texans got trouble

https://www.oann.com/texas-faces-food-water-shortages-amid-winter-storm-power-outages/

Could this happen nation wide for something other than weather? How much food should a person have? I am leery of buying one of those dehydrated food packages in a plastic tote. Claims of a two week supply in a 3 gallon bucket are a little hard to believe. So what should a person be squirreling away and how much?

Dehydrate everything and vac seal it. Whole meals just like they want to sell you. Mine taste better too.
Distilled water, the purer the water the lower temps it takes to freeze.
Cans don't do so well below 0.
And AMMO

That's just not correct. Look up "freezing point depression." Freezing-point depression is what causes sea water, (a mixture of salt and other compounds in water), to remain liquid at temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F), the freezing point of pure water.

He said distill it, you know turn water in to liqueur.

I'm no scientist but I can leave a gallon of good distilled water outside and it will not freeze, even at 10 degrees.
Don't care what science says, I know what works for me.

Why don't you try that distilled water in your vehicle radiator since it won't freeze.

as much food as you can stuff in your carry on before jumping a plane to cancun

How do you dehydrate meals in a home dehydrator? I just had bacon eggs and hashbrowns for breakfast. Are you cooking the eggs first? I can see dehydrating bacon or maybe thin sliced potatoes. Not sure how tasty they would be after rehydration. I have a pretty good machine. I make jerky with it.

Why do cans not do so well? I'm purdy happy to have mine when something goes "north"

Lay waxpaper on the tray before placing the food on it. I've done soups, Chile and about anything you call food.
Just add water when you open the vac sealed food.
I have a large Excalibur dehydrator. The sq. one.

You are very correct today DC.

If you are a plumber, you'd have work in Texas for the next decade.

We are about to start thawing out and when that happens, the 2nd biggest state will suck up every piece of construction material in this nation and more.
People think it's the cold and what are they worried about? It's the infrastructure pure and simple.
I don't know anyone around us hasn't had bursting water mains, and water is not your friend when it rains inside.

Already the political speak begins and folks are sharpening their own fingers to point.

From leader Beto;
“The energy capital of North America cannot provide enough energy to warm and power people’s homes. We are nearing a failed state in Texas. And it has nothing to do with God or natural disasters. It has everything to do with those in positions of public trust who have failed us.”

Wonderful.

They have identified the cause according to all the news sources we have here.
Climate change.

As I often pray and invite others to do the same;
Lord help us. Maranatha.

Blessings,
Mark

Freeze. And my dehydrated food weights less, and takes up less.
Not much comes out of a can that I like anywho.

Too many ways to keep my place warm even if the gubernment sponsored monopoly of a utility co isn't smart enough to keep electricity available.

I suppose father north this would be a bigger concern

Any difference with deyhdrators with solid or clear doors? Solid doors are all cheaper. Seems a convienence to be able to see into the unit while it is working other then that?

$50 or more cheaper on avg. on some models. I have a very old round one from the 80's. Not used in many years. Time to up grade and get some homemade MRE's put away.

I bought some of those emergency dehydrated food buckets a couple of years back. 25 year shelf life stated on the bucket. Got a couple big cans of scrambled eggs with veggies dried out. Been eating some of that off and on for a month. Not too bad tasting, it is filling. Just add hot water and let things soak, stir a few times and cover. Pour off excess water. Still have a few buckets just in case.

All the prepper/survivalist sensationalism the last few years sort of cracks me up.

In my family being prepared is just common sense. My parents have a basement full of preserves. Everything you can imagine is jarred/canned and lasts years with no refrigeration required. There is probably enough down there to feed a family of four for months. They add to it every fall.

My collection of canned goods isn't as big but it's getting there. I have a wood stove for heat and cooking. I have a gas cook stove that has pilot lights, no electricity needed (the oven on modern gas stoves won't stay lit without electricity to operate the electronic igniters). I have a spring on the property for fresh water. I have a flock of chickens for fresh eggs and meat.

So there you have it. I have the means to keep myself and my family warm, dry. well-fed and watered and I don't need electricity for any of it.

Generations of my family have lived the same way. We call it common sense.

Preppers...LOL.

I would also add that I have the means and the willingness to protect all that from anyone who thinks they might want to take it from me.

Lugnut I love watchin those prepper shows where some city geek buys a few acres and then shows everyone what he has and where he keeps it.

Somewhere there is a Johnny Sneakum type thinkin well now I know where I will go when I run out of anything

The cold and shortage of hydro are two big things. However, one big problem people in Texas may be facing in addition to cost of repairs (replacement of water pipes...) is mold contamination resulting from water damage. ...this is a major issue which will not be easy to address. A contaminated house will have little value not mentioning the fact that mold is a major health hazard.

Not sure what insurance coverage most people in Texas have but I am thinking insurance companies may not cover this type of loss...very concerning.

Hope you guys get some kind of assistance from Government.

When canned goods freeze,,it can make the can expand and breaks the seal.

Hunter 1 getting mold out of a house isn't rocket science but a lot of people try to save money which is dumb. I get them money to do repairs right and they hire an uncle who can't even read English.

The even dumber thing is to by an cheapo policy that doesn't cover much. I rarely work for companies that write DP-1 or other ACV policies. I work for the farmers mutual companies who sell good policies and expect me to get their insureds enough money to fix it right the first time.


Fema will come in and throw your money around for all the folks who didn't plan well. Happens every storm

Saw your Comissioner of Agriculture on TV last night.He thinks some heads should roll over this mess,,starting with your Governor.Also said the out of the four head people in charge of your electric grid,,none of them live in Texas,,and two of them don't even live in the United States.

That's about a perfect plan. The dehydrated food packages are nice to have as a backup and if you wanted to get out in a hurry. I would sample the dehydrated food prior to buying it. I would add a good dog for 24 hour security and food for him too.

Truth^^^

What dehydrator does each of you use for doing these kind of meals? Not a bad idea.

Marl, I wonder if Representor not leader Beto knows that when you point your finger at people 3 fingers are pointing back at you. HMMMM. Bob

Most everyone up here is prepared for stuff like this,power outages and such,,cause with our weather it happens often but short term.Generator with stabilized fuel put away.Alternative heat sources.Start with enough food and water put away to care for your family for a week.Then work it up to a months worth.Once you've done that,rotate your food accordingly.Also,only put food away that your actualy going to eat.Dried beans and pastas,,vacume sealed in canning jars will last for up to 30 years on the shelf.Salt and sugar put away like that lasts indefinitely.Canned meats and vegetables lasts for two to three years.After you have done this for a while,,you get the hang of it.Start NOW.

Leflane, I know enough about mold issue and I agree anyone who has half of a brain should not mess around with this stuff...when the specs start to show on the surface of the walls it is not good news and uncle Bob who knows how to use a harmer but can not certify mold was entirely removed may not cut it.

No doubt crime rate will go up in many neighborhoods and unfortunately more lives will be at risk.

Danny
I gotta think them folks down south are more interested in having the A/C work right in summer. Than thinking about few days the furnace runs when it gets cool. Now when it actually very cold and loose power, they are just screwed.. It's simple fact that city infrastructure things cost more here in north. Fire hydrants are all self draining and sprinkler systems in unheated areas are dry systems. Not sure how things are set up in other cities. But the city well house here have diesel back up for the electric pumps. all to add to very good gravity system.. I know that this last cold snap there were still several main breaks even in a system build for cold.
Anyway as much as what people in metro areas can be a prepper. Still lot folks screwed when power goes out for more than 24/48.
I don't have any of the dehydrated meals squirreled away myself just not my thing.. I do know a guy has a boot legged shallow well in his basement. can use old pitcher pump get water push comes to shove..

I grew up kind of off the grid being what was thought of as suburbs back in day. could shoot gun in yard pet cows over the back fence..We had oil heat from old Super Flame oil burner gravity fed so no electricity need to run that. All Ma's canned goods were in what she called cellar. Just unheated basement under the kitchen had ladder no stairs..All the plumbing was also in there under just kitchen and bathroom.. Kitchen cook stove was LP so wasn't and issue. We did loose water when power went out. Could get few gallons water off the pressure tank if really needed. The only one time we were with out power for more than 24 hours was after house took lighting strike. That was during warm weather so heating wasn't issue. Dad got a generator and ran the refrigerator and freezer with that. Power company had to put in a new service and electrician had to do meter box and breaker panel. they were blown out along with lot outlets.
But anyway I just don't think it's realistic to expect mass amounts of people to worry to much about that 1 time..Pretty easy to see that now even at start of covid and was no power loss or cold involved.

I was wondering how they were doing for toilet paper???
Lot them folks probably freak out can't use a proper bathroom. Things get bad my wife is good with 5 gallon bucket with trash bag in it. Done it more than once.

Mac

Yes to the dogs, I always had at least one and at times as many as three. They are good alarm systems, they warn me when the UPS man pulls up or the trash man comes or someone knocks on the door (thanks dogs but I can hear all that for myself). LOL

Actually they can hear way better than me and let me know someone is on the property way before I'm aware of it. They are also good at acting as deterrents to Johnny Sneakums when no one is home. In an disaster/emergency situation I would think that we'd be home though.

Danny C., if you and your significant other can stand one another the easiest food item to store is dry beans. I don't know what they cost in your neck of the woods, but around here you can get 100 lbs of navies pretty darn reasonable. I have bought them as cheap as $30 per hundred. They keep for literal decades as long as you store them dry, and they are a great source of protein and nutrition. Rice and wheat berries are good too.

It amazes me that a little cold snap could shut down the power grid. TX has had cold snaps before. Usually all that happens is oranges cost more. Now freezing rain knocking down power lines would shut it down. Has happened here. About 20 years ago we were without power a week. Some people had a rough time. It was inconvenient for all. But this fiasco in TX makes no sense. Were the power lines down or was the power just shut off?

Lugnut has it right, that is the way we lived on the farm. Storm coming, fill milk cans w/water for drinking/cooking and fill tub and sinks so we can flush toilet. Year supply of food in cold cellar. Heat with firewood People today will shrivel up and die. Is it so difficult to be responsible for yourself and your family?

I wonder how many of those people In Texas that were melting snow for water thought about draining their water heaters.

I wouldn't drink the water heater water,,but good enough for washing or toilet flushing.

Danny, Texans have not had this kind of cold, before at least not like this.

Yea. Buy a bucket of assorted MOUNTAINHOUSE freeze dried meals. They have all different sizes. When the shtf these people will b the collateral damage.

The Mormans have had this figured out for a while. They have the lists and the systems to manage it. You don't stock up in a day, but over time. And different degrees of "ready". Key is to lay it all in, then rotate the stock.

I've been saying ever since 9/11.....it ought to be our civic duty to be able to last at least 2 weeks with no help from the outside. As for food, a month would be better.

Multiple heat sources.

People need to become more self reliant.
Pretty bad when a whole place crumbles like a house of cards from a little bit of(not even real) cold weather.
Weakness is being revealed.

Mike
That is kind of how I grew filling the jugs when was a storm coming. In fact my parents were storm spotters radio in conditions in our area..
But for majority of people to be close to handle lot things them self in city is just not practical. Maybe can't even have wood stove or a place to pile wood if they had one.. I know folks here that have pellet stoves for back up or use it for their main heat only run gas as back up. I've thought of doing that myself have pellet stove in basement stash pallet pellets some where. But I've been here 30 some years never needed it. Was 4 days with furnace down last year coldest week of the winter. Was lucky didn't loose power was furnace issue. I got by them 4 days with it - 15 out side and managed to keep house at 62. Would have been different ball game if it was power out. I'd have had to do that with my two small generators baby sit them..

Just a different world and as much as some can get by, is way more can't.

Mac

store what you ear eat what you store , a months food or more.

really no one learned from last March covid quarantine to keep more food in the house , sad

I think it is because so few know how to cook for themselves.

my brother works for a university , they were doing grid research a few years ago how to keep their server farms fed and vulnerabilities.

that year he bought a generator when he realized how many ways it could fail I helped him install the panel to tie it into the breaker box and sure enough power out opening morning of deer season we had made it simple enough that he walked his wife through starting the generator and flipping the switches and in about 15 minutes we were back to hunting , we were hours away from his house.

this year I helped him with a supply of firewood he doesn't have the best fireplace but it works.

"Just remember if the food runs out we still have each other"
Hannibal Lecter

Yep just like Donner party said when snow first started to fall!! "Dang It Sure Is Pretty With Snow On Them Trees!"

Later was "Donner table for 7...Wait oups! Donner table for 6" :-)

Mac

Just dug some fresh carrots yesterday.

Nice

still wonder what happened to shut the power off in tx. no way the demand for kilowatts was higher than a 97 degree day with 92% humidity

I beg to differ. We had several long cold snaps in the eighties that extended well into Texas. Some of them lasted several weeks. When the jet stream wanders far enough south that is what happens. We used to call it winter. Now some politicians insist it is climate change like that is some new and terrifying situation. The climate always changes. Changing our source for energy will more than likely do nothing to alter climate change. Humans will either adapt or they won't. Humanity has more to fear from an asteroid strike or a volcanic eruption. Those are things that will absolutely happen and which you can do absolutely nothing about. There is also no political gain to be had by discussing them. Hence the total silence.

Here Danny. This is good stuff as far as emg food. We Use this for camping meals along with stuff we vacuum pack ourselves. Shelf life is 20-25yrs. Jet Boil comes in handy too!

Danny, I would surmise that when the windmills froze decisions had to be made as to who to deny power. Some of the other electrical generation facilities were not properly winterized and personnel not properly trained for winter operations. It cascaded from there.

Was watching a news clip with all these people lined up outside in the frigid cold for food and water dispersal. Many standing around shivering in their....pajama pants!

Can someone explain wind turbines "Freezing"? I am looking out the window at 30plus and another 200 in this county and have never even heard of one freezing. Maybe different oils in the transformers? Did have one catch on fire behind my house-it was pretty spectacular!

Bet this weird weather makes that great state change their mind about seceding, would be even more expensive to repair what they are going to need to do if that ever happened !

That's a good idea with the blanket. I have two rows still under the snow.

Wish people would get off this. Who cares where he goes?

All those pretty wind mills froze up.

The one in Texas aren’t winterized. It never gets cold there. Oops.

winterized windmills? i think this emergency was/is contrived. what exactly can freeze in a windmill?

Cant tell me there is not enough regular power plants for when the wind don't blow anyway. Nothing making any sense. Starting with it has been cold there in the past. Many times.

So here is something I don't understand. If the house is cold and the water stops running,its frozen. Shut off the supply valve and it wont flood the house. You'll still have frozen maybe burst pipes but at least it wont be flooded too.

Good for Ted! Not seeing a problem here.

A lot of Texans are whining about that.

Has “Victim Hood” really taken over that great state?

Everything when its covered in ice.

Power was turned on and off. Mostly off.

Never enough

those blades are huge. it doesn't look it but they are going 100mph at the tip. unless they were not turning anyway how did they freeze up? still doesnt explain the no wind thing. it doesn't blow all the time. if they did somehow shut down to ice, (they dont here in KS btw) that still doesn't explain the no electricity. Bottom line is that once again we are being lied to. SOMEWHERE THERE ARE MULTIPLE CONVENTIONAL POWER STATIONS FOR WHEN THE WIND AINT BLOWING

sugar, salt, coffee and virga someone once told me make great trading stock.

All I know is, for a boy from the north, they build these homes for heat, and not for much cold. At all. We came through ok because we know how to deal with frozen water lines, but I'm telling ya, these fine folks don't know how the deal goes down in these cases. It's a live and learn. It's not the end of life as we know it, but the rotating electrical power was a fact. Most times, no power in our SA area all night, and since there are no fire places, it's not easy to start a toasty fire. Like my neighbor said, "Fire place? In south Texas? That'd be like putting in extra air conditioners in the Arctic."

I was reading about burst water mains there, How does a water main burst? aren't they underground? Here, anything 3' or under will never freeze, and we get weather like Texas had every year, multiple times, So unless the mains are laying on the surface how does one freeze?

Answer. They get too cold. 3'? My water lines to a nice residential home in San Antonio area are not even 6" down. Maybe 4". And my softener and water heaters are outside in a fancy deal of some sort. We just shut it all off at the head until this cold stops... which is occurring!

And we don't live in the outback. We paid good Texas pesos for our spread which we just put up for sale actually about the time the arctic hit. We have some of the best things taxes and lure biz money can purchase, but that's how people in HOT regions build things. For HOT.
I was praying for global HOT, forget that goofy warming!


Son in law is a fire fighter in Plano and he just got off a 33 hour shift of shutting off water mains and he's one tired young man, but that's what good firefighters and service folk do: assist.

Blessings from the state formerly known as the arctic of Texas.

Mark

The main problem is the biggest part of the Texas power grid is managed by an entity named ERCOT. They are the ones that control the rolling blackouts and power reductions.

With millions of Texans freezing and 24 dead, five members of the board that manages Texas’ electrical grid don’t have to endure the consequences of the power grid’s mismanagement. Why? They live outside of Texas.

The Energy Reliability Council of Texas’ board of directors consists of 16 seats. The board’s chair and vice chair, Sally Talberg and Peter Cramton, are among the non-Texans nonetheless managing Texas’ electric grid. Talberg lives in Michigan, where she was a Michigan Public Service Commissioner before joining the ERCOT board. Cramton is a professor at the University of Michigan and the University of Cologne in Germany, though his social media account says he resides in Del Mar, California. Another board member, Vanessa Anesetti-Parra, lives in Canada.

According to ERCOT bylaws, these out-of-state appointments are legal, with Texas residence merely “preferred.” New ERCOT board members are chosen by a nominating board consisting of current ERCOT board members.

The school districts in Texas share a big part of the blame also as they have given the wind power and solar power farms tax abatements of 19 billion dollars. This is in addition to the federal subsides doled out.

The State could do a lot with that amount of money. And the taxpayers are picking up the bill for those abatements.

Cedar Hacker, No wonder they're helping me decide to sell my Casa. We just got the "covid" abated property tax increase for 2021 and it's up again like every year, but this year has "covid relief" as an abated 8.52% increase. Nice of them to Covid round that number. I think Wilson County rounded it up. Anyway, that's interesting that the folks with the phones texting back and forth, I vote "yes" or I vote "no" are out of state.

You gotta love bureaucrats CH. If'n you and I were on that committee, you know darn well we'd be accused of NOT being politically correct, or a whole host of adjectives. I'd be shot 1st meeting. You too.

People have died and we pray next time it goes smoother, but I'm not so sure more incidents like this couldn't occur in the future? Who saw this coming? Kinda like Covid.

Blessings to you over there in cowboy country.

Mark

I would have been surprised the frost got deep enough to freeze up anything buried even 6”. Guess it would depend on soil, compaction, and how wet the ground is. And then again, I haven’t been following how long this freeze up has lasted nor how cold it has gotten. All these busted pipes aren’t imaginary, so I’m way off in my thinking. Good luck to all.

if i had busted pipes cause they shut my electricity off i would be one unhappy customer. i still have not figured out why that was done. hopefully there will be class action lawsuits.

I don't know how it all is constructed here but just heard today we have 13 ruptured water lines in 7 buildings on campus and we never had power go off on campus, probably because we are across the street from Baylor Hospital... the "biggie." That's busted lines with the heat going?!?

I know we had a ruptured line in a ceiling in the main lobby area around midnight Wednesday night. Fire alarm went off. Evacuate. Whole thing.
I figure it's because the water pipes go through the attic area and that area just flat got too cold.
Who puts water pipes from the ground into the roof area???? They do here. Must be some good reason.
I grew up where lines went ground floor to each room. Here, I have the main system into my house and then it drops into each room.
Must be because there are no basements and everything is on a slab.
That was the difference for many, many people, especially if they had no idea to shut off the water prior to the cold.

I'm with you DC.
Something is weird though.
It's sure on the "news" here.

Blessings,
Mark

Not saying I’m buying it, but I’ve read a couple things that suggest some kind of “payback”, as far as the blackouts are concerned.

Better Midler says it's God's punishment. Wonder what god(s) she worships?

He describes it well. https://mailchi.mp/zeihan/deep-in-cold-of-texas

Like mark said. I’m from the north also, there’s nothing you can do but deal with it. Ice storms were the problem we had, half inch of ice equals no power for a week.
We came out ok with the rolling black outs. No frozen pipes, we did let all facets drip.

Great article jpg! Thanks!
Like he said, "Texas is not winterized."

I can’t believe that all Texans cannot deal with this cold snap ? I’ll bet rural Texans are OK, but urban Texans , like urban dwellers in every state, are the majority that are the most helpless ? Texans here please correct me if I’m wrong ? I’ll bet there will be some serious overhaul of many building codes coming Texans way.
Like burying water mains several feet below grade. I think I’d buy a wood stove.

If the power is failing now because of the cold, what is going to happen when everybody has a green battery car and plugs them all in every evening. HMMM Bob

Substandard buildings/building codes.

^^^^ No^^^ just build for a friend and it was all the same as Washington State.

Nebraska, you can still build with 2x4 walls

Multi purpose concrete blanket I see.

Many many homes in my area are shallow wells.

The rural areas with farms are having trouble getting water to their animals. I doubt there will be any changes to building codes, maybe in the city, but we generally don't like rules or regulations in Texas.

Code in my are is 43 inches for buried water lines. But pack down or remove the snow on the surface and I have seen lines freeze 5 foot down. Seen many frozen lines buried thawed with a welder.

They couldn't make any... I know the wind mills in Michigan are engineered to minimize weight of blades as they are so dang big. I think the coating of ice adds many tons and also screws up aero dynamics. On a slow wind day or no wind day you can see a bend in the blades. I think they would self destruct with the ice. The blades also change pitch as wind speed changes.

So what Feedinggrounds ? What do they do when the wind doesn't blow? Use your head. For some reason the juice was turned off. Nothing at all to do with windmills. The regular power plants NEVER go offline. They have to kick in on still days. You ever heard of the lights going off cause the wind isn't blowing??????????????????

I don't know what all happened but I can imagine some of my 39 hours in the cold and dark has to do with the company that maintains the lines around here.

I think they wait to trim until there is a problem

In other news it is melting away and we can get back to normal Texas problems

In the summer you only change the temp 25 degrees (97 down to 72) current temp changes ( 0 upto 68) lot more power needed to change temp 68 degrees.
Also the electric co greed by not winterising was a problem.

Good point about the tree trimming by BT. Trim trimming? Tree trimmer go broke trimming power lines in our area.
Never seen one ever in 7 years here and they needed to start it 10 years ago.
But Texas is coming back online and the Aggies will rise again!
I guess.
Never been to the mystical, magical place called College Station.
Heard it's beeeeeeuuuuuuuttttiful.

Blessings,
Mark

So at what temp do running faucets freeze? Heck, if we see temps in the 20’s for 3-4hrs during the night our faucets are dripping. Just something we’ve always done and never had an issue with freezing or burst pipes.

Like Kentuckians, Texans are tough hombres...They will be fine.

We lost power here for a month in January '09...2.5 inch ice storm in frigid conditions ...No problem, just go back
to the old (self sufficient) ways and life goes on.

All Texans outside of the cities will do the same..."Country folks can survive".

How you gonna have your faucets drip WannaBe with no pump pressure cause no electricity?
And it was < 20 degrees for 7 days here in Dallas with temps right around 3-10 each day.

All will resume of course, but people texting pics of frozen toilets in their houses was kinda different.

... we real native Texans are fine .... fixed any problem we had already ( most I know including me and mine drained wells and pipes and put up wood) and are back to work... transplants will likely cry for some time to come

.... Texas is turning into a retirement home for sissies and central/ south americans that struggle with simple tasks such as breathing with their mouth closed

So you still have some furniture in your house that you didn't have to burn?

... that wasn’t necessarily directed at you Mark... but seeing your post came in just before mine the irony must stand lol

... we sit on the knotty logs that don’t split in here lol

Get a splinter in your keister.

Brother in law tried to play dukes of hazard in a mini van so had to drive through the frozen tundra 20 miles north of here to pull him out of the ditch, bout the only excitement i had during this 'crisis'.

... y’all hands over there live in a constant state of crisis lol

Savell you might ought to tan up a bunch those east Texas coyotes and sell them to the urbanites for blankets.

No offense taken sheriff. Say, those Comancheros are still looking for ya and I directed them to AL where true outlaws dwell like mercenaries waling for the buzzards to feed so they can swoop in for leftyovers.

Besides, I'm no transplant. Shoot, I got all my original parts right exactly where the good Lord set up, give or take 6"

Blessings from the urban paradise in the northern kingdom of Beto.

Mark

... around here you could be flat out broke nosed, coughing up blood losing every fight you ever fought and be respected by all ...because you had the sack to fight... the ones I see coming here now ... all over but the crying boys...

....I ain’t raising sissies here... but y’all’s yankee way of schooling them is making it dam hard lol

A few have snucks in from Houston too sir. Is that still part of the Republic?
I hear it's been flat overrun by Atlantians.

6 plus 6 equals 2, that kind of schoolin'?

And you see all those cat carcasses on my buggie in my pic. Why me and mine are still rationing our viddeles off them and that was 2018. See how long this MichiganderSandhillierTexican can survive! Bocephus begged me to use my name in his #1 single but he couldn't meet my price: Trap King Ranch, so I said no senior.

... I don’t live in Houston... but pretty sure it’s filled up with taco trucks and folks needin fiddy to make a dolla by now... and the carpet baggers whining in the suburbs lol

... I dare you to wear a bikini in your next high fence trappin movie lol

... I’m sorry the devil made me say that

Well I sell turds for a living... you sure are a funny duck Savell.
Fiddy to make a dolla was pretty good

Ah. No. I. Will. Not. Ever. Do. That.

.. you’re being a dang poor sport Mr. Mark lol

Whew glad ya'll got that cleared up.

Hi Jtrap

I have done some bad things, you can ask the Lord, He'll tell ya, but I have never put girls clothes on, except the one time years ago as a unrighteous heathen I thought I was sober and....

well now look at me still trying to please God with 15 credits per semester to erase that ugly memory.

God forgave this sinner. I can't.

Lol

Soon as you folks up there have a problem,,I will be sure to point out how weak you all are,,,instead of having a little empathy for folks that maybe weren't as prepared as some others.Now why don't you go put some air in the tires on yer house BOZO,,case sumthin happens and ya gotta bug out.

... more like turn the other cheek or else jail time

... bunch of rosey butted arm shaving sissies

... luckily there’s still some endless dirt roads around here lol

When I worked construction in Houston"built most of the high rise parking garages there" in the early 80s,,there weren't many folks in Houston,that were from Texas.Had to wonder out of "town" to meet real Texans.Met a lot.You ever hear of a little town named"Beasley"?Used to hang out there quite a bit.I wont say in here what the big billboard sayed as you entered town.You probly wouldn't believe me if I told ya.You wanted to have your big boy pants on if you wanted to hang around there.

...my uncle by marriage worked the prison over that way .... but I was probably too young to read the sign back then lol

... I’m sure it had to do with the sun setting though lol

Your right on old boy.

... well boys I’m off to bed with a gut full of beef, snuff and beer... everybody I know is fine as well

... kiss my Native Texan .....Awwww never mind lol

THATS RACIST !! LOL good night Savell.

Awful lot of people in this country living in projects, apartments, etc. Not much opertunity for them to "prepare". Power outages somewhat commen here. Many have small generators for back up. If you own your own home being prepared for unexpected circumstances is pretty much a necessity!

Once in a while I even have to agree with Boco.

The Texas thing was something never seen before. One certain Canadian whines about the ice melting up north, then hates on Americans in Texas when they get unseen cold move in. A small generator is handy no matter where you live. Even for camping, they are a necessity for making coffee in the Keurig first thing in the morning.
$500 will buy a suitable 2000W unit.

I don't know how it all works as far as electricity rates other than, A. I pay my bill B. I like electricity, C. I agree with anyone who likes it D. I believe we should keep liking electricity
But news has begun about people's new electric charges hitting their inbox. It makes for head spinning. I wouldn't want to be the governor or anyone around him for a while.

Some on these stories are hype for sure, but I'm glad I didn't sign up for a variable rate plan with electric carrier at either my home or our seminary apartment.
One of two of these bills would have made for a "WHAT?" scenario.
We'll see how it shakes out, but at $9 per kilowatt on some reports, and hot mics catching energy company executives gloating how record profits are now predicted because of Texas, makes me wonder.... are some of these people driving blue colored fiats in charge of some of this? A little retribution perhaps? From the greenies?

If so, Texans don't like to be played. I watched the movie.

Major news now has reports.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/some-tex...ket-as-high-as-17000-during-winter-storm

And the social media is ALIVE!!

People everywhere become complacent when things are so good for so long. Heck, even the city of N'awleans, built 7' below sea level was surprised when they got hit by the hurricane that filled the city up to sea level. That was guaranteed to happen....just a matter of time. Some day Miami will get wiped out and nobody will understand why.

Empathy doesn't come easily for some folks Gary. For others, they think a humble prayer for a fellow human in need is a "thing' for someone else to take care of because "people deserve what they get," which some may not realize, is a pagan theology - people get what they deserve from the gods - as old as time, but we've just scrubbed the g.o.d. word off of the concept so we think we came up with it. Nope. GGGGGGGGGGgrandpa might have said the same thing about his neighbors.

Plenty of good people around here however, doing things like cutting up old trees in their yard, and handing out free wood to the needy among us. Bless all of them Lord.

Blessings,
Mark

Used to be when we had a disaster like New Orleans under water the president would get blamed for it, and for not doing enough fast enough. What changed?

That is a great observation! But I think you already know the answer.

Yep

From Jan 2021 until November 2024, there will be no national disasters is the good news.
No major network will be dispatched.
No cameras will roll.
No one will commentary on them, even if it's the 2nd most populace state.
Especially if that populace state did not vote according to major news agency philosophy and wisdom experts.

And then, as JB is already hinting, there may be no national disasters from January of 2025 until November of 2029.

The decade is covered in wondrous assurance from the WH.
The media may as well vacation in Cancun or Cozumel.

So your saying if Biden had gone down to Texas and threw the folks some paper towels? maybe some them little hand warmer packets?? People be fawning over him???
You lost me?

Let the finger pointing and name calling begin!

Mac

I know what I'm saying.
Turn up the nuclear, coal, and natural gas furnaces when it gets colder.
Drill baby drill.

And torpedo those ugly wind turbines that dot the landscape more and more - and more and more - but seem to be wimps when it gets cold?!?

I thought all you's were for free enterprize-supply and demand economics,not government controlled pricing.
Other things are being revealed besides weakness in the infrastructure.

danny I'm a retired lineman. I hardly believe that the news or Fakebook is getting the story right. I'm not there but if the ice buildup was that bad transmission lines that feed substations are on the ground. It takes 10x more time to put things back with ice. Also there will be just as much damage when the ice goes off. Flipping lines and burning them down. It is good thinking to run to the substations and turn them off when ice is coming off. Just think about beating ice off fuses,breakers,and anything else trying to get power back on. Wind turbines are not a high % of the grid power. They are like lollipops for people to see. You folks with generators be very careful. If you backfeed 120v back through a transformer it comes out 7200v back on the primary line. Heaven forbid that the cell phone towers have generators for backup. People aren't as tough as they used to be.

So your saying if Biden had gone down to Texas and threw the folks some paper towels? maybe some them little hand warmer packets?? People be fawning over him???
You lost me?

Let the finger pointing and name calling begin!

Mac[/quote]

Yes. Exactly right.

I hope that the appropriate lessons learned are acted on, cause one thing I know is, If it's happened before...it WILL happen again.

I feel bad for all the people going through this crap but I consider myself lucky for getting to experience this once in a lifetime event in Tx. Never seen ice like that even in MN. Was on one road that had at least one to two inches of ice covering it. Solid ice. No known freeze proofing method known could have defeated this stuff!

My neighbor sent me a meme I'd be kicked off TMan if I posted but dang, it's funny;

It shows the WHO-han/NIH-NotInHappen Covid guidelines being updated to alleviate the pain and suffering of this situation;

You put a mask over your whole head and pull the strings tight so cold air can't hurt you.

I'm still laughing after about my fun neighbor Roger, retired DOD from WDC, and soooooo happy to be outta there, sent me that awesome meme.

Blessings,
Mark

Michael Mccaul (R) TX said "When a crisis hits my state, I don't go on vacation"

Ted even admitted "it was an obvious mistake"

Beautiful home!

wow insanity!

I just checked and I pay

Customer Charge —————————–$15.00 per meter per month
Energy Charge ———————————$0.09 per KWH for all KWH

Nice place Brother Mark!

Y’all let me know when that junk is over, thinking about heading to Texas sometime in April to turkey hunt.

Like Ted was gonna fix anyones plumbin or would be successful meeting with Biden to request fed assistance. His haters are just lookin for an excuse to make me ashamed of MY senator and I love the guy.