Texas" Power Grid management would do well to educate themselves prior to "sounding off".

But I didn't criticize Texas Power Grid management - in fact, I'm pretty sure I clearly stated that I didn't know what - if any - role Texas Power Grid management played in the situation.

However, having said that, it seems to me that at least exploring the question might be in the best interests of those who are supposed to be served by the entity that oversees it (that would be the consumers in my mind)

Apparently, there are some in Texas - including the Speaker of the Texas House - that think reviewing the matter of statewide power outages seems like a reasonable proposition. And he has called for hearings later this month.

To me, that just seems like common sense.

What went wrong with the Texas power grid?

The Texas Power Grid (yes .. we have our own) is managed by ERCOT .. not Texas State and / or local government. ERCOT is independent and in general manages our power well. Texas' decision to create our own power grid was and is intentional. For one thing .. it keeps the Federal Government from meddling with our power.

Seemingly a laudable goal ... at least in theory.

Texplainer: Why Does Texas Have Its Own Power Grid?

Our present weather / temperature is a once in a generation event .. last time was 7ｰ in 1989 .. that event was just cold .. not icy as we're experiencing this week.

Do you build your "power system" for the absolute worse case ever? That would be costly and extremely in-efficient .. so no.

I suspect that you may see that line of thinking re-examined a little more closely in the future, in terms of the balancing of interests (investment vs. capability) ... particularly if this type of event becomes more commonplace.

It's unfortunate .. that a bad combination of ice storms and long term, low temperatures took the majority of our wind power off line.

Unfortunate - particularly for those Texas communities that are hardest hit - but probably foreseeable.

If that's true, then where does the responsibility lie ?

But that demonstrates that .. had our state been "majority wind power" .. we'd all be freezing to death about now. Prior to yesterday most of Texas was very overcast for last 10 days or so limiting what power came from Solar farms. And a large % of them got iced as well .. further reducing output.

Well, I'm certainly not advocating that Texas (or anywhere else for that matter) be "majority wind power".

I do think, like Drew points out, that a balancing of sources/methods are needed ... and not just for Texas.

That's why I raised the issue of (cleaner ?) nuclear previously.

ERCOT elected to use short term rolling blackouts to get through this. Ours have all been 30-40 minutes in duration which is nearly un-noticeable.

My point is that a total conversion to wind / solar is unworkable. We would have significantly less reliable power .. at significantly higher cost. This week hammered that lesson home .. for me.

I wouldn't disagree (with the highlighted)

But I will say that while NG is a great resource from a number of angles, it is also my understanding that Texas does not produce enough to meet it's own needs. And that raises the issue of what happens when there is a widespread situation like this weather event, where other areas that Texas might draw from, are effected as well.

So NG certainly isn't the be-all, end-all.. in that it's a finite resource.

To me, NG seems like a stopgap, temporary solution at best ... until we can transition to more sustainable forms of power generation.

 

[MossRoad]

How about discussing the Texas power grid in another forum in another thread so we don't have to prune this one/close it?

Good morning.

 

[pennwalk]

Woke up to a loud noise on the roof like someone fell on it or something fell in the attic???? Will investigate when it gets light outside. No trees close.

Don did you ever find out what caused that noise? I was letting my imagination run wild and thought of blue ice falling from an airliner or a meteorite. The last time we has a thump in the night it was one of my wife's house plants falling off a window ledge.

Chris

 

[toppop52]

Randy, my condolences. Thanks for sharing those pictures, was it your mom that first got you involved with sewing and upholstery ?

Yes it was. She was a magician with a pair of scissors and a sewing machine.