Weather

[Rougarou]

50 minutes ago, MikeRC said:

 

This is actually the 4th extreme winter weather event to hit the southern/southeastern US in the last 9 years.  As mentioned above, climate change seems to be contributing to winter weather instability.  Next time may not be Texas.  May be Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Florida. 

 

 

Extreme enough to cause the issues that currently plague Texas, if not, than it's not extreme enough to be of concern.

 

50 minutes ago, MikeRC said:

 

NOAA: What is the Polar Vortex? 

The science behind the polar vortex: You might want to put on a sweater

 

Freezing rain is the real killer for electrical grids.  Just ask the Northeastern US and Central/Eastern Canadian provinces.  That has already become more frequent in Southern/Southeastern states.

 

Yep

 

 

50 minutes ago, MikeRC said:

 

Even in northern/cold states and provinces we have winter breakdowns in electrical grids and natural gas delivery.  But built-in redundancy results in only rare interruption in services at the consumer level.  We actually don't have any better electrical grid ties to our neighboring states/provinces (as a percentage of our electrical use) than Texas has. 

 

I found the US National cost comparison of electricity interesting:  Electricity rates by state  Of course there is both generation and distribution costs built into that.  We should all be glad we don't live in Hawaii!!  Costs in Canada are actually a bit lower (adjusted for dollar exchange difference). 

 

 

No-one in my urban area has back-up generators.  Many rural properties yes, but not urban.  I can't remember any time in my 65 years that the power has been out for longer than 4 hours.  And that was because of a substation lightning strike & fire.  Our severe weather events consist of hailstorms and spring floods (including 2 of the 10 costliest weather events in Canadian history).  Winter freezing interrupting water service is more common, but there is a local program to improve the water lines that seems to have helped over the last 10 years.  I don't know how much of that is pure luck, and how much is infrastructure design & build. 

 

Mike C

 

 

There's a difference in being built for it as a constant.  Earthquake prone areas have building codes for support, wonder if Oklahoma has that for their 4.3 that hit, doubtful 'cause it's not a constant.  But each location has it's codes for support. 

[Rougarou]

9 minutes ago, realshelby said:

Yes, I pay for flood insurance. Have for 20 years. Even though our house is above the 100 year flood plain. We had 47" of rain in 5 days a while back. We didn't flood. Too late to buy insurance during something like that. Which is exactly the same as what happened here this week. Too late to prepare once the equipment starts failing.

 

Required or suggested, but my point was calling out the required or suggested part of the report on the previous issues  Had those that evaluated Texas infrastructure put required at their conclusions, you likely wouldn't have had the issues.  Since it's only a suggestion, I'ma run 87 octane vice the suggested/recommended 93.

 

9 minutes ago, realshelby said:

 

I find it odd that you take the position that change shouldn't be needed if disasters happen every 10 years? In the military, I would assume there are reports made after failures. Plans made. Preparation put into action to reduce or eliminate that situation from getting out of control again?

 

Yep, after actions are done, but it does boil down to odds.  How often did this problem happen, what's the chances of happening again, when would/could it be expected to happen again.  If odds are low, why change?

 

9 minutes ago, realshelby said:

Sure, some things are not forseeable. But we have had enough of these events to show what is going wrong. We know the costs of them. We know the cost of fixing infrastructure to reduce it to a negligible problem next time. Just look to the north to see proof. 

 

Likely your people in charge will say the same thing, suck up the costs every ten or so years.   They'll give a little photo op of fixing a thing or two, but not the entire system, and see what happens the next time, but behind closed doors, probably vote the odds.

 

 

9 minutes ago, realshelby said:

I don't think those looking at this from the outside have yet to understand the cost in lost business, life, extreme cost of repairing homes and businesses, as well as the image of the Lone Star State. 

 

Really??  Total cost of Katrina was around $250billion in costs and economic impact.  Businesses and homes flooded completely destroyed, and now, it is still not completely rebuilt, oh, I think the on the outside know.  Hurricane Laura, who knows when SWLa will be rebuilt, at New Years, it was still a mess.

 

 

[taylor1]

Infrastructure and homes still being repaired from Florence 3 years ago

[Skywagon]

Hey Roug... Tell your kin folks thanks

[Selden]

Holy crap! It sounds like the people who had their power cut may have been the lucky ones.

 

Homeowners hit with electric bills as high as $17K amid Texas winter storm

 

Quote

Dallas-area resident Ty Williams was hit with sticker shock when his monthly bill soared from $600 last month to nearly $17,000 so far this  month

 

[John Ranalletta]

8 hours ago, Selden said:

Holy crap! It sounds like the people who had their power cut may have been the lucky ones.

 

Homeowners hit with electric bills as high as $17K amid Texas winter storm

 

Read (but not verified) that a full charge at a Tesla charger = $900 during the winter storm.  

 

Wonder what the bitcoin miners in that area did.  Probably had to shut down as I've read it takes 72 terawatts of energy per bitcoin.

[Selden]

1 hour ago, John Ranalletta said:

Read (but not verified) that a full charge at a Tesla charger = $900 during the winter storm. 

 

That's more than I spent on gas last year for 2.5 motorcycles (sold the RT in June)  and 1.5 cars (bought a used Buick Encore in September).

 

I suspect that a lot of people will be reconsidering their Griddy contracts next month. The guy with the $17,000 bill might have been better off shutting everything down and flying to Cancun.

[realshelby]

We have the public notices on tv and radio telling folks to report price gouging. You know, $10 and up for a case of water, $5 gallon for gas and so on. 

 

How in the Hell is charging 900% more for electricity not exactly the same thing as price gouging? 

[Selden]

13 minutes ago, realshelby said:

How in the Hell is charging 900% more for electricity not exactly the same thing as price gouging?

 

Variable pricing is Griddy's business model. Mr. Williams had the tools at his fingertips to monitor pricing realtime and modify his consumption.

 

However, apparently Griddy learned from this experience, and is introducing (March 1) a new "lock my rate" feature. 

 

[chrisolson]

Sorry for those in trouble ... but at the same time ... thankful to live in Tucson ....

 

Nice winter day in the desert ... 80 with slight westerly breeze

 

 

 

[John Ranalletta]

Read where proud Texas Cowboy fans who built Jerry a stadium made Jerry even richer when his company's took advantage of a disaster to gouge fans by raising gas prices.  Go, America's Team, go!  

We've got an NFL franchise and local billionaire who our taxes subsidize, too!

 

[Rougarou]

If you were an investor in Comstock, would you terminate your position, would you give your gains back?

 

Tragedy brings profits for some industries, and the CFO was comparing the earnings to like winning the jackpot.  Tone deaf,..... that's a full throttle question/concern.  But I do know that fuel prices jumped 'bout $0.25 since 3 Feb.....so Shell, Exxon, BP, are all profiting off of the surge in prices.  The demand is high, the supply is low, the prices go up.

 

[John Ranalletta]

3 hours ago, Rougarou said:

If you were an investor in Comstock, would you terminate your position, would you give your gains back?

 

Tragedy brings profits for some industries, and the CFO was comparing the earnings to like winning the jackpot.  Tone deaf,..... that's a full throttle question/concern.  But I do know that fuel prices jumped 'bout $0.25 since 3 Feb.....so Shell, Exxon, BP, are all profiting off of the surge in prices.  The demand is high, the supply is low, the prices go up.

 

You're correct, but the situation echoes the biggest issue in our society, i.e. a lack of community. An HEB store's power went out with many customers waiting to check out. The manager didn't tell customers "tough luck", instead s/he told customers to take what was in their baskets, go home and care of your families.

I wouldn't expect Jones to give away anything as HEB did, but because this disaster happened to "his people", "his community", might he not have kept prices at normal profit levels?

If your neighbor ran out of propane just before guests arrived for a party and asked if you had a spare tank, would you upcharge him? Same thing. Smaller scale.

My grandson attends St. Benedict Prep in Newark. It's motto is, "Give up what I want for what others need". No so bad, I think.

[Rougarou]

I don't think the one company controls the pricing as a whole.

 

This is the initial story, currently, no one knows what the company or Jones is doing to help or aid the populace.

 

Before judgement be cast, let the chips fall and see how they play out.

 

It's easy to cause a ruckus from the initial reports.

[Paul De]

On 2/20/2021 at 3:33 PM, chrisolson said:

Sorry for those in trouble ... but at the same time ... thankful to live in Tucson ....

 

Nice winter day in the desert ... 80 with slight westerly breeze

 

 

 

Haha, don't be mean, Or....

 

 

Talk to me in July when it is 75F and lush here.

 

[chrisolson]

59 minutes ago, Paul De said:

Talk to me in July when it is 75F and lush here.

 

 

True ... "but its a dry heat"   ... a cliche for sure, but a fair amount of truth when for many days the humidity can be less than 10% ... After 50 years of this, anything above 30% and I'm dying.  Used to have business trips to Ft. Lauderdale, it was a killer.  Even Greensboro , NC (another business destinartion) was not pleasant either.

 

and as I remember it,  lush also means all kinds of creeping /crawling / flying bugs ....  glad not to have those as well  

 

[Paul De]

Mosquito is Wisconsin's state bird

 

My last employer had a plant in Greenville SC, From May on I thought it was too hot and humid.  I hated going there in the summer and thought It was the worst, until I had to visit a customer's plant in Thailand during their monsoon season. That was a wearable humid heat that was truly unbearable!

[Rougarou]

14 minutes ago, Paul De said:

Mosquito is Wisconsin's state bird

 

My last employer had a plant in Greenville SC, From May on I thought it was too hot and humid.  I hated going there in the summer and thought It was the worst, until I had to visit a customer's plant in Thailand during their monsoon season. That was a wearable humid heat that was truly unbearable!

 

Louisiana has the mosquito state bird hat......of course Alaska, Florida and many others do to.  Dragonflys aren't called dragonflys in La,.....but Mosquito Hawks,......I never knew their real name until I left the state.

 

Panama-misery for humidity, Okinawa-misery for humidity, Thailand-misery for humidity, Philippines-misery for humidity, Louisiana-misery for humidity.

 

But, after acclimatization, you just melt right into it,......stay outside during the heat and it all becomes acceptable and bearable.

 

I recall being in Okinawa the first year, windows up, A/C on, 2nd and 3rd year, windows down A/C off.  It's pretty humid when you have to dump the dehumidifiers 2-3 times daily and your walls still sweat.

[Skywagon]

Well yesterday and today we turn on air conditioning. It hit 83 here yesterday. Quite a contrast in 1 week

[TEWKS]

That’s something! Freezing to almost sweltering in a weeks time. 

[MikeRC]

Texas Won't Reduce $16 Billion In Electricity Charges From Winter Storm  

 

What could go wrong?  Or is it more "Be careful what you ask for"  or "buyer beware"?

 

For relevant background look up the ERCOT policies and positions on "value of lost load" and "scarcity pricing".  Maybe consumers should get text alerts when their rates get above 5 or 10x their base costs?  More smart meters?

 

Mike C

 

[Hosstage]

Always read the contract.

[ESokoloff]

On 2/21/2021 at 10:02 AM, Rougarou said:

I don't think the one company controls the pricing as a whole.

 

This is the initial story, currently, no one knows what the company or Jones is doing to help or aid the populace.

 

Before judgement be cast, let the chips fall and see how they play out.

 

It's easy to cause a ruckus from the initial reports.

Maybe your right......

 

Jone’s is giving back.

[ESokoloff]

A recap on what/how.......

 

 

 

 

 

Still waiting for Jerry to give back

[Skywagon]

Finishing up rebuilding the garage today. All the sheet rock is in and painted and I finished building and installing cabinets and workbench yesterday

i plan to seal the workbench today and next week figure out what to put on the concrete floor

 

a couple of questions for you wood guys and garage floor geeks. I want to keep the wood natural color. Thinking of something like Thompson Water Seal. What do you think. What about the floor. Local guy told me epoxy floors only last 3-5years and are slick

[TEWKS]

You can have a little fun designing a Race Deck Floor. Expensive but cheaper than a professional epoxy job I found. 

[Rougarou]

6 hours ago, Skywagon said:

Finishing up rebuilding the garage today. All the sheet rock is in and painted and I finished building and installing cabinets and workbench yesterday

i plan to seal the workbench today and next week figure out what to put on the concrete floor

 

a couple of questions for you wood guys and garage floor geeks. I want to keep the wood natural color. Thinking of something like Thompson Water Seal. What do you think. What about the floor. Local guy told me epoxy floors only last 3-5years and are slick

 

6 hours ago, TEWKS said:

You can have a little fun designing a Race Deck Floor. Expensive but cheaper that a professional epoxy job I found. 

 

Since it's empty, I'd get some quotes on epoxy floor.  After our basement flooded the third time, that's the route we went,.......of course, hasn't flooded since.  We think the problem was improper gutters, thus excess water with nowhere to go but down, hence, basement.

[MikeB60]

I epoxy coated the garage floor in my last house that we bought new. Didn't use the big box store stuff I purchased the epoxy coat from a company in Michigan, don't remember the name. 

 

Turned out great.  It definitely was not slick the paint chips supplied with the kit worked well. One side of the garage was my motorcycle shop with a lift that sat on some horse stable rubber mat.  The epoxy coat held up well to kick stands, tool drops, floor jacks ect.  After ten years there was some fading bit the surface held up well and was still in great condition. I did run a dehumidifier as condensation would former on the surface of the floor. I would definitely use epoxy coating on new concrete garage floors.

[realshelby]

Not sure what would maintain the current look of the workbench. I would be more tempted to try something like Teak Oil than Thompsons. Neither of which will actually protect the surface much from anything that is dirty/oily. Satin or Flat clear Urethane would probably end up looking better than anything after a couple years of use.....

 

BS on the epoxy floors. I put the chips on mine like most do. Anything wet could be slippery, but these are simply not slippery compared to most other floors for instance. The problem will be.....getting your floor clean enough. I would start with one of those round pressure washer spray units made to clean floors and driveways. Then maybe etch it with muriatic acid. Clean that off...and let it dry for a week or so. Simply put, if there is oil left on the floor the paint won't stick. The Race Deck stuff would be easier overall. 

[Hosstage]

For the cabinets I would use MinWax varnish, or polyurethane, oil based, not water based. Light coat, sand, light coat, sand, final coat. It will work on the bench as well. Natural color will enhance the wood grain without staining it.

 

Edit: posted late

[Skywagon]

Thanks folks. I have a little bit of spare wood from the work bench. I’ll play around with it with your suggestions

 

Terry.. did you do the floor yourself or hire it done. If hired do you remember who?  The floor will be very clean. Most of what you see isn’t oil, it’s dirty Sheetrock dust. A friend had one of those gas powered hot water washers with a driveway cleaner like you mentioned. That’s next week

[Rougarou]

22 minutes ago, Skywagon said:

Thanks folks. I have a little bit of spare wood from the work bench. I’ll play around with it with your suggestions

 

Terry.. did you do the floor yourself or hire it done. If hired do you remember who?  The floor will be very clean. Most of what you see isn’t oil, it’s dirty Sheetrock dust. A friend had one of those gas powered hot water washers with a driveway cleaner like you mentioned. That’s next week

They gotta etch it anyway so its gonna get ground a bit

[realshelby]

15 hours ago, Skywagon said:

Thanks folks. I have a little bit of spare wood from the work bench. I’ll play around with it with your suggestions

 

Terry.. did you do the floor yourself or hire it done. If hired do you remember who?  The floor will be very clean. Most of what you see isn’t oil, it’s dirty Sheetrock dust. A friend had one of those gas powered hot water washers with a driveway cleaner like you mentioned. That’s next week

David, I am looking at the dark spots! That is usually oily residue, or not. But if so it has to be cleaned very well. You also must let it dry after pressure washing or etching. That takes longer that most realize. 

I put the coating on myself. Rustoleum brand iirc. Secret is a GOOD low nap roller and handle so you can stand up. You must roll this out to a rather thin coat. No reason for a heavy coat. Do smaller sections so you can sprinkle the chips on each as you finish. Actually kind of fun compared to most painting projects!

[Skywagon]

Thanks Terry. I may give it ago

[Bill_Walker]

On 4/3/2021 at 9:34 AM, Skywagon said:

Local guy told me epoxy floors only last 3-5years and are slick

The previous owner put epoxy floors in the two garages in my house (one 2-car for cars, one 1-car for bikes).  I don't know whether he did it himself or had it done, but it was about the only home improvement he made.  The house was built in 2005, and we bought it as a foreclosure in 2008.  I haven't felt the need to do anything to the floors.  They can be slippery when wet, but neither of us has ever taken a fall.  What was the local guy trying to sell you?

[John Ranalletta]

On 4/3/2021 at 12:34 PM, Skywagon said:

Finishing up rebuilding the garage today. All the sheet rock is in and painted and I finished building and installing cabinets and workbench yesterday

i plan to seal the workbench today and next week figure out what to put on the concrete floor

 

a couple of questions for you wood guys and garage floor geeks. I want to keep the wood natural color. Thinking of something like Thompson Water Seal. What do you think. What about the floor. Local guy told me epoxy floors only last 3-5years and are slick

 

This guy, Mike, has a concrete YouTube channel.  Very good info.  

 

[Rougarou]

1 hour ago, Bill_Walker said:

The previous owner put epoxy floors in the two garages in my house (one 2-car for cars, one 1-car for bikes).  I don't know whether he did it himself or had it done, but it was about the only home improvement he made.  The house was built in 2005, and we bought it as a foreclosure in 2008.  I haven't felt the need to do anything to the floors.  They can be slippery when wet, but neither of us has ever taken a fall.  What was the local guy trying to sell you?

 

Along with that.

 

Our $100k factory floor at one of our buildings was installed in 2012.  It's holding up well and we move 30 ton equipment in there.  Ya, it does have gouges, but 30 tons of junk may do that.  Sure is purty, gray, but purty when shined up.  Haven't heard anything pertaining to the slickeryness of it.

 

Our basement floor doesn't feel slickery when wet.

 

Also, we DIY'd doing a shiny coat on our previous house stamped concrete.  There is an additive that you can put in the gloss so as to give it a grit/grip feel.  You can't see it, but you can feel it. 

 

I think our epoxy guy put something in the final coating, but it's a basement, not a garage floor.   I do believe that the flooring has to be ADA compliant of sorts, so that'd be a question I'd ask any potential vendor.   Even our factory floor had to be ADA compliant, so epoxy is capable of being made less slickery.

 

 

[Skywagon]

Thank you John...wow that is a lot more work than I realized.  Im not sure what I am going to do yet.  I would like to give it a go myself but based on that video that may be above my pay grade.  I'm tied up for the next few weeks....It's bull red season on the coast so I will be soaking bait for the next few weeks, then will tackle (pun intended) this job.  I have a guy coming in tomorrow to thoroughly clean the floor and get all that sheetrock ground in dirt and any oil residue removed.  He says he can make it look like freshly poured concrete.  I told him great...as soon as you do I will pay you.  He agreed so I believe him.  

 

Racetrack is still an option.  I just wish I knew someone who had it installed and how it withstands the weight of cars, trucks, and cycles.

[TEWKS]

21 minutes ago, Skywagon said:

 

Racetrack is still an option.  I just wish I knew someone who had it installed and how it withstands the weight of cars, trucks, and cycles.

I have it. Car weight is no problem, cycles no problem. I do use a side stand puck. Two minor negatives are it’s noisy walking on and the sun can make it lift without enough expansion room. Close the doors and it settles right back down.

[John Ranalletta]