A beautiful Monday!

Not sure what's going on in your neck of the woods but it's a beautiful sunshiney day on the Gulf Coast! What's up in your world this week? Me? Writing, taking care of the parentals, and continuing on a healthy plan with exercise. Yesterday was a 1.5 mile walk on a nature trail. Gosh...just gorgeous! Y'all enjoy, or endure, whatever is on your plate this week.

I am going to Georgia to visit an old friend. She said she wanted me to take her to a movie. I said any show you want. She texted back she wanted to see Sniper. The one film I DID NOT EVER want to see. Oh well I promised......

And a promise is a promise.

Maybe you can come back with a neutral review??

SheWrites, you wrote about parentals. I can be a dumbass sometimes, but I concluded you are caring for older loved ones?

I read an article in the New York Times a few minutes ago - LINK

Essentially, a LOT of nursing homes are petitioning the courts for guardianship of a patient, even though there are loving relatives willing and able to do the job. It is all about money. If there is a dispute over money that a patient owes, Nursing Homes just file a petition for guardianship of a patient. This way, complete control of the patient (AND THEIR MONEY) is transferred to the nursing home or their attorney.

Beware!

Yes, my mother and my husband's parents.  All are able to care for themselves but we step in to ease their load.  Father in law is currently in rehab for a break.  Pain in the old arse to get insurance to step up.  As soon as you make the case Mom can't handle him - he's 6' and she's 5' - they begin to question everything.  Tough couple of weeks.  But we're on the upswing.  

I appreciate the link.  Anything else you see along these lines please pass my way.  Much appreciated.

Really a disgusting strong arm tactic. Old folks don't need that kind of hassle.

We took care of Mom for 6-7 years at the end of her life. She lived with us, so it wasn't too much of a hassle. Actually, it was an honor to have her live with us.

If I see anything related, I will post it.

It has been very cold here... -48*F all last night and most of today. Even though my truck was plugged in (to heaters) all last night, when I started it this morning an alarm sounded and the dashboard told me to, "TURN VEHICLE OFF! OIL PRESSURE DANGEROUSLY LOW!" Okay, well it's good to know that it has that feature, but not going to work because the Chevy doesn't like -48*F is not an option (NO vehicle likes -48*F), so I told The Hungry Hungry Hippo (the Chevy) to suck it up.

The previous few days were not super warm (about -35*F) and it does not look like it's warming up anytime soon. I have to say that we deserved this long cold spell. We did it to ourselves. We kept going on and on about how stinkin' warm this winter was, and now we're paying for it. That ought to teach us! :/

I spoke with Az tonight and we figured it was about 110-degrees warmer in Pensacola than it was here. That was hard to wrap my head around until I realized that's the temperature difference when I walk outside from my house. Then it was just depressing, lol. So enjoy your beautiful weather :]

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/frigid-temperatures-settle-on-fairbanks-interior-alaska/article_c201fb82-a59b-11e4-8c80-c3e0e0aa8415.html

I cannot comprehend -48*F nor do I ever want to. I'm a wimp. I would love to visit Alaska on a warm day.

Well today brought new depths to the cold... -56*F. The good news is that after -35 you're too cold to quibble over the differences between, say, -42 and -54. It's just f'ing cold.

SW, it was hot on 30 June 2014... It reached 80*F that day.

Oddly, when I started my truck this morning the alarm telling me to shut it off didn't go off. So, the Chevy hates -48 but thinks that -56 is awesome. Whatever.

Anything above 65 and I'll visit.

riceme wrote:

Well today brought new depths to the cold... -56*F.
Oddly, when I started my truck this morning the alarm telling me to shut it off didn't go off. So, the Chevy hates -48 but thinks that -56 is awesome. Whatever.

Unbelievable. What kinda stuff do you carry with you in the truck? Does the truck ever warm up? How many layers of clothes do you have to wear in that deep freeze? Is it life as usual when it gets that cold?

Crankcase heater...But you already knew that. LOL

Eric wrote:

riceme wrote:

Well today brought new depths to the cold... -56*F.
Oddly, when I started my truck this morning the alarm telling me to shut it off didn't go off. So, the Chevy hates -48 but thinks that -56 is awesome. Whatever.

Unbelievable.  What kinda stuff do you carry with you in the truck?  Does the truck ever warm up?  How many layers of clothes do you have to wear in that deep freeze?  Is it life as usual when it gets that cold?

Of course HG is correct, there is a block heater, an oil pan heater, a tranny heater and a battery heater... I am thinking about getting a trickle charger because I think the battery heaters are a poor design, but the trade off for taking better care of my truck is that I pay through the nose on my electric bill. But I think you were asking what gear I carry in my pickup, and a funny aside to that is that one of my mechanics at work saw what all I carry in my truck and he said that it embarrassed him because if he ever broke down on the way to work he would have to call me because he carries nothing... no tools, no cold weather gear, no nothing. You all know me well enough to know that I am prepared.

For starters, every tool I own is on the floorboard of the back of the crew cab in three tool boxes. My floor jack is in the bed of my truck. The people that have questioned this have never had to change a tire at -40*F or colder. Nearly impossible with a bottle jack. I have an arctic weight Carhartt, two down sleeping bags rated to -20*F, a wool blanket, a half dozen fusees, a Ruger Single Six Convertible revolver, a Dan Wesson .357 Magnum, a shit-ton of ammo, Bunny Boots rated to -65*F (see below), several pair of wool socks, two pair of insulated wool gloves, a pair of Carhartt overalls, antifreeze, motor oil, HEET, hand, toe, body warmers, fire starting material, the list goes on... but no water. No use in carrying anything that freezes until May. Oh, and about 37 extension cords, lol. I'm kidding, only four.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunny_boots

I warm up my truck for 20-minutes before I drive it, and this is after it's been plugged in (ref: above heaters) all night. The transmission still doesn't want to shift, the tires are still "square" (frozen flat on the surface that was flush with the road all night), and the heater blows... "not hot"... air until I've driven about 10-miles. A lot of people just start their vehicles and drive... don't even let them warm up. They clearly have a fundamental lack of understanding of how mechanical systems, viscosity and lubricants work. If you get behind or near a vehicle that is being driven "cold" like this when it is this cold outside you can literally smell the fuel and oil from their exhaust inside the cab of your own enclosed cab. One has to wonder WTF these people are thinking.

For the most part, yes it is life as usual. You have to get up, go to work, keep plugging along. However, no one makes any extraneous trips. If you do not have to go out, you do not go out. But school here never gets canceled for weather. Never. Ever. Aside from that, business as usual. I think people are extra careful because of the knowledge that if you do have an accident you are just f-ed. You will freeze to death unless you are 1/ prepared, 2/ lucky, 3/ in the right set of circumstances, 4/ HAPPEN to have a mobile signal (good luck)...

Some people who have the option do not go out if it is colder than -40 and discretionary if it's -30.