Just a quick update: we’re safely ensconced at a long-stay hotel, but we’re still subject to occasional blackouts which play havoc with the wifi server. So postings will only be occasional.
We are fine.
That said, we are still waiting for the insurance company to come and view the damage, so in that regard there’s still some uncertainty.
To all those folks who have tossed dollars into Ye Olde Begginge Bole, our deepest and sincerest thanks.
Apart from the insurance uncertainty (and you all know what I mean), I feel fine about things. We’re safe, warm and DRY, so things can only get better*.
*cue Howard Jones’ song of the same name.
Glad to hear that you and your wife finally somewhere DRY and with at least ‘partial power’ !
Until I saw some of the news footage, I had NO IDEA how blessed I have been during this …….um……..emergency, yeah, that’s it, emergency !
Heads should roll over this but there will be an investigation and then a panel created and then ……………. NOTHING. By July, this will mostly be a bad memory.
That is what Electric Reliability Council of Texas ( ERCOT ) is hoping for anyway.
On a slightly different note, I need suggestions as to what to say / do / think about doing to the next, um, person who, while standing with their throat within my arms reach, says, in all sincerity, that we REALLY need to get everyone converted to ELECTRIC ‘cars’.
Any ideas ?
Kim, we just got ‘lectric back here at 7:30 last night. Just read of your plight this morning, and DAMN, here I was thinkin’ we had a spot of trouble, down here. Yeah, it was cold and miserable, but NOTHING like flooded. And believe me, I know from flooded.
I read where mostly your guns n’ gear stayed high n’ dry. What’s next and what’s needed most in terms of kit that you might need? Funds, of course, but I’d be willing to ship up boxes of such as I have, if it fits your needs.
For Wallace, in the preceding. My answer to the “electric car” dork, would be to plug him personally into the nearest Tesla Supercharger and see how he likes it. On a more practical basis, ask him how long the charge would run the car’s heater if he had to depend on that to stay alive, as did so many during this freeze. Larger questions such as baseline power and the grid’s inability to charge masses of electric cars, will CLEARLY be above such a dork’s native IQ to absorb.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Kim,
When I saw “DRY” … I almost thought this could be a post about the benefits of breakfast gin during times of stress. Good that you’re safe/dry/etc. Also dropped a few shekels into your Ye Olde Kollecshun Jar.
Let this be a lesson to all Mericuns. Texas like all the rest of the country is not immune from idiot effing politicians running everything into the ground. Perry or Abbott or W or that wrinkled Dem hag are genuine massive dults. Now just imagine if this was a freakin EMP from NK or China ? Or a Solar fart ?
Read One Second After by William Forstchen. Or peruse the following by Dr Pry
https://emptaskforce.us/index.php/1-pry/
Basically we all gonna die cause useless pols did effing nothing to prepare the grid. How much in dollars ? Maybe Ten Billion. A rounding error to protect the entire US of A…. arrrghh..,,
Glad you are OK.
Problem is that across the entire economy the priority is efficiency not resilience. Not localized to TX or even the grid. It is everywhere (Thanks CoC.) Think offshoring, JiT. Makes us incredibly vulnerable to any kind of disruption. If a winter storm can do this, think about a CME. We all need to get as self-sufficient as we can at least in the short run.
Glad you got to a dry place. I set off $20 via PayPal.
Knowing insurance companies, they’ll find an excuse to not have to cover a cent.
Think claiming that because it was caused by another resident, it’s a civil dispute between you and them, they’re not involved (unless you’ve coverage for legal cost, maybe).
Or here they’d claim that as the blackouts and flooding are caused by a natural disaster that’s not on the list of covered natural disasters, they don’t have to cover it.
Good to hear things are looking up.
God bless New Wife, you, and family! This to shall pass, hopefully soon! As noted above, resilience should equally be part of the system mission, along with performance and efficiency. Goal? Should be able to take a tactical nuke strike with quick recovery beyond a five radius of the strike!
What a nightmare. My heart attack last month, or the flooding at Casa DuToit. I think I may have gotten the better deal, and I’m serious. Might I suggest a tactic a friend of mine deployed when meeting the young men calling on his daughter: Sit the young man (or in your case the insurance adjuster) at the table for a friendly chat as you’re cleaning your gun.