With the cold snap causing freezing temperatures in places where they normally don't have to deal with such things, I thought I'd give a little tip for our southern brethren on thawing frozen pipes.
Because I got asked that very question this morning.
First, the best strategy to keep your pipes unfrozen is to leave water trickling overnight. That will keep them open at least a bit so that when you get up in the morning and turn them on you'll have water.
Failing that, when pipes freeze, you need to apply heat. I hear you all saying "Well Duh" but apparently portions of this aren't as clear as they should be.
For instance, if you can't get under the house to the places where the pipes actually froze, all is not lost.
Simply open up under the sink and apply heat there. A space heater works well for this as it's going to take a while and you can just leave it go until you have water. If you can improvise a safe propping method for your heat gun, fantastic.
Why apply heat where the pipes aren't frozen you ask? Because if you heat the pipes inside the house, the heat travels down the pipes via the water and the pipe itself if it's metal (PVC doesn't carry heat as well) and thaw the frozen bits. The further the frozen section of pipe is from your sink, the longer this will take, but it will work.
Be sure and open the tap, because once the water starts running, or even trickling, you're home free. The running water will work a path through the ice and open things up.
So, there's one piece of advice. How about all the other cold-staters? Anyone got a favorite method for thawing frozen pipes or dealing with some other cold-related problem?
Friday, January 8, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Soldiers
The other day I got an email from a reader that made me feel really good about doing this blog. He'd dropped some cash in my tip jar and I sent out my standard "Thank you for your donation, here's Jane" spiel. Here's his reply, and you'll see why it made me feel all warm and fuzzy:
Regardless of whether you agree with what's been going on, or the timetable for pulling out of Iraq, or anything that they've been ordered to do, the fact remains that they're out there, serving their country. They're out there serving us.
We didn't ask them to, they volunteered.
So when there are such simple ways to make things easier for them, to make them smile, or just to make a crappy day a little bit better, why would anyone refuse?
You don't have to start a blog, either. Organizations such as Soldier's Angels have programs for sending care packages to specific soldiers who have been submitted to their organization. These soldiers may have been submitted by family who can't give their soldier the support that they would like to, or by friends, or fellow soldiers. You can send care packages, or write letters, or just donate some money to the organization to help them with their projects.
There are other organizations out there, like Any Soldier and I'm sure you can find others if you look.
Personally, I signed up for the letter writing team at Soldier's Angels.
Go tell a soldier that you appreciate them, just because you do. We shouldn't save that sort of thing for Veteran's Day.
And to reader Brian- I know I said it already, but again, thank you for your service. And thank you for reminding me that the little, normal, everyday things are sometimes the most important.
*Soldier's Angels and Any Soldier did not provide me with any compensation for this post. So go spit up a rope, FCC.
Ma'amIt really brought home to me how the little things can make such a difference when you're so far from home. We've got so many men and women out there who probably wonder, at times, if we here at home remember what they're doing for us.
No need to thank me, reading about people living normal lives kept me sane for a 15 month deployment. So I should be thanking you. Seeing people able to have those freedoms that we gave up to serve reminds me of why I do my job. Good luck with the truck search and thank you.
Brian
Regardless of whether you agree with what's been going on, or the timetable for pulling out of Iraq, or anything that they've been ordered to do, the fact remains that they're out there, serving their country. They're out there serving us.
We didn't ask them to, they volunteered.
So when there are such simple ways to make things easier for them, to make them smile, or just to make a crappy day a little bit better, why would anyone refuse?
You don't have to start a blog, either. Organizations such as Soldier's Angels have programs for sending care packages to specific soldiers who have been submitted to their organization. These soldiers may have been submitted by family who can't give their soldier the support that they would like to, or by friends, or fellow soldiers. You can send care packages, or write letters, or just donate some money to the organization to help them with their projects.
There are other organizations out there, like Any Soldier and I'm sure you can find others if you look.
Personally, I signed up for the letter writing team at Soldier's Angels.
Go tell a soldier that you appreciate them, just because you do. We shouldn't save that sort of thing for Veteran's Day.
And to reader Brian- I know I said it already, but again, thank you for your service. And thank you for reminding me that the little, normal, everyday things are sometimes the most important.
*Soldier's Angels and Any Soldier did not provide me with any compensation for this post. So go spit up a rope, FCC.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Jane
Kind of got back-burnered over the holidays. Now that things have slowed down I'll get back to getting you guys semi-regular chapters.
Honest.
Honest.
Friday, January 1, 2010
2010
It's strange, when I was in high school I remember looking forward eagerly to the year 2000. I knew that nothing would really change, it wouldn't be the brave new world that so many people thought it would be. Still, it was a thing that I would tell my grandchildren one day.... I rang in the year two thousand.
Now it's ten years later. It's still not the brave new world that the new millennium was supposed to be. I'll have still more stories to tell my grandchildren. The kind my great grandmother and my grandfather told me, about living through the depression. About living in a time of change, of a fluid sense of the world.
Is our society today that different from that of the people who lived through the stock market crash, the dust bowl? We hear the stories of those who suffered and persevered through those hardships, because they are the ones who made it through. When this economic crisis is over, when the country breathes easy again, will we be, once again, a nation of survivors?
Will we tell stories of those who lost all their material goods, and having nothing else in their lives that they believed were important, took that final leap or that handful of pills?
Will future generations think of us as survivors, pioneers, the ingenious ones who made it work when others were foundering?
Will things get to that point or will it seem so from the perspective of a future time?
So many, many questions. The only answer I know is this: When the time comes and my children and grandchildren ask me about this time in my history, I would like to be able to hold my head high and tell them truthfully that I am proud of the life I lived and that although I made mistakes I learned from them, and they made me better, stronger.
So, my wish for all of you in 2010 is this: May you have joy, and knowledge, and end the year stronger than you began it.
Now it's ten years later. It's still not the brave new world that the new millennium was supposed to be. I'll have still more stories to tell my grandchildren. The kind my great grandmother and my grandfather told me, about living through the depression. About living in a time of change, of a fluid sense of the world.
Is our society today that different from that of the people who lived through the stock market crash, the dust bowl? We hear the stories of those who suffered and persevered through those hardships, because they are the ones who made it through. When this economic crisis is over, when the country breathes easy again, will we be, once again, a nation of survivors?
Will we tell stories of those who lost all their material goods, and having nothing else in their lives that they believed were important, took that final leap or that handful of pills?
Will future generations think of us as survivors, pioneers, the ingenious ones who made it work when others were foundering?
Will things get to that point or will it seem so from the perspective of a future time?
So many, many questions. The only answer I know is this: When the time comes and my children and grandchildren ask me about this time in my history, I would like to be able to hold my head high and tell them truthfully that I am proud of the life I lived and that although I made mistakes I learned from them, and they made me better, stronger.
So, my wish for all of you in 2010 is this: May you have joy, and knowledge, and end the year stronger than you began it.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happy New Year
To all of you going out and partying tonight, be safe!
To all of you staying in and partying tonight, have fun!
And to all of you going to bed early and saying "to hell with it" tonight, don't worry. We'll make sure the year gets here and is waiting for you in the morning!
To all of you staying in and partying tonight, have fun!
And to all of you going to bed early and saying "to hell with it" tonight, don't worry. We'll make sure the year gets here and is waiting for you in the morning!
Monday, December 28, 2009
A Late Christmas Gift
Some of you may remember this post in which I shared a discount offered by the company and dreamed about a pair for myself, in a wistful sort of way.
Well, today I got a call from the Post Office... it being a small town there was much excitement about my receiving a package with, as I discovered when I stopped by to pick up the package, foreign language labeling. Chinese is a beautiful language, written or spoken, but I admit that I was fairly stumped.
When I opened the package, I saw this:
Pretty packaging, and I'll be keeping the box.
Once opened, it showed me these:
I adore them!
I'll let the kind and observant soul who sent me these remain anonymous, since they tried so hard to keep themselves that way. But for all you folks who want to anonymously surprise someone with a gift here's a protip: Make sure your phone number isn't on the shipping label. (I found it later going back over the label, trying to figure out a way to discover who I needed to thank.)
Regardless, I adore them and plan to wear them as much as possible! Comfy and toasty warm.
*Whooga boots did provide, months ago, an offer for a discount to my readers. I am unaware whether this discount was used by the person who sent these to me, or even if it is still in effect, however, Whooga boots did not directly provide me with any inducement, monetary or otherwise, to make this post or endorse said boots. So if the FCC is snooping they can go spit into the wind.
Well, today I got a call from the Post Office... it being a small town there was much excitement about my receiving a package with, as I discovered when I stopped by to pick up the package, foreign language labeling. Chinese is a beautiful language, written or spoken, but I admit that I was fairly stumped.
When I opened the package, I saw this:
Pretty packaging, and I'll be keeping the box.
Once opened, it showed me these:
I adore them!
I'll let the kind and observant soul who sent me these remain anonymous, since they tried so hard to keep themselves that way. But for all you folks who want to anonymously surprise someone with a gift here's a protip: Make sure your phone number isn't on the shipping label. (I found it later going back over the label, trying to figure out a way to discover who I needed to thank.)
Regardless, I adore them and plan to wear them as much as possible! Comfy and toasty warm.
*Whooga boots did provide, months ago, an offer for a discount to my readers. I am unaware whether this discount was used by the person who sent these to me, or even if it is still in effect, however, Whooga boots did not directly provide me with any inducement, monetary or otherwise, to make this post or endorse said boots. So if the FCC is snooping they can go spit into the wind.
Musings Upon Politicians
In re-reading a bit of one of my favorites, I stumbled across a passage that I believe is all too apt today:
"I don't mean that a business politician won't steal; stealing is his business. But all politicians are nonproductive. The only commodity any politician has to offer is jawbone. His personal integrity - meaning, if he gives his word, can you rely on it? A successful business politician knows this and guards his reputation for sticking by his commitments - because he wants to stay in business - go on stealing, that is - not only this week but next year and years after that. So if he's smart enough to be successful at this very exacting trade, he can have the morals of a snapping turtle, but he performs in such a way as not to jeopardize the only thing he has to sell, his reputation for keeping promises.
But a reform politician has no such lodestone. His devotion is to the welfare of all the people-an abstraction of very high order and therefore capable of endless definitions. If indeed it can be defined in meaningful terms. In consequence your utterly sincere and incorruptible reform politician is capable of breaking his word three times before breakfast- not from personal dishonesty, as he sincerely regrets the necessity and will tell you so-but from unswerving devotion to his ideal.
All it takes to get him to break his word is for someone to get his ear and convince him that it is necessary for the greater good of all the peepul. He'll geek."
-- Lazarus Long, Time Enough For Love by Robert A. Heinlein
The application of these descriptions to today's situation is left as an exercise for the reader.... but it's something to think upon, no?
"I don't mean that a business politician won't steal; stealing is his business. But all politicians are nonproductive. The only commodity any politician has to offer is jawbone. His personal integrity - meaning, if he gives his word, can you rely on it? A successful business politician knows this and guards his reputation for sticking by his commitments - because he wants to stay in business - go on stealing, that is - not only this week but next year and years after that. So if he's smart enough to be successful at this very exacting trade, he can have the morals of a snapping turtle, but he performs in such a way as not to jeopardize the only thing he has to sell, his reputation for keeping promises.
But a reform politician has no such lodestone. His devotion is to the welfare of all the people-an abstraction of very high order and therefore capable of endless definitions. If indeed it can be defined in meaningful terms. In consequence your utterly sincere and incorruptible reform politician is capable of breaking his word three times before breakfast- not from personal dishonesty, as he sincerely regrets the necessity and will tell you so-but from unswerving devotion to his ideal.
All it takes to get him to break his word is for someone to get his ear and convince him that it is necessary for the greater good of all the peepul. He'll geek."
-- Lazarus Long, Time Enough For Love by Robert A. Heinlein
The application of these descriptions to today's situation is left as an exercise for the reader.... but it's something to think upon, no?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
