Wow what a night!

There's nothing quite like an ice storm. We get one every few years in Portland. I remember once hearing some branches start to break on a tree that was right next to my house, and shuddering as they broke off and made a thunderous crash on the roof.

They did some damage, but werent big enough to take out too much roof or house. But that moment when you don't know how bad it is going to be, or whether it is the whole tree - is pretty anzious.

I removed that tree the next spring.

Wow that is ruff stuff. I don't miss the winter driving conditions. Stay safe. I remember an ice storm in Connecticut when I was a kid. The TV antenna got ice coated, blew over and smashed through a bedroom window. Yikes.

CoachB - We had an ice storm here a few years ago that left several inches of ice covering everything. Power was out for the majority of Lexington, with many being out for 10 days. The contrast of the scariness of the event combined with the beauty of the ice covering everything was an amazing experience. We've had ice before, but never an event like that... very memorable stuff!

Be careful up there!

Rob:

quote:

Originally posted by Rob Kremer:
I removed that tree the next spring.

Did you file an EIS Rob?

Seriously...imagine trying to drive up or down Marylhurst Dr. with either an inch of snow or a quarter inch of ice...of course the West Linn Public Works trucks couldn't get there at all with their load of crushed stone...everyone on the slope was housebound until it thawed...except us stupid highschool kids who thought we could master the mountain. Once you started down there was no stopping until you slid across Portland Highway at the bottom of the hill. There was no traffic light there when I was in highschool...you just held your breath and hoped no one was coming from either direction. It wasn't any better trying to get up and over the top to Rosemont Rd. either...it had its own set of hazards as well. Did I mention stupid?

CoachB25:

quote:

Originally posted by CoachB25:
After 20 minutes of letting the car run, tried to get the ice off of the windshield. TOUGH since I didn't have an ice scraper. Did have a baseball bat and so, believe it or not, it worked.

Are you going to submit a claim to your insurance company for the loss of your windshield Coach?

Somehow I think their idea of a RBI will be different than yours...their's will be more like a WBI...Windsheild Batted In!

What was the count when you finally connected on the winning blast...2-2...3-2? How many did you have to foul off?

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Gotwood4sale, I just used the knob to bust a few holes. Windshield is fine. My wife works in insurance (don't boo hiss too much) and so, she called about 30 minutes ago. We had a person in our community just get taken to the hospital because a chunk of ice broke off of a car in front of them and flew threw her insured's windshield. The roads are fine other than the downed wires and trees. Some places in town escaped everything and some are very bad. Our maintenance crew is here cleaning up the water and fixing our broken water line. Terrible mess for having such a new school.

I'm glad to hear that you folks are handling the situation well...the cleanup will hopefully not take too long.

I heard an interview on the radio yesterday with an utility workman from up this way...he was awaiting word regarding which city or community he will be dispatched to.

Keep up the good spirits and we're pulling for you guys downstate to get through this mess as quickly as possible.

+++


Where the heck is Triad? Your exchange of posts sounds like you're reporting form Tomsk to Vladivostock...

Just spoke with Junior in Philly. Army / Navy about to kick off. Clear but chilly. Go NAVY!!!


Sunny, 62 here in Norcal today. Tee-ing off in 20...

cadDAD

***********************************************

AcademyDad, Triad is right next to God's Country! They all respond since I've been here so long I've earned my Old Timer's Status.

CadDad:

Triad HS is located at the intersection of Bethany Dr. and US Rt. 40 on the east side of Troy, IL...Troy, evidently, being God's Country. It's a long, long way from the Sea of Okhotsk.

Little trick I learned while I was in a bind without a scraper in high school and later used often in college....any type of credit card or drivers liscense. I know the ice down south the last few days was aweful and thick, but in case anyone gets caught without an ice scraper in the future, the credit card will do the trick...in more than one way if it's the wife's and it happens to not be able to withstand the cold and actually having to do the work instead of just spending...

...I used a bat, too, to get the extremely thick ice off the windshield. The ice scraper wouldn't do the job. Amazing how always keeping a bat in the cab of my truck in case the opportunity to take a few swings in a cage or a game can actually come in handy for something other than baseball.

Traveling from school to home (Grand Rapids to Chicago) my parents always asked if I had a blanket, an extra jacket, and a few granola bars in my truck at all times. Of course I told them that I had all of the above, but that bat actually was much more usefull, whether it was getting ice off the windshild, or the wheel wells, and it even acted as a shovel/lever to get another car out of the snow.

quote:

...I used a bat, too, to get the extremely thick ice off the windshield.

That sounds like something I might do and then knowing my luck picking the glass up wondering why. It also reminds me of a softball game years ago where the owner of the bar where the field was attempted to dry the infield after a rain by speading kerosene with a liquid fertilizer spreader and then lit it up. I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. My gut still hurts from laughing so hard.

I hope all is well CoachB. Your friends from the North feel your pain.

quote:

Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
CadDad:

Triad HS is located at the intersection of Bethany Dr. and US Rt. 40 on the east side of Troy, IL...Troy, evidently, being God's Country. It's a long, long way from the Sea of Okhotsk.

Gotwood4sale, Sea of Okhotsk? Not close to Troy! However, I'd bet that if we ever got a chance to spend a day or two, I could be convinced to change my mind!

rz1, this stuff for you guys is old hat. You'd laugh at us for being so soft. I do know that we have one whole community in the Triad school system that has been without power since Thursday night and will continue to do so until Monday mid day. Our AD moved his family into the high school last night. Ice is about the worst you can have when it comes to power outages. In the metro east, 300,000+ homes were without power as of last night's 6 o'clock news. 230,000 on the Missouri side.

We really do sympathize with you Coach... and all of the other folks downstate and over in Missouri as well who were affected by this storm.

Dealing with damaging and dangerous ice that is so wide spread is not an easy task. It wears you down and can be very frustrating...especially regarding getting your power restored. You just never know for certain when the welcome relief of power is going to happen. All the while it still is freezing cold outside.


CadDad mentioned Tomsk and Vladivostok.

Tomsk is a city of nearly 500,000 located about 500 miles north of where Kazakhstan and Mongolia kiss each other. Terribly cold, brutal, and long winters. If you like being colder than Borat and Ulan Bator then this is the place for you.

Vladivostok, a city of nearly 600,000, is a grimy, cold, port city on the Sea of Okhotsk...best known for being the home port for the Russian Pacific Naval Fleet.

My advice to you Coach...hunker down in Troy and dream fondly of the upcoming warm spring weather and another successful baseball season for the Triad Knights!

CoachB, I don't know about you guys, but we were declared a county-wide disaster area either Thursday night or Friday. Currently, there is some sort of cable sitting behind me in our front yard. We may lose the tree in our backyard (or at least a good part of it) and we're one of the best off on the street. We have to weave to get down our street. There are piles of branches everywhere.

The park and cemetery next to our school has almost every tree with extensive damage. Our school's front grass area is less grass and more tree limbs. At least one of those trees is completely destroyed.

I thought when he referred to God's Country he was referring to Busch Stadium, Baseball Heaven.

Bulldog 19, I was wondering how you fared in this storm. My daughter pointed out that there is nothing prettier than the trees with the ice in them and the sunlight shining. However, she also pointed out that there is nothing uglier than all of the downed trees. Good luck to you and everyone in the Waterloo area.

Gotwood4sale, nice geography lesson. Thought that sea you mentioned might be some lake area in your old stomping grounds!

Dear CoachB25,

I feel your pain. We too got the ice part of the storm. Its been brutal out here!!
( Especially when I bought, like a complete moron, perhaps the most absurdly idiotic known to mankind, NON 4 x 4 SUV, while stationed in Hawaii, and now have to try and drive skate on it, on about 4 inches of heavily packed ice, in Kansas. Like duhhhhhhh shortstopmom!!! What was I thinking???? It can seat nine with seatbelts,..I was thinking T-e-a-m, not ice!!! )

The heater if you want to call it that , I think is perhaps actually two good ol' buddy pal geckos, sitting back in beach chairs, burning matches under the hood, while playing cards and chuggin down a few brewskies!
Onoxious enibriated little buggers! Geeesh!

Just about the time I have driven a mere, oh lets say at least 50 miles,..the defroster finally begins to think about working....lovely! Let me tell ya, sticking ones head out the side window in -1 degree weather, inorder to see where one is driving, does not do wonders for this gals cute hairdo! Does anyone have any idea of what all is entailed to successfully chip ice off of perfectly mascara embossed frozen eyelashes??? Not exactly a " fun party " people!
I am giving great consideration to just parking the stupid worthless tank wussie SUV and bringing out my snowboard instead! ha!
Come on kids,..grab your boots and sleds,..were going to the grocery store!

Even though apparantly my neighbors, who by the way, are all REAL 4x4 SUV owners, ( insert man roar here ), complete with snow plow attachment strategically placed on their front bumpers, ( more man roar!!) have gotten quite the giggle & think I am a studette thrill seeker, when I do 360's across 4 lanes of traffic while attempting to make a simple right hand turn into my driveway. Not funny!! Not thrilling!!!
Do they not see the shear panic in my face? Perhaps my true emotions are abscured behind the 9 inch icicles hanging from my nose??? Pretty pretty!

Hmmmm,... ( snicker-snicker ) too bad those nose icicles cant also hide the little, not-so-polite, finger gesters I am thinking of giving them when they rudely honk at me,...( as if I'm intentionally trying to cut them off in their own lane) when I'm spinning like a Disneyland t-cup ride on steroids across the road!!! The nerve! Humpf!

All kidding aside, we've had lots of bad accidents due to black-ice.
We need to be careful out there!!
Right now the sun is shining,..but dont let it fool ya,..its still mighty cold out there and treachurous. Stay inside,..stay warm,..and stay safe!!! Be kind to your neighbors,...ice is not our friend!

And FYI:....got a free pair of cute geckos for anyone who wants them. They make great pets,..just not so good in the heater department ( and I would highly reccomend, for everyone's sake, they be allowed to go to their regular AA meetings on Wednesday nights! )

We are keeping you in our thoughts Coach!!!!

quote:

rz1, this stuff for you guys is old hat. You'd laugh at us for being so soft.

Old hat or not, it's very dangerous. Cold and water are a bad mix as far as weather goes. Your daughters notice of the beauty of ice is so true but with that beauty comes life threatening situations. I can deal with blizzards and tornados but throw ice in the mix and I get a little freaked out.

quote:

Originally posted by CoachB25:
Gotwood4sale, nice geography lesson. Thought that sea you mentioned might be some lake area in your old stomping grounds!

As hard as it may be to believe...I was never officially banished to Siberia!

quote:

Originally quoted by shortstopmom:
...NON 4 x 4 SUV, while stationed in Hawaii...my neighbors, ( who by the way, are all REAL 4x4 SUV owners, insert man roar here and beating of chest, with snow plow attachment strategically placed on their front bumpers ) have gotten quite the giggle.

They may be giggling now, but wait until they get transferred to Hawaii and they're driving their big, ol' husky SUV's around the island without any of the avocado guards that are customary on rigs there. I don't think their -40 degree F windshield solution will cut the mustard with those messy avocadoes! Bon Appetit.

quote:

As hard as it may be to believe...I was never officially banished to Siberia!

Don't worry Got you're still young and have time. A consolation is to be unofficially banished?

Still looking for that perfect Siberian retirement town...the one with all of the modern comforts and conveniences...and reasonably priced.

Being a relator in Kyle Siberia I found a couple of choices for you and the family in your golden years. However none will hold up to the Triad ice


The first is a Shaman's yurt. It is made of animal skins to protect the inhabitant from the Siberian winters.

Next is a common yurt that houses an entire family in the town of Kyle.

Yurt the best rz!

shortstopmom, NOW THAT'S FUNNY -- AND I KNOW FUNNY! I hope that while you were waiting for the defrost to kick in, you didn't run out of gas! Seems a lot did.

Coach,...wishing you and yours safety and warmth this blustery winter season! !!!

_+


Got Wood...

In the middle of buying a Half boatload of Larix old growth cants from a sawmill in Tomsk. Going to have them shipped to Yichun to have the ends carved in Norsk or Viking motifs (probably dragon heads, ie longboats. We're planning on building a stone and log baronial manor near Graeagle (Portola) to spend our twilight years.

Only you would understand this form of Greek...



cadDAD

++

Greek?...or do you mean geek?

Hey...I'm as guilty as you are!

we all just get along?

=

Got Wood...

Still can't figure out how to insert pictures.

Maybe that's saving the masses from me...

cadDAD

+

Trouble inserting pictures? No problem CadDad.

Here's how it's done...

First...get a stack of old magazines with lots and lots of cool pictures. Ask your folks if it's ok to cut out some pictures so you can post them on the internet....they may take the National Geographic out of the stack.

Second...find a pair of scissors and a bottle of rubber cement or a new, handy Glu-Stik.

Third...sit at your desk and flip through the magazines looking for really cool pictures that would look neat posted on the internet.

Fourth...carefully cut out the cool pictures and apply rubber cement on the backside of your cool picture...be sure to put the cap back on the bottle when you're not using it, otherwise the rubber cement will dry out or the fumes will seem to make your pictures way too cool. I'm not familiar with using a Glu-Stik so just read the instructions on the tube.

Lastly...carefully disassemble your monitor and paste the cool picture on the inside of the monitor screen where you think it would look the coolest. Do your best to reassemble your monitor.

Hope that helps CadDad...the trick is getting a good stack of cool magazines to start with.

Here are some that I clipped while I was typing this to you...it's really easy! I guess I was in a Kate Moss mood tonight...don't know why my folks didn't yank the copy of Vanity Fair.

Gotwood,..are you sure thats you????

Anymore I'm not sure of anything except that I'm not in Kansas anymore.

Woodsman,...
just follow the yellow brick road!
It'll get ya here everytime!

Yeah that's right...so long as here is Seattle!

We've had the "cold" (well, cold for us but not the ice/snow etc. My son sent me a text message complaining about how cold it is-my son who is headed to KANSAS and its cold next year!!! I sent one back telling him it was only 38-that it was 19 at that point in Kansas-he didn't respond! We just laugh at him and tell him he's in for a rude awakening! He's getting a heavy coat for Christmas-when we told him he said ok-he'd like a cordoroy blazer "No, honey, a HEAVY coat because it's REALLY going to be cold..." - his response "Well, what kind of coat do you mean?" He has NO idea what's he's in for!!

ORmom:

It's a bit more substantial than a corduroy blazer, but he'll stay warm with this in the Sunflower State's winter...

CoachB25

Hope everything gets better. Being from South Louisiana, I have no idea what you are going through. Sounds a little like hurricanes; downed tress, no power for a few days, only it is 95 degrees here. I believe I will take my hurricanes, 65 degrees is cold to me. The last time we had ice here, you didn't have to worry about anyone being on the road, no one could stay on, everyone just slid off (hehehehe).

louisiana09, acutally, we were talking and the hurricane season was mentioned. With the destruction around here, I can only imagine what you go through. It helps to keep things in perspective when you realize that someone else always has it harder.

BTW, 7 deaths now attributed to the ice storm in our area AND now some are being told (including members of our faculty) that their power will not return until Friday at the earliest. Again, it was amazing to see it.

CoachB25

I would rather be without power in Louisiana heat than your cold. Sounds like your ice storm is just as devasting as some hurricanes and has the same results, death and destruction. Be careful out there.