Woohoo - one in a row!

 

I got up this morning to see 42º on our weather station and all utilities (power, water, cable, internet) functional!  The weather weasels have once again changed their forecast from last night and are saying we may reach 60º today.  Still colder than normal, but enough to make me consider taking the Vespa around the neighborhood.  It has been a long time (since we lived in the frozen northland) that weather kept me from riding for 10 days or more.

I bundled up and went for a walk in the sunshine.  20º or so colder than what it should be, but it felt good to get some sunshine.  Well, not that I had any exposed skin.  ;-)

 

We did get a notice that a water line is broken the next block over from us, so there may be a water interruption.  We are both showered up and ready to take on the day.  It's the start of getting back to normal. 

Rufus isn't quite ready to take on his day...

The water did go off for a couple hours, but we were ahead of the game.

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It's about time...

The temperature made it up to 61º, and I got out on the Vespa.  I really needed to get out on the Vespa.  I didn't go anywhere particular, just rode around.  Plenty of traffic in town, but Walmart and HEB weren't packed.  No lines for gas at any of the stations.  If you didn't notice all the shriveled greenery, it would just seem like a colder than usual day in the Tropical Tip.

It didn't suck.

New Game Show!

 

We're playing a new game show:  (crowd chants along) Wheel of Outage!

Over the past week, it has been something new every day.  Power, water, cable TV, internet.  I got out our generator to keep the fridge and some heat on.  We listened to the Today Show on Sirius satellite radio for yesterday's morning news and entertainment.  Yep, just like the olden days: the family sitting around listening to the radio.  Around the electric fireplace.  The cable TV came on last night at 8:14 and went out again at 9:05.  Along with the internet.  Joan felt confident enough to dump the buckets of water we had in each bathroom (to use for flushing) last night.  Shoulda known better.

And, back to today's show...

"Hi, I'm Jim, your host for (crowd chants along) Wheel of Outage!  This is our lovely hostess Joan, wearing her flannel jammies."

Joan: "Hi, everyone."

Jim: "Joan, will you spin the Wheel of Outage and we'll see what today's fun outage will be."

Wheel spins and... "Water!  Those of you playing our home version will want to turn your water heater off and remember to not flush your toilets!  Rufus, tell us more!"

Announcer Rufus: "Yes, Jim, today we woke up to... no water!  You and a guest will get a no expense paid trip to the bathroom, where you can look at you toilet, tub, and sink, and try to remember when they had functioning water flow.  You'll be treated to a bucket of water where you and a guest can play 'If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down!'  But, that's not all, Jim.  As a special bonus, the weather weasels, who yesterday said today will be 'gradually warming' lied once again, and have pushed that off another day.  And, for the sheer fun of it, this morning's temperature at wake-up time is 33º with a never-ending cold north breeze!  Back to you, Jim."

Jim: "Will the fun never start?  Thanks, Rufus.  Well, that's all the time we have for today's game.  Join us tomorrow for another episode of (crowd chants along) Wheel of Outage!"

Joan: "Bye-bye"

Cut to a commercial for Xanax. 

Flashbacks...

 

The power came back on at 2:00am... I was grateful for that because I was having flashbacks to my childhood and being nearly crushed by blankets because there was no heat in the upstairs of our house.  And I am a side-sleeper, so the weight of those blankets is hard on the joints.

We had the living room warmed up nicely before shutting down the generator at 11:00 last night (that's when "quiet time" starts).  Joan knew she'd be awake all night, so she took to the couch when I went to bed.  Yes, she tucked me in.  ;-)

When the power came back on, I peeled off the heavy bedspread and turned on the electric blanket and was soon joined by Joan... and Rufus, who never left the bed.

The washing machine was in the middle of a rinse cycle yesterday when the power went out.  Joan started that again at 2:10am... it was a comforting sound: that hum of an electric-operated device doing its job.

The house was in disarray this morning, but Joan went about restoring order while I did my morning routine.  Blankets around the living room, the fridge pulled out (so we could get to the plug) and flashlights distributed all around.

It isn't "life as usual" with the power restored this morning: there is no cable TV or internet.  We are listening to the Today Show via Sirius Radio on Joan's phone.  My phone is providing internet, so we can see/hear what is going on in the world.

We are boat and RV people: we know how to conserve and use our resources.  I think we are faring better than many here.  North of us in Texas, it is more ice and snow, so those folks have it bad.  This morning, Joan had me turn on the dryer when I got up, so that load is done.  Joan has the house back to normal.  The electric fireplace is helping the house heat keep things comfortable, and most importantly: Rufus's meal routine has maintained its regular schedule.  If you can believe the weather weasels (they have under-guessed most of this), one more cold day and night and then a gradual warming trend.

Any internet-based devices (security cameras, Alexa) are just flashing, with power on, just waiting to get an internet signal.  The tea kettle is starting to whistle as it comes to a boil; no, we don't drink tea.

As Joni Mitchell told us in 1970:

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone.
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

I'm very appreciative to have power and water this morning. 

Take care and be safe out there.

Joan's guys after a restless night.

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We'll probably all need a nap this afternoon.  Well, Rufus may need an additional nap this afternoon.  He has seemed a bit food insecure, even though his meals and treats have all been on schedule through this last week.

Joan and I were talking about this last power outage this afternoon: 12 hours off, then back on.  That doesn't seem random.  Last night at 2:00am, we weren't thinking about "what if," just glad to be able to run some heat without using the generator.  Now, with a bit of sleep, some breakfast, and showers, we're planning ahead.  More water boiled.  All our devices charging up.  Another load of laundry.  It's just after noon, so if the power goes off around 2ish, we'll have our answer about more rolling blackouts.

Two days ago, over 3 million Texans were without power.  That is now down to less than a million.  That's still a LOT of people, most of that number having been without power for days.  We found out that our water issues are related to the cold and the power outages, causing surges on water filtration/pumping equipment.  They're pushing water, but we still have to boil it before consuming.

Mother Nature is giving us another cold, windy day; the overnight rains have passed.  41º right now, with a wind chill factor of "OMG, are you shitting me?"  The forecast for tonight is a low of 37º and windy.  Sunny tomorrow, with a high of 48º by late afternoon.  I don't trust them.  Not any more than I trust the power company and the water district.  This past week has my faith more along the lines of: I'll believe it when I see it.

The internet is still out, along with our cable TV.  There are several different owners groups on Facebook for our village, and it seems a bit paradoxical that people are getting on the internet to complain that they have no internet.  ;-)

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8:12pm - the internet and cable TV are back.  We have made due with my phone as a hotspot; even managed to stream some news this evening on Joan's iPad.  We listened to the Today Show on Serious Radio this morning.  We sure as heck weren't going to do anything unnecessary outside... I looked out there, with the idea of bundling up and taking a walk... the wind was out of the north at 28 gusting higher and it was 37º... that's a big ol' nope.  I exercised inside instead.  When I went outside to do a walk around the house to see how everthing was faring, Rufus looked out the door and said, "You're on your own, Pops."

The weasels have moved the "weather will get better" to Saturday... not a surprise.  AEP says that there should be no more rolling blackouts in our area, and any outages are "equipment related."  Apparently, there are spotty outages still on our island, including one block over from us.  Fingers crossed.

Our turn...

 

We had been counting our blessings.  Much of the towns (closest to us) of Port Isabel and South Padre Island have been without power for 2 to 3 days.  Amazingly, with the exception of a few outages of 10 minutes to a couple hours, we haven't been without power.

That changed at 2:20 this afternoon - our entire island is without power.  Yes, we still have weak water.  Good news/bad news.  The good news is we can run water.  The bad news: without power, we can't run the stove to be able to boil the water.  The really bad news: without power, the lift stations on our island can't move the sewage off the island.

We got our generator out, gassed it up, and fired it up.  Much like the state of Texas electrical grid, we can now decide what gets power priority.  The generator isn't big enough to run the whole house; the two important items: the fridge and the electric fireplace.  Keep food cold, keep us warm.  It is 43º outside with a cold north wind; the warmth of the electric fireplace feels good after being outside to mess with the generator.  We can also run a lamp, and power up our devices on a "rolling basis."  Our regular high speed internet (and cable TV) is gone with the power.  The back-up is what we use when we're out and about in the motorhome: using my phone as the hotspot.  It is getting dark, so one lamp will get into rotation, as well.

Joan won't be baking anything, but we have a butane cooktop that will suffice for heating things up.  Rufus's meals will still happen at their regular time.  Right now, he is pretty confused about the state of things.  Joan tried to sooth him by saying, "This is like camping, Rufus!"  He isn't buying it.  He thinks camping is roughing it in the motorhome.  ;-)

We'll see how long this drags out.

I'm real happy we both got a good shower in today.

This pretty much sums it up...

 

 Yep.  The forecast overnight was for temperatures to get into the 40s.  It was 34º when we went to bed; and now, at 7:00 am, 34º.  To add insult, the high speed internet is out.  Back to using the phone as my hotspot.  Joan is cleaning up so she can go to the store... I'm expecting shelves there to be sparse... "Honey, I'm home - I got a bag of chicken beaks and feet and a mix of broccoli-flavored pancakes.  Everything else was gone."

Just kidding... the pancake mix was gone, too.

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Joan went to the store early today, before 8:00.  Walmart was still closed (no power), HEB was open.  She couldn't get some of the brands we wanted, but only the fruits and vegetables were picked over.  Not an inexpensive outing, but we should be good for at least a week.  She bought a beef roast almost the size of Rufus - we'll freeze half of it and have roast beef with new potatoes and French dip sandwiches the next day.  She planned for some "comfort food" to hold us for a while.  And as a treat: a fresh donut each.

A bit of a break from the wind this morning; it was only 5mph when Joan went to the store.  I bundled up and went for a walk...

The wind was picking up by the time I got back; 37º.  The weather weasels are saying it will make it to 52º today.  I don't trust them.  The actual weather has been colder than their forecasts all week.  We'll see.

The water pressure has built up enough that showers may be in the plan today.  After breakfast.  Again, we'll see.  Our water heater is electric and tankless... if the power goes out, it will be cold.  Right now.

The sun is trying to make an appearance through the gray clouds.  It will go a long ways for people's moods.  This makes me appreciate the weasels reporting, "30 seconds of sun breaks" in the Pacific Northwest.  It is important to find something upbeat where you can.

Joan said that people were loading sea turtles into pickup trucks at our boat ramp when she went to the store; they were gone when she came back.

Warm wishes sent your way for all of us.

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We got showers... complete with hot water!  In the middle of making lunch, the power went out.  Fortunately, it was only for 10 minutes or so.  By 2:00, it had warmed up to 48º outside, and Rufus wanted to go for a walk; we got his harness on and I took him out.  First that he has been out on the leash in several days, with just the occasional dash out the door, followed by the immediate "Let me back in!"  This was an actual walk.  Not quite sunny out, but it was trying to make an appearance.

Then, around 2:20, the power is out again.  No word from the power company or any idea how long this one will last.  If it goes more than an hour, I plan to get the generator going so we can have some heat and keep the fridge going - we have a lot of stuff that will need to be kept cold after Joan's trip to the store this morning.

The Hits Keep Coming...

 

If you said, "Every radio DJ in the 60s," you get 3 bonus points.

Not talking about that.  Since we got back from checking on the motorhome, the water came back on at not much more than a trickle.  It allowed us to flush toilets, get dishes done, and get a couple wastebaskets of water (to use for flushing)... before it went off again.  Seems there is a major break is a water line in Laguna Vista, and the Laguna Madre Water District has shut off water again.  When the water does come back on, we will be under a "boil alert" - we'll have to boil water before using it for anything edible.

The promised 55º high for the day seems to have made it up to almost 40º by 4:00 pm with 90% humidity.  If you have to go outside for anything, it is quite unpleasant.

I mentioned in the previous post about the dead fish floating belly up in our canal... those numbers are growing.  The number of sea turtles that have been picked out of the water or washed up on the shores is staggering: over 2,500 so far.  That is more than Sea Turtle Inc can handle in their facility - the mayor of South Padre Island is allowing them to use the Convention Center for rescued turtles...

To add to situation, the power is still off on South Padre Island, so Sea Turtle Inc is having issues with keeping their tanks heated adequately.

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Just saw this on this evening's local weather: the surf water temperature is 38º.  I have never seen it this low.  SMH

So, this morning...

 

No water.  The Laguna Madre Water District currently has no power.  Probably doesn't help that everyone in south Texas whose pipes haven't burst was trickling water.  We are fortunate that we still have power - lots of areas all around us are also without power.  Our house is all electric, so without power, nothin' works.  Without water, nothin' flushes.

You know there has been a run on bottled water at the grocery stores.  Well, Walmart is closed because they don't have power; HEB has power and it sounds like the crowds are Black Friday size.  Joan mentioned that we have some bottled water in the motorhome... "We have bottled water in the motorhome?"

"Yes, and some soda, too."

We are now cleaning up - as best as we can without showers - so we can get out to the motorhome to see if the bottled water and soda have frozen and made a sticky mess of it.  It is now 35º at home and the wind is down to 9mph, so only insultingly cold rather than brutally cold.

When we lived up north, our homes had fireplaces and wood burning stoves, so even without power we wouldn't freeze to death.  Pipes were buried deep in the ground, so the chance that they would freeze was less than here, where they drag a stick along the ground and put a water line in it.

Yes, I am sorta kidding.  This weather is unheard of in deep south Texas.  Joan optimistically said, "I'd rather be without water than without power."  I'll ask again in a couple days, when we haven't had showers.  Kidding again - I'm not dumb enough to bring that up.

Time to run... off to our "escape pod" to see how it fared.

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Back.  The important news: it was 39º in the motorhome and all was good.  Leaving home, we had just over half a tank of gas in the car.  It is 40 miles to the storage unit.  The plan: I put a couple gas containers in the car; I'll top them off in case we need to run the generator.

Leaving town was eerie - no lights.  No gas stations open.  Power is obviously out in town... except for HEB (they must have a generator) - the parking lot was packed.  With no water in much of the area, we planned to stop at the next town, where there is a McDonalds - get something for breakfast and have no dishes to clean.  The lines at the drive-up at MickeyD's were a block long.  Nope.  Good news: there is a gas station next to McDonalds that is open.  The bad news: they must be out of gas.  We got in line but soon saw that there was nobody actually pumping gas.  People were using the area by the gas pumps for parking while they shopped in the convenience store.  It took some maneuvering, but we got out of there.

It isn't out of the way to at least check out the Walmart in that town... they had power and the gas pumps didn't have long lines!  I filled the Honda and topped off two 2-gallon fuel containers.  On to the storage unit.  I unlocked the coach and turned on power; while Joan went inside to assess the situation, I put away the trouble light I had put underneath for warming, since there is no power here, either.  Joan let me know all was good inside.  Whew!  I loaded the water and the few bottles of soda into the car.  The outside air temp in the car read 31º at the storage unit.  I was surprised that it wasn't at least that cold in the coach.

We considered driving through Harlingen on the way home to pick up a bite to eat.  Joan checked the AEP (power company) web site for outages: looks like much of Harlingen has no power, either.  We talked about swinging back through Los Fresnos and opted to just head for home.

Joan is convinced the power outages are due to "rolling blackouts" to protect the grid; I think some of this is due to damage caused by the weather.  Driving back into Port Isabel, Walmart looks like a ghost-town, HEB is still packed.  Using the water we took out of the coach, we don't have to go to the store right now.

Rolling onto our island, we have power.  I am surprised - anything we get (water, power) has to come through Port Isabel to get to us.  There were a few blocks towards the east end of town that had power again as we drove through.  Another gas station/convenience store, with cars in line for gas about a block long.

Back at home, we have power and warmth.  Good thing, since it is 34º here at 11:00am (predictions were for 40º at 10:00).  I turned our water back on and we have a weak trickle of water.  It's enough to fill a couple of waste baskets with water (taking a while) so we'll have water for flushing.

Since the actual weather is worse than today's forecast, I don't put much stock in the 55º high being predicted for today.  For now, we're good.  We'll use water sparingly.  If the power goes out, we have gas for the generator.  No reason for us to go back out again for a while... Rufus did go outside for a couple minutes when we first got home; that will hold him for a while.  He is not a fan of the cold.

Here's a map that shows areas of outage from AEP...

The island we are on is just south of Port Isabel, and no outage markers there.

There are some dead fish in our canal and lots of smaller fish swimming near the surface.  When we came back to our island, there were cars parked in the boat ramp area - people are walking along the north shore, rescuing cold shocked sea turtles.  Hundreds of sea turtles have been taken to Sea Turtle Inc. on South Padre Island.  Time in extended cold is going to take a toll on these cold blooded reptiles.

Thursday looks to be another cold front and overnight lows potentially below freezing.  It has been a tough week all over the country.  Schools have been closed here and Covid vaccinations have had to be postponed in some places.  Our local Event Center in Port Isabel will be open tonight as a shelter for those without water and/or power.

Weren't we promised that 2021 was going to be a better year?