[star]

View to the southeast from the deck.

[Lee]

Forecast hard frost tonight so told hubby to drain the pipes outside and cover whatever needed to cover. Ask him to do it when it's bright and warmer outside. Standard answer OK and no action following

[star]

Originally Posted by Lee

Forecast hard frost tonight so told hubby to drain the pipes outside and cover whatever needed to cover. Ask him to do it when it's bright and warmer outside. Standard answer OK and no action following

Done yet?

Our sun is about to go behind the cliffs.

[savesthedizzle]

Originally Posted by star

So children, I remember when gas was 25 cents a gallon and sometimes there were gas wars with the filling stations, and it would go down to 10 cents a gallon.

I remember in the 80s when it went up to nearly 90 cents a gallon and I was thinking about riding a bike to work. Those were the days of the boycott and the long lines at the gas stations.

I *think* when I was a senior in HS gas was still under $2 actually. I *think*. I wonder if there's somewhere I can search that out. There must be.

Originally Posted by ProdigyEng

Still no snow here. Getting a little bit sick of the weather now just raining and cold here all the time. Ah, Manchester, how I love you!

I will take rainy and cold over snow any day

[savesthedizzle]

In 2001, the national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $1.46. That is equal to about $1.80 per gallon in 2010 dollars.

I do remember it! I do!

It's scary how quickly I became accustomed to it being double that as a driver I don't think if I were 17 years old today I would have been able to afford filling my tank It was bad enough needing gas money then!

[Lee]

Originally Posted by star

Done yet?

Our sun is about to go behind the cliffs.

Yes. But I don't think he drained the pipes. We had most of the above ground ones covered and that should be good enough. Some plants are covered and one pot is in the garage. Last year, he put it inside the house and it's a long time before the house is without those annoying tiny little flying insects as they used the soil in our indoor plants as breeding ground.

[star]

Originally Posted by Lee

Yes. But I don't think he drained the pipes. We had most of the above ground ones covered and that should be good enough. Some plants are covered and one pot is in the garage. Last year, he put it inside the house and it's a long time before the house is without those annoying tiny little flying insects as they used the soil in our indoor plants as breeding ground.

It was 5 when I got up this morning at dawn. Now it's something like 10. It's supposed to get up to 36 today, but it's hard to believe. At least the sun is shining brightly; the sky is brilliant deep blue; and there's not a cloud in the sky.

But you remind me of living in Houston when the threat of freezing temps would make us cover plants and turn on all the faucets so that the pipes wouldn't freeze. Because of the high water table in Houston, all the water pipes in the house are above ground and in newer construction run overhead so if they burst the house floods. I still remember one man in the neighborhood explaining to me patiently and patronizingly as men so many times speak to women that running water froze more readily than still water. I tried to argue with him, but you know that's useless so I went home and turned on my faucets anyway. Next morning they are trying to thaw their pipes with a hair dryer.

[savesthedizzle]

My mom and I just got back from Pennsylvania to get a ham

We stopped by a mall while we were there and all the people were so friendly Their slogan on stuff at rest stops is "Smile you're in Pennsylvania" and normally I laugh, but today it really was pleasant

[star]

Well, laughing is even better than smiling!

I think Europeans think Americans smile too much.

[star]

Oh, I just want to Yolita who is making too much sense in that Wawa thread in GM. First of all -- her English is admirable, but then her whole tone and rationality are just incredible considering what goes on in GM.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by star

It was 5 when I got up this morning at dawn. Now it's something like 10. It's supposed to get up to 36 today, but it's hard to believe. At least the sun is shining brightly; the sky is brilliant deep blue; and there's not a cloud in the sky.

But you remind me of living in Houston when the threat of freezing temps would make us cover plants and turn on all the faucets so that the pipes wouldn't freeze. Because of the high water table in Houston, all the water pipes in the house are above ground and in newer construction run overhead so if they burst the house floods. I still remember one man in the neighborhood explaining to me patiently and patronizingly as men so many times speak to women that running water froze more readily than still water. I tried to argue with him, but you know that's useless so I went home and turned on my faucets anyway. Next morning they are trying to thaw their pipes with a hair dryer.

I don't keep water running. I bought pipe insulation from places like Home Depot or Lowes. In Calgary, the water pipes are usually OK inside the house with heat running but in the basements, they are vulnerable. And the insulation is excellent for preventing bumps. I had a granite coffee table, a flat sheet of granite top on a small base plus a kitchen island with eating extension in the house in Calgary. Dangerous when there were a horde of toddlers (Jr. and his cousins) at that time. So I wrapped the insulation on all sharp/protruded corners/edges in my house.

In one of the family gathering, my nephew was so happy running around the kitchen and he ran right into the granite counter with his cheek making contact. (I still had the slow motion video kept replaying in my head) His head bounced back because of the insulation and fell backward with his head hitting the floor. Glad the floor was hardwood, not tile in the kitchen. He just bounced up and kept running. Nothing cracked. It all happened in less than 5 seconds.

[star]

That's a great idea!

I remember distinctly when I grew too tall to run under the kitchen table full tilt. My head took a horrible knock! I remember being confused. It never happened before. I can imagine that little boy so clearly.

When I was here for the first winter, it was hard for me not to turn on the water when it got cold. It was such a habit.

[Lee]

Poor Wawrinka, even he made such accusation on Federer, it's still ended up all the discussions are about Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

[star]

Originally Posted by Lee

Poor Wawrinka, even he made such accusation on Federer, it's still ended up all the discussions are about Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

I haven't read the thread except for the opening post and I saw one of Mike's there. I just saw Yolita's name on the first page so clicked to read her post. I saw the usual suspects were there.

[Prodigy.]

Enjoy the end of the world guys .