Blizzards, Blackouts and Brrrr!!

I know why I live in the southern part of the United States. I simply do not do well in cold weather. I am aware that a great many people exult in snowfall and frost-nipped noses. I am not one of those people. My response to cold weather is to throw another log on the fire, brew some coffee, get a good book and snuggle deep into the blankets. Wake me when it's over.

Alas, it's not that simple, even in my current state of don't-have-to-be-anywhere-ness. Cold weather has a way of sneaking under the door and pulling the blankets off.

I had the heating system checked in the Fall. I covered all the outdoor faucets a while back. I opened the cabinet doors below the sink on the outside wall. I set several faucets dripping. I put a heat lamp on the washing machine connections (again, an outside wall).

I checked all these things off my list and lay in bed worrying about the water line to the ice maker that goes up an outside wall and crosses the kitchen ceiling in the attic. As I recall, this line is uninsulated. Wait, I've had additional insulation blown in. Surely it is covered up. Is it? How cold does it get in the attic? Oh, no. There's no turn-off valve where this line begins; it's totally enclosed in the wall. I know. I'll go make the ice-maker cycle and see if it fills up again. But what if it doesn't? Would I rather know it's frozen now, or do I not want to know? Now. Now is better. Isn't it?

See? How am I going to stay warm and snug when I have issues like these running through my mind? And I do apologize to my children for whatever anxiety-genes I passed their way.

I am happy to report that the ice-maker line seems to be fine, but as I crawled back under my blankets the electricity went off. No fair! Now I must worry about all the things I thought were taken care of. Oh, good, it's rolling blackouts, they say - maximum of 7 to 10 minutes. Oh, now it's 45 minutes to an hour. "For some it may be longer." It seems that of Austin's 350 "circuits" only 75 were eligible for blackouts and Austin Energy seemingly does not have the wherewithal to evenly distribute the rolling blackouts. More like "run-over blackouts." We had four of them.

Okay, today there have been no more blackouts. Fingers are crossed and I'm back under the blankets.

Do you hear water running? Remember that heat lamp? Yep. Melted the cold-water hose to the washer. I outsmarted myself. Fortunately, I was checking regularly and there's no flooding, but I might as well fold the blankets up. It's off to Home Depot for new hoses.

What's that you say? It's snowing? Stay off the roads or I might end up like this guy.

Where did I put those blankets?