After all the hoopla, the ice storm is coming! It was a frail attempt at a good ice storm here. I am somewhat disappointed, but at the same time, quite relieved. We did get a small icing, I’ve seen more ice accumulation that went completely unannounced before. However this incident did not go without issue, though admittedly minor.
I am unaware at this time how bad it hit further north. I’m sure someone got hit hard. It is a devastating event when a good ice storm gets ya. Trees down everywhere you look. Trees stripped bare of branches, they were weighed down so mightily the branches all broke and hit the ground. Some places looking like a huge bomb went off. Power lines down all in a row. Roads darn near impassible, unless someone with a chain saw had already been through. Ice draping everything you can see, it is one hell of a time. I feel for whoever suffered that fate. I’ve been through it.
My wife, she full well knew the steps were slick yesterday morning, but heading out the door to get to work she slipped. Went on her backside and hit all three steps on the way down, with a final thump on the ground. Her bottom is bruised and sore, but she is going back to work this morn.
I was walking the labradane yesterday, he likes to pull a bit and is strong as a horse, I went to set my feet and hold him back, my feet went out from under me in a blink, I hit hard. Jammed my middle finger on my left hand, pulled a muscle in my back, and my nose bounced off the gravel in the driveway. Are we having fun yet? 😉
Hey, at least I managed to get a new chainsaw out of the deal. My old saw refused to run properly after I put the new primer bulb in it, had that saw going on 25 years, I guess it’s time. I was not going to be caught with my pants down, having no running chain saw in an ice storm. Last time I had some of my trees down blocking the main road, and a few down on a dead end lane that runs in front of the house, with a couple of neighbors back there. I made sure the trees I was responsible for were clear of the roads. Cleared a few trees out between here and the highway too for good measure. Yeah, a good running chain saw is a necessity in an ice storm… I do not regret getting a new one, not one bit.
Taking the wife to work this morning we encountered an iced bridge, some guy in a pickup truck had done the skid left, skid right, skid left again thing, and ate the guardrail. I took a country road bypass on the way back. That scenario was begging for a bad multi vehicle wreck, I didn’t want to be anywhere near it. Got home safe.
I hope ya’ll are doing alright out there 🙂
‘Supposed to snow in a few days 🙂 (pun alert!) February is not going to let our mild winter slide. Maybe I can wax up the sled! 🙂
Evidence Based Reality 
You gotta teach your dog not to pull. That mix isn’t exactly a sled dog, so exert your pack leader mentality and teach it to walk alongside you.
Glad to hear your storm fizzled at your place, sorry for those further north. Still quite cold here but it is a gently cold, not a stormy cold and the dog is showing signs of cabin fever. Won’t be able to get him out for a few more days.
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To be honest, Im glad it fizzled too.
We work with him. He is maybe 11 mo. old. Hard headed and strong willed. He knew he had hurt me, we got to the house after the incident, with a limp leash. He didnt pull a bit. Then he went and laid down with that “I know I screwed up” look for a while. I eventually let him out of the doghouse… It is a work in progress. You can’t be too rough on them. But a firm hand and a leader of the pack attitude will get it done. It’s just when things go bad, it can hurt with a big dog. This is a big dog, and every day he seems bigger. He can stand flat footed and rest his chin on the kitchen table now.
My son adopted him (Champ, short for Champion) from the pound. They told him they “thought” he was a lab/pit mix. Well, we have a pit, one of two dogs that were dropped off in the country which promptly adopted us, and Champ has zero traits of a pit. (The pit we have is a fantastic, beautiful, dog with a great attitude, I have no earthly idea why someone would have thrown that dog away) No, Champ has the traits of Dane, with the color of a yellow Lab with some white socks, as well as the size and attitude of a Lab/Dane to prove it. Once he loses some of that, what I call a little bitty puppy living in a 100 lb. dog (and still growing), he will settle down and be a great pet.
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You two must be sore this morning. . .oh my. Glad you made it through as it can always be worse. Here, we’ve got a bunch of snow (we cleared 18 inches of it off our son’s backyard rink – with help from a snowblower!) and below zero temps but the sun is shining!! 🙂
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And all we get is -sigh- RAIN! It hasn’t been steady –just now and again– but we haven’t seen the sun like … “forever!” (Except for maybe an hour’s peak late afternoon on some days.)
Oh well. Spring is not far off!
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Mak is supposed to be sending me some sunshine, if I have some left over I’ll box it up and send it your way 🙂
I am dubious of penguin express though 😉
All hail spring! Let it be here sooner than later.
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Blame the penguins. Someone must have shot them along the way or they were turned back at the southern border.
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Well something damn sure happened! I ain’t seen any sunshine carrying penguins. In fact, we have an inch and a half of sleet on the ground, and may get up to 7″ of snow on top of that!
I’ve been trying to keep the car/truck cleared of sleet/snow, and driving around the driveway packing it down.
Time comes to go somewhere, I’ll at least be able to get out of the driveway 🙂
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Maybe the next batch I am sending should be armed.
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My jammed middle finger hurts like hell. Fortunately I am quite ambidextrous with middle fingers! Ask the assholes I see on the highways 😉
Wow, I remember deep snow when I was a kid. I grew up in Ill./Ia. We always had good snows and lots of sledding to do.
I really would not want to shovel that kind of snow though 🙂 The below zero temps makes me shiver just thinking about it lol.
Here in Tn, the humidity is high and the wind always seems to be blowing. I grew up in colder weather, but it was dry cold. I mean you could go out with some long johns on, with a flannel shirt and jeans, in below freezing temps and not even know it for quite a while. Down here if it’s below freezing and a breeze is blowing it cuts you to the bone. It’s different. Hard to describe, but it’s definately different. I have a neighbor from Green Bay, he told me this morning “Damn it’s cold!” lol Was maybe 30 degrees, but like I said it’s different…
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Hope you both are now less sore
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We are in fact, getting over the minor injuries 🙂 I was able to go to a music practice Sat, and while it hurt some, I was able to play. It’s much better today.
The wife is still bruised, but nowhere as painful either. So, all good for now 🙂 Thanks for the well wishes!
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Glad to hear.
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Looks like you’re in for quite a week – Feb 15-18 – of some weather. I wouldn’t be putting any of you equipment away just yet. I wonder if people will remember – or even if they know – to shut off water pipes to the exterior? Good week to be a plumber in Texas where houses aren’t built to insulate for maintaining heat in but for holding the warm out! This stretch of cold and freezing rain could cause mayhem. Here in central Canada, we are well equipped to deal with all this stuff – from the personal to the public. But when people aren’t used to this kind of weather and don’t have the typical knowledge and proper clothing and the right equipment to address its effects, that’s when emergencies can and do arise. So a burst pipe – if it could have been avoided but simply forgotten – is just one more of those effects. My useless advice is to stay warm and stay upright. I know… so helpful!
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Oh, and not just shutting off the water to outside taps but to drain the water already in them. The draining is the most important part of that to avoid bursting!
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You have to admit, tildeb, that people who don’t deal with these winter calamities on a regular basis generally don’t know all the precautions to take. However, it seemed to me that SD had/has a pretty good handle on things overall. 🙂
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I’m usually on top of things, but something almost always ends up biting me in the ass!
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Isn’t that the damndest thing, shell? It doesn’t pay to get too cocky. . 😉
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Lol! No it does not. Fate, karma, whatever you call it, seems to find a way to humiliate the cocky.
Unless it’s the kind of jack ass that really deserves getting bit in the ass. Those guys always seem to get away with it. The orange one comes to mind, and his minions in Congress…
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I’ll tell ya, Shell. I cannot wait until his overalls match his hair. Talk about karma!! 🙂
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HA! Great comment, Carmen!
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Lol! I got a good ole southern “hell yeah!” to go with that 🙂 🙂
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I grew up a bit further north 🙂 And I was the one who was responsible for digging the water lines and insulating the pipes. So, that’s on me if something happens. But I’m (knock on wood!) not too worried in that department. I also built a styrofoam house around the well (that is in a shed of its own) and have a heat tape in there as well as an incandescent bulb keeping it warm.
It will take a loss of power to cut our water supply.
I just mentioned to Mak, we have sleet on the ground and it’s snowing like a mofo right now. Cold, cold, cold, to boot. Around zero, or a little less, with the wind chill.
Staying warm is the motto for the day. Staying upright isn’t a bad idea either! 🙂
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