As you've surly seen in the news, Texas was hit with some rare winter weather this week. I wanted to write a quick 'off topic' post to share some photos and let everyone know how I am doing...
First off, I am doing well. I am super thankful for all the folks who have reached out, including friends from Autodesk, Enscape, NDSU, University of Minnesota, Yulio, and more.
I received a text from Nauman Mysorewala asking how my escape from snowy Minnesota was going. And, another from Mike Matheny (MN) letting me know I brought the wintery weather with me, as David Baldacchino (TX) also suggested on Twitter (in this tweet).
Being From the North
Being from the north does not really help. Texas is just not prepared for this, in many ways. They don't have the plows, salt, sand and such to deal with the roads (they have some, but not nearly enough). As the news headlines clearly point out, the power grid has largely failed under the intense demand from people needing to heat their homes. And now, much of Texas, including here in San Antonio, have to boil water due to power failures in the water supply system.
The only thing that helped, i.e. being from the north, is I have some winter gear... like this ice scraper and winter boots. But, nearly everything is closed, so there is no where to go anyway.
Frozen Water Pipes
Another huge issue here is that water lines are not buried very deep and exposed everywhere; on the exterior of buildings, in attic spaces, etc. Water pipes are bursting all over town. I wrote an article earlier this week, which I posted on our Lake|Flato intranet, giving tips on trying to prevent pipes from freezing. Like, insulating the exterior hose bib, opening base cabinet doors, and letting a trickle of water run continuously.
I gave my father-in-law most of my winter stuff, including shovels and the insulated hose bib covers. So, I had to improvise and use a winter glove and a zip-tie!
Record Snow Accumulation
We've had something like 3+ days below freezing (but, this is not the record). Just this week, the two snowfalls have both made the top ten list for San Antonio in terms of total accumulation.
Foraging Ahead Where Possible
Not everyone has lost power, or water, or had frozen pipes. I am VERY fortunate to be in this category. This allowed me to step up and provide support for others needing to get work done. Folks not able to work were told to not worry about work, your time is covered (I 💗 this firm)! I was also on a team that managed to interview for a project yesterday. Earlier in the week, some did not have power!
Flash Back
Here is a picture from just a year ago, where I lived in Minnesota. In the coldest part of the US (climate zone 7). I used to bike to work in -20F weather. I also parted ways with this bike, and it's studded winter tires. If I hadn't, I would have surely made the news down here... "crazy man rides bike in this weather."
Warmer Weather
Today the weather is supposed to start turning around! Maybe in the 70's on Wednesday! What a rollercoaster ride...
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I also write blog posts for Enscape - a new paradigm in rendering, animation and VR for AEC.
