Good Morning All. Cloudy and 23° here. Headed up to an almighty high of 28° later today, no sun expected. Nothing falling from the sky right now. We had some minor sleet here yesterday, but it wasn't enough to officially measure. Yesterday was not bad on the SFW estate. However all hell broke loose south and southeast of here. The ice prevention solution that the highway department put down Sunday didn't work and I-35/I35E were complete nightmares with a light coating of ice. It was primarily 18-wheelers (who shouldn't have been on the road to begin with), slipping, sliding and getting stuck on bridges and hills. Many accidents, but no serious injuries or deaths. Many road closures due to blocked lanes. A lot of one truck got stuck and another decided to go around and got stuck next to it. Once cleared away, two more would do the same thing. Even the parts which are three lanes wide got blocked. Eventually troopers had them all pull over to the shoulder to wait for a while, and only allowed them to use the right lane, one at a time, when the flow resumed. Back roads were in a lot better shape. More wintry mix around mid-morning today, and all day tomorrow. It won't get above freezing until noonish Thursday. The TV weather persons are working overtime.
Yesterday was mostly spent indoors, many hours facing the computer updating my train database, and organizing mp3's. I already miss the sun; it's been too cold to walk my full 1.25 miles, I did get in a half mile before the sleet started. The wind today is too serious for me to attempt, whether or not the paved road is usable. The gravel road is more amendable when there is any ice or snow accumulation.
Thanks as always for the comments and reactions to the layout progress and updates.
The train shed was tolerable yesterday considering the outdoor temperature of 25°, it was 55° in there. That's about 12° warmer than it used to stay under similar conditions before I got the additional 1500 watt heater for out there. Since I was wearing long sleeves out there, I confined myself to mainly running many trains. I did clean up a couple more structures.
Last week I showed the build of a P2K covered hopper for MKT, I just happened to have a shot of one from Santa Fe.
I've actually got 14 ATSF P2K covered hoppers.
Curt - Welcome back. Looking forward to seeing the model build.
Louis - Please wish Angela a Happy Birthday from me. My wife pointed out to me that her birthday this year will be on Super Bowl Sunday, the first time that that has ever happened. That game used to be a lot earlier in the year if I recall. While I and many others complain about commercials on TV, it is ironic that so many watch that game for the commercials!
Terry - Good luck at the DMV today.
Jaz - I am ready to go on the garden this year. I am a bit later than normal because the Farmer's Almanac warned me ahead of time. I will however be starting tomatoes indoors this week, something that I haven't done in about a dozen years. I'll be planting an heirloom mix of six different varieties, green, gold striped with red, yellow, purple, black and red. Should be a colorful row. This week, I will also start some Spinach and Lettuce seeds indoors, and then outdoor planting of onions in about 10 days from now. Peas, Broccoli, Cabbage and Lettuce later in the month; after the new moon. The Spinach plants should be ready to set out in about three weeks, Tomatoes at the end of March. My frost-free date is March 20. My alkaline soil does not support potatoes and corn is a waste of valuable space for me, but there will be a lot of other stuff eventually. I already have all of my seed ready.
Troy - Praise and support the border Czar as much as you want, but you're not in a border state.
Today is Nolan Ryan's 76th birthday. He is still much revered here in his native Texas. He still has 51 MLB records. His Nolan Ryan Angus Beef is most excellent, but is not even available outside of the eastern side of Texas. Sorry El Paso, Austin and San Antonio! Somewhat ironic since the company headquarters is in Round Rock TX, just 18 miles north of Austin.
Everybody have a great day.
