The Real Reason I Put Up With Texas
I love Texas. I do. But even I have to admit that it’s hard to live here.
Until times like now.
I am given to understand that the rest of you are freezing to death. It’s so damn cold that it’ll freeze boiling water so fast that it’ll make warm ice cubes.
Oh sure, we have hurricanes. They give you three days warning to get out of town and go to some nice hotel in San Antonio. Beats the hell outta shoveling snow.
Y’all stay warm out there.
Up here on the frozen Canadian tundra it’s warmer in my deep freeze than it is outside. But at least it’s a dry cold! (an old Cdn joke 🙂 )
1Younz[1] have to pay that piper when the temperature rises to god-awful hot in March and there’s a power cut. Plus the dang grass needs mowed[2] in February.
[1] In Texas that would be “y’alls”.
2[2] Use of the infinitive “to be” is optional hereabouts.
I agree that winter here is easier. I lived in the midwest a lot of years and cursed the cold frequently. You have not lived until you change a tire in -20 below temp. But when I retire I’m going back. I hate what Texas has become, even though I know good people here. My children grew up in Nebraska, and one is a real liberal, the other a reasonable conservative. Although it’s a red state they don’t have Gohmert and Abbot. And my daughter claims there’s a butt magnet there that keeps pulling you back. I guess that’s true because I’ve lived there 3 different times!
3I agree that winter here is easier. I lived in the midwest a lot of years and cursed the cold frequently. You have not lived until you change a tire in -20 below temp. But when I retire I’m going back. I hate what Texas has become, even though I know good people here. My children grew up in Nebraska, and one is a real liberal, the other a reasonable conservative. Although it’s a red state they don’t have Gohmert and Abbot. And my daughter claims there’s a butt magnet there that keeps pulling you back. I guess that’s true because I’ve lived there 3 different times!
4Sorry for the double post. I’m using my tablet and it doesn’t behave properly.
5It is to be 52 here in Canon City, CO today and we’re suppose to have warm weather most all week long! The past 2 weeks have been freezing cold, day and night, and we got snow.
6We get cold, then we get warm, then we get cold again and then we get warm again! It’s wintertime … it’s Colorado!!
I’m in Hawaii. I know, someone has to do it. It is 58 this am, but it will be in the 70’s later, maybe low 80’s. Record cold yesterday, 58.
And it never gets too hot.
Don’t pack yet, the cost of living if you are late to the party is very high. We moved here in 1978, after years in Alaska, trying to figure out why the weather was so bad.
7I noticed you forgot to include Wednesday’s forecast:
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 51. Breezy, with a north wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 29. Blustery.
And that’s for those of us around the Johnson Space Center. They’re even talking about Galveston getting down to 32F.
8After 38 years of shivering Januarys in the greater Chicago area, we were happy to migrate to El Paso, where the sun always shines, the heat is mostly dry, & the mountains rise up through the center of town. But we’re mighty chilly these days, with lows below freezing most nights but highs like yours, JJ. Meanwhile, our Illinois kin have wind chills of -18. Poor them. And we have a terrific new-er Democratic Congressman. @ age 80+ I attended my first ever town hall meeting & was blown away with his tales of how he gets things down in stalemated Washington. (Hurrah, “Beto”!)
9After 38 years of shivering Januarys in the greater Chicago area, we were happy to migrate to El Paso, where the sun always shines, the heat is mostly dry, & the mountains rise up through the center of town. But we’re mighty chilly these days, with lows below freezing most nights but highs like yours, JJ. Meanwhile, our Illinois kin have wind chills of -18. Poor them. And we have a terrific new-er Democratic Congressman. @ age 80+ I attended my first ever town hall meeting & was blown away with his tales of how he gets things done in stalemated Washington. (Hurrah, “Beto”!)
10Those are many of the same reasons I retired back in Southern Arizona, and we don’t have hurricanes.
It does get warm in the summer, but we are almost 2,000 ft. higher than Phoenix so we are cooler during that time….and….wait for it….It’s A Dry Heat!
11I love this stuff – jeans and a hoodie (b/c this ain’t Oklahoma) weather. And the cold and dry keeps my Texas allergies at bay.
Also, dear husband is currently in North Dakota where it’s single digit highs and sub zero double digit lows, so I’m not complaining.
Bottom line: as long as neither one of us have to shovel snow anymore, we’re happy.
12Re: butt magnet…left Texas after college tol live near D.C. One winter there was all that was needed to activate the magnet.
Bring on the summer…just LOVE it!
13Say what you will about summer heat (central Oklahoma) but when it’s 100 degrees I say “I didn’t have to scrape the windshield, I’m not driving on ice, and my fingers aren’t numb even with thick gloves” and it doesn’t feel near as hot. And right now I’m staying in from the 30’s and 40’s because of a cold that in the summer I’d just go out in the sun and bake it out.
Unfortunately the politics aren’t any better here than in Texas.
14Bring on the summer. Love it.
15Whoops! Already said that.
16It was 10 below zero this morning in onion land and we are expecting around 8 inches of snow with 25 mph SW/NW winds today. Highs near the weekend will be barely above zero. I liked winter cold better when I was actively engaged in cattlefeeding. The smell of a freshly lit tank heater full of corn cobs and wood was delicious.
17I’ve been out and about this morning. Coat, hat, gloves…. not too bad.
JJ… I clicked on you link and found this:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/05/politics/conservative-coup-attempt-grows/?iid=ob_article_organicsidebar_expansion&iref=obnetwork
Can someone translate the headline for me…. please?
18When I was stationed at Eielson AFB Alaska, when it got up to zero we’d walk to the dumpster with our trash in a t-shirt because it was 50 degrees warmer than the day before.
19Could not live anywhere in the south due to the repressive political climate. Weather is temporary. Stoooopid is permanent.
Mary Beth-
20This last week has been brutal hasn’t it? 60 or so at night, 75 during the day, I’m wearing a jacket in the house right now. One night last week I had to get up to find my extra blanket.
Here in the holler it’s 16 deg with wind chill/ real feel of 1. Damn, the squirrels are a wearin’ down coats over the fur ones.
Chicken corn chowder goin’ in the crock pot and me and the hot water bottle snuggling up in bed with the extra down comforter.
21Here in NC we had 70F on Jan4 and a nice 50F morning of the 5th with more of the same for this week.
22Who needs Texas.
Larry was that the trash in a T-shirt or the carrier in a t-shirt??
But you are right weather is changing stupid is forever, NC is a good example. And we have not passed laws to deal with little green men from mars like Col., but made up for it by passing a law that the coastal waters will not rise.
Here in California we mostly have lovely weather and a Democratic government. (Foothills above Sacramento: low today 49; high, 62.) Of course we also have deserts and high mountains for those who like variety. (Not to mention droughts and occasional earthquakes, but I’ll still take those over Louie Gohmert.)
23Having hightailed it out of Austin for northern California, I wish to point out that the weather is even better out here: unlike Austin, it rarely freezes. And it doesn’t get hot here, either.
And furthermore, I traded in Lamar Smith for Barbara Lee, one of the best members of Congress. We won’t even bother comparing governors and senators.
OK, we’ve got earthquakes. Otherwise, though, the major problems are drought and fire, which sounds a lot like Central Texas to me.
I should point out that I’m a fifth generation native Texan, but since the crazies took over, it’s become real hard to take pride in that.
24When it’s cold you can put more clothes on. When it’s hot there’s a limit to how much you can take off, and some days even exceeding the legal limit wouldn’t be enough.
And despite our new GOP governor (this happens sometimes when the Dem candidate can’t say anything other than “Vote for me, I’m the Democrat”), I’ll stay here in MD, semitropical though it gets in summer.
25The weather was a big reason I left Texas. Now I live in the land of Liz Warren and the Red Sox, and spend as much as I can of the winter in northern Vermont (NOTHING is more fun than skiing). I feel that I have traded up. Way up.
Having said which, I will add that I still miss things like decent Mexican food.
26Here in Maryland, the high yesterday was 59. Today’s high is 37, with snow expected tonight. By Thursday, forecasters are calling for a high of 19. My sainted grandma called this “pneumonia weather.” But we’re rarely buried in snow, assaulted by hurricanes, or struck by tornadoes. As Rhea says, summers aren’t wonderful; but winters aren’t routinely fit only for polar bears and penguins.
27i enjoyed the mental image of Larry bundling his trash up in a tee shirt and carrying the filled shirt to the dumpster! Gotta love the English language. 🙂
28Dry vs wet doesn’t matter once it gets down to about -30, since there’s no moisture in the air at that temperature. Last winter I spent in Colorado I walked to school at -60. That’s why it’s my last winter in Colorado.
At least you can dress for cold, but there are limits to how you can compensate for heat – unless you are in:
29Florida
http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/weird/2014/12/31/sheriff-naked-man-lays-on-cvs-dog-beds/21138975/
Nebraska
http://www.ketv.com/naked-man-stops-traffic-on-major-freeway/30534620
Georgia
http://www.macon.com/2015/01/02/3509423/spitting-naked-man-tased-on-macon.html
….the snow is really piling up outside,I wish you wouldn’t make me leave you.
Snow,strong East winds,bitter cold-the snow is blowing parallel to Mother Earth. Three out of three ain’t good. Schools are letting out early. Activities cancelled for tonight and tomorrow. Schools will prolly shut down for tomorrow. We had a blizzard warning Saturday night and the county crews haven’t plowed roads yet.
Someone please send me Shania Twain in lieu of a comforter. All hope is gone. We are doomed. Goodbye cruel world.
30Right now
31Weather Condition Icon
11°F Feels Like -8°
Cloudy / Windy
Wind WNW 20 mph gusts to 29 mph
Temp wed. night? -9
I have lots of cleaning and quilting to do. Not going out for a few days. Even my long haired cat will not go out!
Enjoy your warm weather!
And y’all have Asleep at the Wheel and Marcia Ball.
32Seasons are just Mother Nature’s way of keeping us from having mosquitoes all year long. I’m looking forward to some ice photography after the hard freeze this week. Only down side is I have to pick all the greens in the garden before Wed night.
33I got skeeters in my basement. They hover(slowly) around when I go check my furnace about once a week. They don’t bite,but they are there.
Some area schools are closed for tomorrow,some start a couple hours late as of now. Still snowing/blowing in NW iowa.
34At 8 a.m. today here in Austin it was 28 degrees; didn’t make it above freezing until almost 11. And it’s predicted to be below freezing around 1 a.m. tomorrow. So glad i have two furry and warm puppies to sleep on top of my bed.
35I have to admit I do miss the weather of California and Hawaii. However, I don’t want to go back to Fargo, ND or Omaha, NE for their Winters. As they say, keep on going South until someone asks what that silly contraption on your trailer is. Then you can dump your snowmobile, unload your belongings, and call it home.
36Well it was 27 in Booger County this morning. And I picked all the broccoli last night when it was 34. And it’s supposed to be 22 Thus AM 😛 And we have at least 4 years of stupidity looking at us. And one of them is another Bush. But it’s not Florida, where county clerks have decided if they hafta marry gay couples, well, they just won’t marry any couples at all. And while I can’t abide Greg Abbott’s smug self satisfaction and superiority, he is NOT Rick Scott. And it’s not Mississipi or Ala-$&@-damnbama; or Louisiana, where the certainly eat, and quite possibly elect, road kill.
AND Annise Parker is dropping hints about running for a statewide office when she finishes her term-limited career in HouTx. Best political news I’ve heard in a while!
37Minnesota: Last night it was -10°. Today’s high was -1°. We have 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. Just last Saturday we had a thaw, 33°.
I really don’t like being cold, but the politics here are wonderful! We take good care of all residents, summers are good, diversity is welcomed.
I strongly considered moving because last winter was terrible. I looked into Oregon but I don’t trust the weather now. I lived through a Pacific Northwest winter with rain from November to April. It wasn’t bad because temperature was rarely below freezing. But with global warming weather patterns are changing. So I’m waiting for a few years to see how it goes. Oregon and Washington have great politics too.
38Always nice to catch up on the news here. Here, have a nice fresh piece of fudge. I just made it. Scooch over and share the magazines.
39Rick,
If you are like me we don’t have full windows in the house, screens on many only. Only Kamuela folks use heaters. I just add a couple more corgis.
40Minus 17 this morning and only 5 or 6 inches of snow. Saw a snowplow go by on the gravel road at 5:45 this morning(CST). Prolly survive,too.
41Here in NoVA just outside D.C. it started snowing about 4 AM and when I bounced outa the sack it was still inspired. It took me well over an hour to get to the office which is about 40 to 50 minutes longer than usual thanks to the new road in my area. Virginia Department of Transportation does not plow roads until there is at least 2 inches or more of snow. Got that? It was an inexcusable mess this AM. Seems that the old snow plows the state owns will simply scrape off the top layer of the roadbed if there is less than 2 inches. Dumb! There are private contractors out there with pick up trucks and plow blades clearing out driveways and private roads without doing a lick of damage to the road beds. Thats cuz their equipment is more recent and has apps that can minutely adjust the plow blade! But VA can’t get on the ball and buy some new trucks! And 3 school systems around here did not opt for a 2 hour delay or school closings. They are now all apologizing in the most pitiable fashion. But the ex Guv got whopped with 2 years in a federal prison for federal corruption crimes. I hear tell there is no sentence shortening tradition in federal prisons. Wow! Night temps are going to be downright dangerous. Can’t brag or complain. Last night temps all the way down to the Gulf Coast were abysmally low. But here’s to whoever invented soup! Sounds good to me.
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