Good Morning All from a still frozen North Central Texas. It's cloudy and 13°, not as cold as the 7° that was in the forecast. It snowed lightly most of the day yesterday on top of the 5" of ice out there. The road out front is being used by some brave souls, but I haven't ventured out there to see what it's really like. I know better than to try to walk on top of this ice. I can't drive until the ice melts off the windshield either, which may not be until late Tuesday or Wednesday. There's at least a 2.5" layer on the cars. I miss the sun!
I did venture out on both of the porches yesterday to retrieve firewood. There's still some left, but I will have to hit up the resupply wagon parked about 5' away by this afternoon. There's still power outages in the Dallas area, but there haven't been any reported in our county. We obviously have a more robust system.
I have not gone out to the train shed and risking a fall on the ice, a trip of around 150' away. I miss it but safety takes priority. I probably wouldn't be able to get up without something to grab on to. My guess is that the temperature out there is in the low-50's anyway.
A couple of days ago, I took some pictures of a fire truck that I got from Chet. I don't remember what kind but it is a beautiful model, it may be a Classic Metal Works.
It is too old for me to use as an active fire truck on the layout, I have a Historic Museum in one town where I intend to put it on outdoor display.
Terry - No livestream from our church; it's really small. We watched the telecast from the cathedral in Dallas with their bishop.
Swal - I find the touchscreen on both of our cars to be a real pain. Two issues for me. Unless I am stopped, I cannot pay attention to it while driving. Second, it is a bit too far out of my reach. I am also an old fashioned guy that likes manual controls. I am learning that I can talk to my Lexus and control radio volume/station choice, heat/cooling controls and who knows what else. I don't use the phone at all even when not driving, but it can be Bluetooth connected. My wife has hers set up that way. Always strange when I am in the driveway and it intercepts her conversations from in the house for about 125' away. I don't know how to disable it yet!
Hughie - I read that ERCOT had permission to take the data centers off line if needed, to provide sufficient power to their other customers. Permission was needed from the EPA for the data centers to fire up their noisy polluting backup diesel generators; which none have had to do yet.
Ken - Good luck with the power.
The late Eddie Van Halen was born on this day in 1955. Sadly he passed away at age 65, five years ago.
Everyone have a great Monday. Stay warm and stay off the roads if you live in an area without snow plows like I do.