Sunday, January 18, 2009

The "grip" of winter


The headlines this week screamed that parts of our country were caught in the "grip" of cold. I guess that's a good way to describe it. It feels like winter has lost it's marbles and is going postal. It's been a week of dangerous cold. My antique furnace finally gave up it's feeble attempts at heating me and died. Ha, I said, I laugh at you furnace, I can take it! Another one was ordered. Uhhh, I watched the temperature drop below zero and stay there. -5...-10...uhh -20.....what the fricking frick? Ehhh, I'd blog some and when my feet lost feeling I'd go stick 'em on mom's furnace grate and come back, make tea and blog some more. When the night temp got to 29 below zero, there was no sleeping. You readers in warm places like Australia might want to convert that to Celcius and then you'll go OMFG! Oh, I looked it up, it's minus 33 C. Gowd, what I wouldn't give to have had Gwyneth Paltrow here. Can you even imagine? Hee hee. Are you cold, Gwynie? Awww, make a smoothie, bitch. I'm stubborn, I believe you can take about anything for a day or two. Don't be a weenie.
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The new heater came in the next day and was installed (thank you Sam and Adrion!) but, it was too late for the pipes. Frozen solid. Oh, lovely. I showered at mom's and thought, hey, I'm warm. Ha, Winter! Eat my butt, Winter. After three days they gave a huge CRACK and the water was back with no damage. How lucky am I?? The drains stayed frozen though. That's a city sewer freeze and they had to deal with it. I had to wait two more days to use my water. It's okay now though. Watching a toilet flush, well, it has it's own kind of beauty.
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The car is still dead. Machines are such quitters. We put out 20 pounds of bird feed today. I have a new appreciation of a birds survival skills. When the car gets jumped I'm going to go buy them an electric water bowl. Birds never whine, have you noticed that?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

it was 34 below zero here on friday! i got extra blankets to reinforce the existing blankets over the windows a few days before it got really cold and tossed out blankets around for the kitties and pan...

my car DID start friday but then quit and now the throttle is stuck....

i've always wanted one of those electric water heaters for the birds and squirrels but don't have outside plug convenient to hook one up....i always make sure the squirrel and bird feeders are filled up as if they make the effort to come out in this weather, they should be able to get a meal!

Anonymous said...

I know how you feel Pat cos i am in the next state above you... Minnesota. It has been sooo cold all last week. I think it was around 25 below zero on Thursday morning.
I am from Australia where we think 50F is cold...i now laugh when my family tells me its cold!! I called my Mum the other day to tell her the temperatures. She couldnt comprehend it and just told me i was stupid for being there. Well maybe i am!!

Deb

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable. And I thought our winter was rough.
We had a huge snowfall (for us)but it was totally gone in about three or four days. Sunny/rainy usual stuff since.
Have they forecast the end of the deep cold you are having?
I am so glad to hear that your pipes were okay. That could have gotten really ugly.

Anonymous said...

The weather has gone postal indeed!!

It's 70 degrees in Roseville, CA.

I like winter to be cold so I can bundle up in my warm winter coat and hide my over-carbed fat body until spring. Go away warm...I like it cold.

Corina said...

you can have the below zero temps.. I'm good as long as it stays up in the single digits. I'd give anything for some serious snow though! Stop hogging it all midwesterners.. LOL!

Anonymous said...

Hey, TravisNoodle-- it must be a California condition because I too will take every opportunity to cover my own over-fed butt during the "winter" months. Pffllt! (86 degrees in the land of Mickey Mouse)

Seriously though.. I feel terrible for bitching and moaning for a cloudy day when I read what you've been going through, Dishy. Cold temps are one thing, but your weather-related nightmares are something else again. You and your mom take care!

Anonymous said...

Pat even tho you are freezing your butt off.... I wish I could have some COLD weather for a change... I miss snow/ice/wind etc....
Nadine

Anonymous said...

MATE!!!! i really, really CAN'T imagine how cold 33 below is. it is totally beyond my comprehension. here its 33+ (100 for you) HOT. but i think i'd rather be hot than cold, you can cool down, showers, etc. but 33 below you can die in that! trying to imagine the intensity of the cold just blows my mind away. i love birds too, yes they are totally amazing, i feed mine (pigeons) and worry about how they are dealing with the heat and life. but now i think i'll worry less. although when it gets too hot they do just drop down from the sky and die. i guess that happens in the cold too.

Anonymous said...

Don't be over doing it now DD! Got to take care of yourself, intense prolonged cold takes its toll.

Sending lots of good (and warm) thoughts your way.

Dirty Disher said...

It's cold today, but, not dangerous cold. Maybe the worst has passed? Poor Deb, former Aussie, you're having to get used to this. Uggg. Nadine! Come on over, I keep telling you to visit. Lia, the poor birds die here from the cold. Aww, we gotta help the little fookers out with some fatty food.

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cupcake said...

I'm happy your pipes didn't burst that is awesome