THIS is Texas? 6º F

[4WD]

I'm not starving, but many unfortunate people are hungry. You are resourceful, so am I, but many people are not.

They definitely are not … some friends of my wife who always considered themselves as strong - have needed lots of things … Nobody’s been hesitant to help …

You can learn something about life if you actually watch United’s safety video …

 

[OilReport99]

Which delves into the issues with deregulated markets like what Texas operates and how the pursuit of profits doesn't reward high CAPEX resiliency upgrades where the lowest possible OPEX allows one to sell the most capacity.

Although not politics per sei - it's Economics - it does beg for a discussion. And that's not cool around here.

 

[gfh77665]

I'm not starving, but many unfortunate people are hungry, and the parents with little ones that are hungry are in panic mode. You are resourceful, so am I, but many people are not. Let's not forget about the fact that we also have the pandemic to deal with, and along with it, the unemployment and food insecurity for many families. This was a hard blow to many families that were already suffering.

Now you are playing the "pandemic card"? "Unemployment and food insecurity?"

OMG do you realize we have the fattest "poor people" in the world? Our "poor" are the richest "poor" on the planet.

 

[OilReport99]

Now you are playing the "pandemic card"? "Unemployment and food insecurity?"

OMG do you realize we have the fattest "poor people" in the world? Our "poor" are the richest "poor" on the planet.

Okay, hold it there. Everyone gets hungry. Regardless of weight.

 

[JimPghPA]

Here is a tested method to provide some emergency heat to your house if you have a natural gas (or propane) hot water heater that does not require electricity. When my uncle in NY experienced a major Ice storm that left him without electric for two weeks, he went to a hardware store and bought a lot of garden hose. Connected them in series and ran them through all the rooms and put the end in the bathtub. He ran the hot water at a very slow rate through the hose and it kept the inside of the house warm enough that they got by wearing coats.

If you do this, you do not need to buy the most expensive garden hose. The cheapest hose will work fine because you are not closing off the end and there is very little pressure in the hose.

 

[gfh77665]

Okay, hold it there. Everyone gets hungry. Regardless of weight.

Hungry? They need to diet and exercise, seriously. The "poor" sit around and their weight balloons to crazy levels, and diabetes sets in to the children. They don't work or exercise. Too easy to sit around and enjoy their free stuff.

 

[OilReport99]

Hungry? They need to diet and exercise, seriously. The "poor" sit around and their weight balloons to crazy levels, and diabetes sets in to the children. They don't work or exercise. Too easy to sit around and enjoy their free stuff.

I agree, but now they're hungry.

 

[PimTac]

The freeze has been on for several days now. Shutting off the water means no workable toilets. Recall the anxiety over toilet paper. This would be worse.

Leaving the water on would likely have the same result but a more expensive repair when it thaws.

During a storm when we lost power for 9 days and being on a well, that meant walking to a creek for flush water. Toilets only got flushed as necessary.

In more extreme cases, a plastic bag would be of use.

During times like this, people need to go into survival mode and not think about creature comforts they are used to.

 

[OilReport99]

During times like this, people need to go into survival mode and not think about creature comforts they are used to.

Whatever happened to that?

 

[Wolf359]

Here is a tested method to provide some emergency heat to your house if you have a natural gas (or propane) hot water heater that does not require electricity. When my uncle in NY experienced a major Ice storm that left him without electric for two weeks, he went to a hardware store and bought a lot of garden hose. Connected them in series and ran them through all the rooms and put the end in the bathtub. He ran the hot water at a very slow rate through the hose and it kept the inside of the house warm enough that they got by wearing coats.

If you do this, you do not need to buy the most expensive garden hose. The cheapest hose will work fine because you are not closing off the end and there is very little pressure in the hose.

As in the other hot water heater thread, you're basically talking about 35-40k btu out of a water heater. Most heating systems are in the 80-120k btu range. But they're probably oversized and 40k btu might not get you to 68 but some heat is better than none. I think gas stoves are in the 10k btu range per burner, you could boil water also. The steam from the water also humidifies the air making it feel warmer.

 

[wag123]

Hungry? They need to diet and exercise, seriously. The "poor" sit around and their weight balloons to crazy levels, and diabetes sets in to the children. They don't work or exercise. Too easy to sit around and enjoy their free stuff.

What about the parents with little ones that are hungry? You must not have little ones gfh because you don't exhibit much in the way of empathy for their suffering. They don't understand why this is happening to them.
Just because you don't personally think that this disaster compares to the thousands of homes that have been wiped-out by hurricanes doesn't make this debacle any less of a disaster. In fact, on the news I just watched they interviewed an expert who predicted that the cost of this disaster is going to FAR exceed Harvey. Furthermore, the people who build/live on the gulf coast are there by choice and they are well aware of the risk of being wiped-out by a hurricane. Also, I don't think that the weather was nearly as severe where you live as it was here (and in much of the rest of the state).

 

[PimTac]

Whatever happened to that?

It should be taught but over time we have become too dependent on help. In real disasters, the general consensus is that you are on your own for the first 48-72 hours. That would be in the urban areas. Out in the country? Who knows?

Anyone who has served will have a advantage.

 

[OilReport99]

because you don't exhibit much in the way of empathy for their suffering.

Reminds me of a "Dude" that lived a long time ago...

 

[gfh77665]

There has been discussion "What if this exact same event happened 50 years ago?"

Two generations ago, in 1971, people would have taken it in stride. People would have worked to fix whatever was needed, and not given in to MASS INTERNATIONAL HYSTERIA over a cold snap. Our brain dead local media resembles morbidly obese Sally Struthers crying and begging for money on a TV commercial, showing the WORST possible image they can find over and over, casting blame on one well known guy they hate with a passion.

Facebook fanatics are venting on social media like crazy trying to one-up each others VICTIMHOOD. What has happened? Are we a majority snowflake nation that wants to helplessly WHINE about everything instead of putting up with an inconvenience for a short time?

Life is never perfect, and never will be. Demanding "perfection" be served up for you every minute of every day of the year is NOT realistic. 50 years ago, the mentality would have been, Broke? Fix it. Cold? Bundle up. Hungry? Open your canned goods.

Now, they just want to run to get in front of TV cameras and CRY, CRY, CRY.

 

[OilReport99]

There has been discussion "What if this exact same event happened 50 years ago?"

Two generations ago, in 1971, people would have taken it in stride. People would have worked to fix whatever was needed, and not given in to MASS INTERNATIONAL HYSTERIA over a cold snap. Our brain dead local media resembles crying Sally Struthers begging for money on a TV commercial, showing the WORST possible image they can find over and over, casting blame on one well known guy they hate with a passion.

Facebook fanatics are venting on social media like crazy trying to one-up each others VICTIMHOOD. What has happened? Are we a majority snowflake nation that want to helplessly WHINE about everything instead of putting up with an inconvenience for a short time?

Life is never perfect, and never will be. Demanding "perfection" every minute of every day of the year is NOT realistic. 50 years ago, the mentality would have been, Broke? Fix it. Cold? Bundle up. Hungry? Open canned goods.

Now, they just want to run to get in front of TV cameras and CRY, CRY, CRY.

That's all true, but some folks are hungry and in need of food and heat. Kids included. There's no reason to blame them - media be darn.

 

[Dave Hess]

Now for sure people are really hurting for those stimulus checks.

Maybe they can 2X the checks to provide immediate relief.... ?

.

 

[Dave Hess]

Leaving the water on would likely have the same result but a more expensive repair when it thaws.

During a storm when we lost power for 9 days and being on a well, that meant walking to a creek for flush water. Toilets only got flushed as necessary.

In more extreme cases, a plastic bag would be of use.

During times like this, people need to go into survival mode and not think about creature comforts they are used to.

Yep. I dealt with Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and no other choice than to circle the wagons.

I wonder how my ancestors dealt with cold winter blizzards in Europe 150 years ago ?

.

 

[OVERKILL]

Yep. I dealt with Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and no other choice than to circle the wagons.

I wonder how my ancestors dealt with blizzards in Europe 150 years ago ?

.

My grandparents retired to an island in Muskoka and were pretty much the only residents on the lake during the winter months. There were significant periods where they could not get off the island (ice coming in and out) and so they had to plan accordingly. Now, my grandmother's family was one of the first settlers of the Muskoka area, so island life wasn't "new" for her. They had several freezers and fridges in the house that they'd pack before the ice came in and 4 or 5 generators to ensure they always had power, no matter what. The house had two wood stoves in the event the furnace couldn't run.

It was not uncommon for power to go out for weeks at a time up there. I remember a summer where it was out for two weeks solid, we ran the gensets regularly to keep the fridges and freezers cool and run the pump. It surprisingly was of little impact on day-to-day, but that was the summer, so weather wasn't an issue.

I expect in the winter one could make use of "outside" as the freezer if need be and the wood stoves would keep everyone comfortable.

 

[PimTac]

Now for sure people are really hurting for those stimulus checks.

Maybe they can 2X the checks to provide immediate relief.... ?

.

Or maybe people could help each other instead of depending on the _____

 

[wag123]

Or maybe people could help each other instead of depending on the _____

I've personally seen plenty of that going on around me. A lot of people are helping each other. It is the way that it should be.
BTW, the city and county and state have been almost no help at all. They inferred that we were pretty much on our own, so we had to help each other.