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Cunard Cruisers - How are things where you are ?


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If someone had told us this time last year that cruises would soon be cancelled with no real date for when they would start again, who would have believed it?

 

It's been cold and snowy here, but not the roads are still clear so that is one good thing.

 

My friend is still waiting for his first vaccine shot but hopefully, that will be soon.  I am almost at the bottom of the priority list so a long wait for me.  The figures are looking better but I think that is down to lockdown not the vaccine, but we should soon find out if it is starting to have an impact.

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We have about 12-15 inches broad snow cover now - with three more "snow events" predicted for the balance of the week. The deer have come out of the woods and are beginning to finish odd our decorative plantings.  Yes -- Bambi is adorable -- but a haunch of venison has its charms.

 

Damn!!!  I am starting to lose whatever patience I retain.

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16 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

We have about 12-15 inches broad snow cover now - with three more "snow events" predicted for the balance of the week. The deer have come out of the woods and are beginning to finish odd our decorative plantings.  Yes -- Bambi is adorable -- but a haunch of venison has its charms.

 

Damn!!!  I am starting to lose whatever patience I retain.

Yesterday, as I was driving through the Woodlands, Texas to restock my scotch larder, I noticed that the trees are already beginning to leaf out.

 

The earliest signs of spring, but the weather prognosticators are saying we are going to get a deep freeze this weekend with ice and snow. I am not going to cover my citrus this time. I am going to let it all happen. 

 

I am with you on the Deer NBT. Vile creatures when they get hungry they will eat anything, They even eat roses, and not just the petals but the stems as well. I hope when they do it gives the little beasts indigestion.

 

 

Edited by Bigmike911
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6 hours ago, Bigmike911 said:

...

 

I am with you on the Deer NBT. Vile creatures when they get hungry they will eat anything, They even eat roses, and not just the petals but the stems as well. I hope when they do it gives the little beasts indigestion.

 

 

You can't fight a tall varmint that will even eat spiky holly leaves.  Ever since the local wolves were wiped out -- and then population density made gun hunting impossible, the deer are running things around here.  And the "friends of the animals" are protesting baited birth control lures.   CT has probably 100 times the deer as were here in early 17th Century -- with no natural enemies.  The coyotes which have moved in as the wolves left are satisfied with taking down pet cats and dogs.

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9 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

You can't fight a tall varmint that will even eat spiky holly leaves.  Ever since the local wolves were wiped out -- and then population density made gun hunting impossible, the deer are running things around here.  And the "friends of the animals" are protesting baited birth control lures.   CT has probably 100 times the deer as were here in early 17th Century -- with no natural enemies.  The coyotes which have moved in as the wolves left are satisfied with taking down pet cats and dogs.

Well, at least in my neck of the woods an occasional 3/4 ton Ford F250 which have bred and are plentiful in this part of Texas will take out one of the little beasts, and it will be Turkey Buzzard Buffet time. It brings a smile to my face every time I see one. 

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1 hour ago, Colin_Cameron said:

Back to the chilly weather again. Had to close the bedroom window last night.

 

-18C here last night but a few miles up the road it got to -23C. (I know that’s nothing for some of you.)

That sounds could enough to me only -5 here.

 

My friend got the call today, he will get his first vaccine on Monday.

 

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2 hours ago, Lanky Lad said:

That sounds could enough to me only -5 here.

 

My friend got the call today, he will get his first vaccine on Monday.

 

LL Congratulations to your Friend. It is always good news when some one we care about get's the jab.  It would appear that the cold weather in the UK is spreading. Here in SE Texas Monday the high is expected to be -1C and the low -11C. Last Monday it was 30C. I like 30C better. 

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3 hours ago, Colin_Cameron said:

Back to the chilly weather again. Had to close the bedroom window last night.

 

-18C here last night but a few miles up the road it got to -23C. (I know that’s nothing for some of you.)

 

Brrrrrr!   That is rather brisk.  People here in Brisbane whinge if it drops below +15c in our wintertime.

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4 hours ago, Colin_Cameron said:

Back to the chilly weather again. Had to close the bedroom window last night.

 

-18C here last night but a few miles up the road it got to -23C. (I know that’s nothing for some of you.)

I never close the bedroom window, to Mr ALC's regret, but lately it is only open a crack.  This week's night time temps are in the 5-15 F range (-15 to -9 C); daytime temps go to 25-30 F (-5 to 0 C).  Definitely brisk!

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20 hours ago, Bigmike911 said:

Well, at least in my neck of the woods an occasional 3/4 ton Ford F250 which have bred and are plentiful in this part of Texas will take out one of the little beasts, and it will be Turkey Buzzard Buffet time. It brings a smile to my face every time I see one. 

The beasts are very hungry and brazen  now with the heavy snow cover for so long - I expect to see the refrigerator light come on in the middle of the night 

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On 2/11/2021 at 2:29 AM, Bigmike911 said:

Well, at least in my neck of the woods an occasional 3/4 ton Ford F250 which have bred and are plentiful in this part of Texas will take out one of the little beasts, and it will be Turkey Buzzard Buffet time. It brings a smile to my face every time I see one. 

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Unfortunately I did it in a Subaru.

 

This huge beast leapt off an embankment right in front of me. There was a terrible crunch as the front of the car folded in half and went from 50 to 0 in about three feet. I sat looking out the windscreen wondering where on earth he had gone. Then nearly wet myself when there was an almighty WHUMP and the car roof caved in. So the car was a write-off, but we called it a draw.

 

What really ****ed me off was that I was only a couple of hundred miles short of 250,000 and would probably have passed that milestone the following day.

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6 hours ago, Colin_Cameron said:

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Unfortunately I did it in a Subaru.

 

This huge beast leapt off an embankment right in front of me. There was a terrible crunch as the front of the car folded in half and went from 50 to 0 in about three feet. I sat looking out the windscreen wondering where on earth he had gone. Then nearly wet myself when there was an almighty WHUMP and the car roof caved in. So the car was a write-off, but we called it a draw.

 

What really ****ed me off was that I was only a couple of hundred miles short of 250,000 and would probably have passed that milestone the following day.

CC, There is something to be said for a Ford F250. I suspect that they come out a bit better than your Subaru in a similar collision. Maybe your replacement Subaru will get you to 250K barring any future venison entanglements. 

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Tomorrow, Monday 15th February the local high and low temperatures in South East Texas will both be below freezing. The last time that occurred was 1899. In addition, tonight we expect the arrival of a ice storm which will leave 1/10 to 1/5 inches of ice on the roads and power lines. After the ice storm we expect 1/2 to 2 inches of snow. 

 

When the street power gets cut, my 20KW standby natural gas generator comes on automatically, but the power to the internet network will likely go as it is not hardened to weather, as my last experience in the Hurricane that hit western Louisiana last summer proved.  

 

Anyone foolish enough to venture out on the roads is risking his or her life. So I am in for the duration. Tuesday it will get warm enough to melt the snow and ice, only to have it freeze again in the evening On Friday we expect the high and low to be above freezing, practically Summer in comparison. 

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Spent the weekend fighting chills, fever (101.4/38.5 at its peak), general malaise and the worst case of stiff neck I can remember. I postponed my second Pfizer shot scheduled for Friday and although I had had a negative COVID test just on Monday got another Saturday that came back negative within a day.

Finally this afternoon I'm able to move my head and neck without extreme pain. I never had any respiratory issues or a headache so I'm really at a loss to identify what it was but I'm glad that it seems to be behind me. My COVID shot is rescheduled for Tuesday morning.

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1 hour ago, Underwatr said:

Spent the weekend fighting chills, fever (101.4/38.5 at its peak), general malaise and the worst case of stiff neck I can remember. I postponed my second Pfizer shot scheduled for Friday and although I had had a negative COVID test just on Monday got another Saturday that came back negative within a day.

Finally this afternoon I'm able to move my head and neck without extreme pain. I never had any respiratory issues or a headache so I'm really at a loss to identify what it was but I'm glad that it seems to be behind me. My COVID shot is rescheduled for Tuesday morning.

Glad you seem to be on the mend.  A reminder that Covid is not the only nasty thing out there. 

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20 hours ago, Underwatr said:

Spent the weekend fighting chills, fever (101.4/38.5 at its peak), general malaise and the worst case of stiff neck I can remember. I postponed my second Pfizer shot scheduled for Friday and although I had had a negative COVID test just on Monday got another Saturday that came back negative within a day.

Finally this afternoon I'm able to move my head and neck without extreme pain. I never had any respiratory issues or a headache so I'm really at a loss to identify what it was but I'm glad that it seems to be behind me. My COVID shot is rescheduled for Tuesday morning.

Hope you don't have a bad reaction to the second shot. Glad you're feeling better.

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On 2/14/2021 at 5:13 PM, Underwatr said:

Spent the weekend fighting chills, fever (101.4/38.5 at its peak), general malaise and the worst case of stiff neck I can remember. I postponed my second Pfizer shot scheduled for Friday and although I had had a negative COVID test just on Monday got another Saturday that came back negative within a day.

Finally this afternoon I'm able to move my head and neck without extreme pain. I never had any respiratory issues or a headache so I'm really at a loss to identify what it was but I'm glad that it seems to be behind me. My COVID shot is rescheduled for Tuesday morning.

Whew!!!

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16 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Had (so far) a barely noticeable reaction to #2 Pfizer shot received on Saturday.

My second Pfizer shot was easier than the first, I'm happy to say.  Now let all those B and T cells do their stuff.  

 

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On 2/14/2021 at 3:40 PM, Bigmike911 said:

Tomorrow, Monday 15th February the local high and low temperatures in South East Texas will both be below freezing. The last time that occurred was 1899. In addition, tonight we expect the arrival of a ice storm which will leave 1/10 to 1/5 inches of ice on the roads and power lines. After the ice storm we expect 1/2 to 2 inches of snow. 

 

When the street power gets cut, my 20KW standby natural gas generator comes on automatically, but the power to the internet network will likely go as it is not hardened to weather, as my last experience in the Hurricane that hit western Louisiana last summer proved.  

 

Anyone foolish enough to venture out on the roads is risking his or her life. So I am in for the duration. Tuesday it will get warm enough to melt the snow and ice, only to have it freeze again in the evening On Friday we expect the high and low to be above freezing, practically Summer in comparison. 

Texas got socked hard by the storm!  How did you fare?

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At last the internet has been restored for me. It was down from Sunday evening, along with street electricity. My trusty natural gas electric generator ran all night Sunday, all day Monday and into Tuesday morning with street power was restored. It struggled last night from a shortage of Natural Gas Pressure. There was a trickle of water since we have a local water company and it's electricity was out until they brought in a back up generator, so now we have water, power and internet, still way below freezing and the roads are in awful shape. 

 

Due to the fact that the Texas Electrical Grid gets 25% of it's power from wind and solar, which went out of service in the storm, and the South Texas Nuclear plant was undergoing service to prepare for summer and it is still down there is a massive shortage of electricity in the state. Millions are still with out power, and it is a generation problem not a distribution problem. Ercot the grid manager is scurrying to get stand by power plants back in service but even that takes time. They got caught with their pants down on this one. 

 

We still have ice and snow everywhere except the pool which is still unfrozen. I have a pool thermometer in the shape of a yellow duck which floats on the surface. Ducky has a crown of snow as he floats about. 

 

Sunday I made poached eggs on toast rounds and saved the left over toast and tore it into small pieces and put in on the driveway under the Porte Cochere which doesn't get wet. I make a lot of little birds very happy with that. 

 

We may get to 33 today, but tonight the roads will again ice over. There have been few accidents on the roads but unfortunately there have been a number of fatal house fires, from people trying to keep warm with out power and a family of five died of carbon monoxide from trying to keep warm from a barbeque grill they brought inside. Very sad. 

 

This the worst cold spell since 1895 in South Texas and has exposed us to the follies of modern living with out thinking of consequences of the things we do.  I am happy to be warm and alive though. 

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7 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Can’t resist passing along news of our one day break - back down to teens and more snow the next couple of days, but today can actually feel the sun on my face.

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NBT, Well, it's supposed to be 70 on Sunday, and this weather will be a bad dream, except for a bunch of zapped plants.  Some of the palms can handle temps in the low teens and single digits, but not many. It is going to be an ugly summer while some recover and others get dug up and tossed.

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