Post by: krissel on March 05, 2018, 01:41:51 AM
We lost a good sized pine near the road that lay at a 45º angle on the wires until the top half was chopped off this afternoon by the power company (or some tree service). They threw the debris all over and onto the property across the street. They lost a huge double-trunked hardwood tree that I actually watched split and go down. Pretty frightening to see it happen but luckily it missed his house. Lot's to clean up in the days/weeks ahead.
Fortunately our generator kicked in and worked like a champ but the propane was getting low and I cut back on the heat, etc. to conserve. We also lost landline phone (and DSL internet) until this evening. I checked the power company site and our town (Tewksbury) was 91% without power and the town next to us was 78% out. They had predicted we would get power by Tues or Wed but we lucked out in our little crossroads. One of my neighbors across the field still has his generator running. Not sure if he got power back.
I'm hoping Jane is OK on the Cape cause they got some really high winds up there, worse than us.
Will be going to the other house tmrw to see how that fared.
Post by: Highmac on March 05, 2018, 05:11:27 AM
We're just seeing last week's snow thawing fast - temps of -6C/21F last week, up to 8C/46F today.
We were lucky and didn't get the worst of it in our area. Didn't snow until Friday and started thawing Sunday. Many rural villages had been cut off since the beginning of the week.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on March 05, 2018, 08:35:01 AM
Unfortunately, it looks like another band of wet weather is on the way east. You'll probably get some of the Gulf moisture from south of us before the end of the week. We're doing our best to wring the rain out of the clouds but there's just too much! Perhaps we could build a reeely tall wall along the coast...
Post by: Highmac on March 05, 2018, 08:59:05 AM
Post by: Xairbusdriver on March 07, 2018, 08:18:37 AM
[attachment=3534:92fndfd.gif]
That's a 'healthy' Low! Probably not as bad as the last one.
It did get down to 990 around here in the last year.
That's a 'healthy' Low! Probably not as bad as the last one.
It did get down to 990 around here in the last year.
Post by: gunug on March 07, 2018, 11:15:26 AM
Post by: krissel on March 07, 2018, 10:16:32 PM
That said, my house, in a town about 20 miles from here, is without power. Half of that town is out also. They got at least two feet of snow (according to the TV guys) and I'm worried about the almost flat section of roof that I usually shovel when I only get a foot. I have no idea when I will be able to get back there to check things out. Fingers crossed.
On Monday my sister and I tried to get to the house she has a contract to buy (about 8 miles away) but detoured all over the place before arriving to find no apparent damage to the house. Whew. Don't know yet what this second storm has done. This area was hit pretty hard by winds and many trees, poles, even gas station rain shelters were knocked over. That was a shock to see.
I am grateful that I have power right now, but worried about my house.
Post by: Highmac on March 08, 2018, 05:37:39 AM
We're now being warned of more snow this weekend - mainly in the north and Scotland - as the country continues its recovery from the 'Beast from the East' as it was dubbed by the tabloids.
Post by: kimmer on March 08, 2018, 10:59:02 AM
After a few days of lovely spring type weather, where I planted some flowers and put them out,
my area is now enjoying WIND and rain. Not sure how much rain, but the wind is steady at 30mph and the gusts range from 48 to 60 mph. Those flowers are now beaten down to a muddy pulp. I'm not putting the trash can out today. 
Oh, and the power blinked off for a quick second and caused my Echo to reboot. Normal it reboots and Alexa says "Hello". This morning she woke my up laughing and then said "Good Morning". Honestly, that was freaky!
Post by: Xairbusdriver on March 08, 2018, 11:23:55 AM
You do understand that 'she' is constantly listening and reporting everything heard back to Google, right?! Who needs wire taps?
My ignorance is showing... again! Alexa is probably one of the view IoT items that Google does not monitor since it is owned/delivered by Amazon. Googles entry into the 'smart speaker' is called "Home". I think it responds to "Google" rather than "Hey!"
Post by: kimmer on March 08, 2018, 01:59:24 PM
QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ Mar 8 2018, 10:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Alexa is having 'happiness' spasms. Google claims 'she' is just misinterpreting sounds 'she' hears. I'm sure the software will be updated soon... computers never make mistakes.
You do understand that 'she' is constantly listening and reporting everything heard back to Google, right?! Who needs wire taps?
You do understand that 'she' is constantly listening and reporting everything heard back to Google, right?! Who needs wire taps?
Yup I know Alexa is always listening, and sometimes she speaks up when she's not been spoken to by me--those Amazon Alexa commercials are the worst.
I've read about how Alexa is laughing at odd times, but this was first time I've heard it in my home. It was a creepy way to wake up.
Post by: krissel on March 10, 2018, 01:02:02 AM
Made it down to my house this aft to dig out the drive (23" of snow had compressed to about 16" of cement) and a path to the oil fill pipes. I was supposed to get a delivery Thursday but of course no one was going anywhere around here then. Trees and wires still block a lot of the roads and my town is widely without power, but by a quirk my street actually now has power. Whoo, hoo. The next street over and beyond are in the dark. One odd note, I entered the house to hear one of my TV's talking away. Seems the power blips or surge caused it to start up on its own. I have a touch lamp that does that but never had a TV do it.
I'm almost out of oil and have turned the thermostat to its lowest setting without turning off the furnace. Am running electric heaters while here but will have to turn them off when I return to Dad's house tmrw so may run out of oil before I get a delivery.
. Still, I do have heat for now which most do not.My neighbor blew the snow from the very end of my drive so I only had to dig out about 30' for my car and the truck, should it come. Another 85' to the house and pipes and I thought that would be it. But found several large branches from one of my huge pines frozen in a mound of ice in front of the pipes, so had to chip them out and saw them up. Also some hanging on the wires which were difficult to dislodge. Oddly, those big pine trees kept a lot of the snow from landing on the flat roof section, so that was fine.
Went around to the other side of the house and found a large branch had snapped off a tree and fell toward the house but was deflected by my TV antenna which is now bent in an A shape.
I think it saved the roof from damage by it's sacrifice.Lastly, I went out back to find a 50' white pine that I had planted as a sapling 40 years ago laying across the lawn.
A huge oak also fell but mostly in the woods so not a concern. Guess I lucked out that there was no apparent damage to the house or outbuildings. Could have been a lot worse. 
Am looking forward to Spring.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on March 10, 2018, 08:54:01 AM
Seriously, thanks for reminding me that our little problems in my wife's inherited farm house is so minor. Also hope the oil delivery happens today!
Post by: kimmer on March 10, 2018, 12:07:55 PM
QUOTE(krissel @ Mar 10 2018, 12:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Internet has been out til now...
[trimmed all the news out for space]
Am looking forward to Spring.
[trimmed all the news out for space]
Am looking forward to Spring.
Krissel, I can't even begin to imagine what you are dealing with. Hope the oil arrives soon, and that spring -- and no floods -- is right behind.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on March 16, 2018, 11:24:46 AM
Post by: krissel on March 18, 2018, 10:51:43 PM
I got my oil delivery at 8 AM last Saturday and breathed a sigh of relief. I was never happier to be awakened by the BEEP, BEEP of the truck backing into my drive.
Lots of debris and trees to cut up but have to wait for some time til all the snow is gone and it gets a bit warmer. We aren't supposed to get to 50º til maybe after next weekend. So what happened to Spring???
I did see the woodchuck that lives under the deck come out today, so maybe...
Post by: Xairbusdriver on March 19, 2018, 09:03:04 AM
One of the most interesting displays comes from Windiy.com. This link starts up centered on my area, but just like maps.google, you can click and drag to look at other areas and use the "+" and "-" buttons to change the area covered. But the real interesting part if the Altitude slider! slide it up to see a representation of the winds at higher altitudes. Those winds are a good forecast of the strength of the high and low pressure effects.
Post by: krissel on March 20, 2018, 02:29:18 AM
Post by: chriskleeman on March 30, 2018, 01:36:37 AM
Wow Kris, you've had a rough go of it this winter there!
But, I wouldn't recommend the current mud season we're going through either... things are really letting go now that the temperatures are above freezing. Probably going to be one of the longest mud seasons in recent memory.
Hope all is well with you and that you've recovered from the storrms!
Chris
Post by: Xairbusdriver on March 30, 2018, 08:26:02 AM
One of the things I like about our mid-west/south area is that we get to experience almost all the extremes; 100+ temps, single digit temps, tornados, gully washer rains, drought, you name it and we've probably seen it. We've already had half the rain this year than we had all of last year! Fortunately, we don't have the amount nor the length of these events like many other areas of the continent. I still have a great snow shovel that I bought in Winnipeg nearly 50 years ago! At least I think I know where it is...
Post by: krissel on March 31, 2018, 01:01:11 AM
Am at my house this weekend to cut up as much as I can. Our town agreed to pick up branches piled at the edge of the street if they are only 4 feet long and less than 4 inches in diameter. That is the extent of the town's wood chipping equipment apparently. After Sandy they hired professionals who had more extensive equipment and took bigger stuff. But at least it's something. They start the pickup on Monday.
I can cut up a lot of the branches myself but will have to hire a service to take care of the big pine that came down in the back. Way too big for my chainsaw (or my arm and back).
I could just throw a lot of it into the woods but since I plan on putting the house on the market I need to have it a bit more presentable. It was pretty much ready to go but now there will be some touch-ups and fixing to do.Got up on the roof the other day to remove some of the branches laying there and did not see any real damage but will know for sure tmrw when I remove the layer of pine needles that covers the flatter areas.
The other house has a half pine leaning toward the street that I'm not sure I can remove. The power company cut off the top half that was leaning on the wires, threw the debris all over and left the bottom half in kind of a precarious position. The easy thing to do is cut the trunk near the bottom but then it would fall into the street (and crush some fencing). So I may have to call in the professionals. UGH. They get a small fortune for doing even the smallest of work and are gauging people after the latest storms.
Oh, they say we may get a few inches early Monday. ENOUGH!
Jim, we get almost every natural event (except volcanoes) to one degree or another. Makes life interesting.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on March 31, 2018, 08:12:58 AM
I'm using "old age" more and more... Please use your teacher talents to think about what you can or should do yourself!
Post by: kimmer on March 31, 2018, 12:59:38 PM
QUOTE(krissel @ Mar 30 2018, 11:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
So I may have to call in the professionals. UGH. They get a small fortune for doing even the smallest of work and are gauging people after the latest storms.
Totally sympathize. My backyard is a mini forest on a hill. I need to have it thinned out and I know it will cost $$$. It's that or risking a tree on my house -- or worse on my neighbors.
It's been a long winter for you. Hope spring/summer comes in and you enjoy the refreshing seasons.