Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

~ John W. Howell
“This stuff still here? It’s Friday for heaven’s sake.”
“Might be here until June.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Yup.”

 

Well, Friday is here with a promise of temps above freezing. It has been a long week of rolling blackouts and threatened water shortages. I have to say, though, we made it through. A lot of folks had severe damage to their homes from broken water pipes.

We are lucky to be living in a new home that was built with a lot of insulation. We also dripped our faucets for extra protection. It was the dripping that the water company found overwhelming. I guess when you get 11,000 homes dripping faucets all night, it adds up. So they sent a notice on Facebook of all places to knock it off or face water shut off. To us, this is all hearsay since we don’t follow the water department on Facebook. (Wwwhaaatt????) Anyway, tonight is going down to 19 degrees F (-7.2 C. I’m still going to drip. We’ll see if a water shutdown occurs. (I’m such an anarchist, right?)

Looks like all the political folks will be doing investigations to see why the power in the state failed. I think the answer might be that the weather was unprecedented, and no one thought winterizing of the production facilities was necessary. So, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer can stay in cozy Washington. (By the way, since when does having the government involved in an investigation help anyone?)

Let’s give Senator Ted Cruz a big hand for heading to Mexico when his heat went out. You have to feel sorry for those who have no moxie. Even more so for those in public service who don’t hang around and see if they can help.

I see Joe Biden has declared Texas a disaster area yesterday and will be sending generators and bottled water. By the time they get here, it will be 70 degrees. Love the optics, though, Joe.

Today’s JohnKu talks about blame. I hope you all have a great weekend.

Blame by John W. Howell © 2021

When things go badly,

There are some who want to help . . .

Others want to blame.

103 thoughts on “Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF”

  1. I am in disbelief that ole Teddy boy could be not only so selfish but so utterly stupid. Guess he cared more about heat than re-election, lols.
    I’m so glad you have power now, John, and that your pipes haven’t burst. You keep on being a water anarachist!
    Love the Haiku. What good is blame without offering a solution?
    Keep safe and warm. Have a good weekend. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  2. My parents have not fared so well just down the road, John. Long periods without electricity and all their pipes burst…whole house must be re-plumbed when this is finally over. 😔 My nieces are enjoying it though….lots of snowball fights and snow angels. ☺️ As for Ted Cruz, when someone tells you who they really are, believe them.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I’m so sorry to hear about your parents, Lori. SA has always been an area that never had to worry about freezing weather. This has been an unusual period of time. Best wishes to them. Ted is a pip for sure.

      Like

      1. John, so sorry you are dealing with unpredicted weather challenges. Hope you don’t have extensive damage. Read that Ted Cruz flew back to Texas the next day. He was thinking of his family flying them to Cancun. Had second thoughts about the state of his state & it’s people. But, still met a fire storm of people berating him for leaving. “Bad decision to leave,” he said. And he has to live with it. 📚Christine

        Liked by 1 person

        2. He said that he was thinking of his family and made a bad decision. He has to live with the criticism and think before he acts the next time. Hard lesson for an in the public eye politician. 📚 Christine

          Liked by 1 person

  3. Glad to hear you’re making it through, John. I didn’t know about the insulation of your home, but since you’re from the north originally, I wondered if you let the faucets drip. We did that in Ohio, but there was no trouble because of it as Ohio has a lot of water. All the best with tackling the rest of the problems. I had to laugh at Twiggy and her fascination with the snow. Take care. 🙂 — Suzanne

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Dear John,
    actually, minus 7,2 C is not that cold. In the countries we lived it was a normal temperature in winter. We had it even here a couple of days ago as well. It’s hard to understand why that causes such a desaster.
    Keep warm. Wishing you a great weekend
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    1. That is MINUS 7.2 C Klausbernd. We are not used to having below freezing temperatures for such a long time. This is a tropical climate and the infrastructure was built for it rather than for arctic temperatures.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Sorry, I see. We start to call it cold when it is unter minus 15 C at day time for many days. Where I lived in my youth we had minus 25 to minus 30 C for a couple of days every year. But we had no problems with water or with whatsoever.
        But where we live now people would call minus 7.2C cold as well, but it would not harm our water pipes or anything in house.
        Keep warm!
        The Fab Four of Cley
        🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

        1. We had 144 hours below freezing. A new all time record. Houses here are not built for that level and duration of cold. Mine is though since I come from Michigan where the temps stay at -17.2 C or below for weeks.

          Liked by 1 person

  5. Frosty traces of Friday at the Twiggy Resort lead to the right way to discover much about engineering problems you are facing now, dear John. May it be water & heat for you! Have a hot week-end! 🔥🔥🔥…Meanwhile I wonder what are Superman, Spiderman & Batman doing? They must help their homeland!

    Liked by 2 people

  6. I love that you’re a water anarchist, John, and I’m so glad temps are climbing in your area. Our temps are climbing as well. Thank God! As for government officials, I’m regularly amazed that our country works at all because of their self-serving behavior. I sincerely think our country survives because of ordinary citizens, the unseen freezing people who have not lost their souls and reach out to help wherever they can. Bravo for being one of them. 😊

    Liked by 2 people

    1. We have a group here called 12-31 (After Mark 12:31 Love your neighbor as your self) who are 3500 stong now helping people deal with transportation, water, food, and ordinary issues of life. These are the heroes and the ones to make a difference. Nancy Pelosi throwing pot shots at our state helps very little. I’m glad your temps are beginning to ease as well. Stay warm. 😁

      Liked by 1 person

  9. With all that’s going on in Texas, I’m glad to see you still have your sense of humor – even if the Pres. isn’t up on the actually state of affairs!
    Keep smilin’, John.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The one that really gets me is Nancy Pelosi. She said some pretty nasty things about Texas and she should really remember her duty. How about spending time on important issues, Nancy now that you have vetted your spleen on Trump.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Oh, they’re not through tearing him up yet. Now they are wanting a bill to keep him out of getting buried in Arlington. Work? I think Congress has forgotten what that is.

        Liked by 1 person

  10. They can all point fingers, John. Let’s see if anyone looks to find a lesson and make any changes. Or, will they call this a 100-yr event and kick those cans down the road. I was wondering why we weren’t reading about advice being given to crack those faucets. The drips may add up, but it’s hard to stop the flow from a burst pipe.

    I hope you can stay warm and wet where you need to be. Take care.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Your point about the drips is a good one. If there is not enough water then shut it all off. We can make due. Water running into the street does no one any good. I have to wonder about municipal types. I think they go haywire sometimes. Thaks for your wishes, Dan. I have to walk to the bar cause the roads are still not safe. See you there. 😊

      Liked by 1 person

  12. People like to joke that some places can’t handle the cold… well, why should they when it’s way out of the norm?
    I send you lots of warm thoughts, am glad your electricity is working and hope that the temps keep going up!
    Stay safe!

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Your state has had it really rough, John. I’m glad you were spared from bursting pipes and that the temps will be climbing again. I feel so badly for all those people who are suffering down there, and pray that an end is in sight. As for Ted Cruz, I have no words.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Who follows their water department on Facebook? For that matter, who can access the Internet when they have no power? Argh! Glad you’re safe and soon will be warm, John. This has been beastly everywhere, but it seems y’all got the brunt of it. Next time, it will be somebody else’s turn. Don’t get me started on those politicians though!

    Liked by 1 person

  18. No freeze last night even though it was predicted to but we dripped anyway. Maybe the worst is over. The sun is even out this morning. If we get those generators and bottled from Biden, we can save them for hurricane season. TGIF to you, John!

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Glad you are safe and warm. The pictures and reports on the news paint a different picture. And the generators from FEMA are already there – waiting for Governor Abbott to put them to work. And the electricity providers are still talking about rolling blackouts for the short term.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The local reports from the utilities are the blackouts are over and any outages are a result of damage to the lines. I have seen no reports of generators. The point is they weren’t available when they were needed. (A state of emergency needed to be enacted by the president and he did that Thursday to free those resources. As I said good optics on his part.) Maybe you know where the bottles f water are.

      Like

  21. So glad you’ve been okay, John, but it’s heartbreaking to see on the news what others are going through. Another unprecedented situation. And then you’ll wish for warmer temps, and soon, it’ll be scorching. :O We’re in a severe drought, so from one extreme to another. On a lighter note, the pups are cute, wondering what that fluffy white stuff is. Stay safe!

    Liked by 1 person

  27. I’d risk the water shutdown too if it meant saving the pipes.

    Congress is sort of like that startup company where they hold meetings every day and several times a day because nobody knows which direction is up until it’s too late to do something about it.

    Here’s hoping for warmer weather soon.

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Let the faucets drip. Too bad there were so many people without power who couldn’t read the message on Facebook from the water company. What’s next? Facebook requests from them to see if you’ll like their page?

    Liked by 1 person

  29. True, isn’t it? Something goes wrong, someone is to blame. Even if its extreme weather or a pandemic. Nature is a capricious mistress but you can’t sue her, deselect her or make her the subject of an angry inquiry. Damn….

    Liked by 1 person

  30. I had to learn how to keep the pipes from freezing here. It’s different than Silicon Valley! Our house is only 6 years old so it’s well insulated, but we learned to keep the heater set to 55 degrees at night and leave the cabinet doors open where there are faucet pipes…for the air circulation or something. We’ve been told by the plumber who installed our water softener there’s no need to keep the faucet dripping. 🤷🏻‍♀️

    I hope you continue to fare well through this cold snap.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Scotland copes much better with ice and snow than London does I think as you say because they deal with it more often. I’m sorry to read your State has had such a hard time but glad you seem to be coping ok. I hope it warms up for you soon. Best wishes Charlotte x

    Liked by 1 person

  32. A wonderful JohnKu. I’m so glad you fared well through all of this. I am very grateful, lucky, and blessed that even though I had to leave my home, I came back to an “all is well that ends well” scenario. My heart goes out to the many who have suffered such devastating effects from the storm. Much like after a hurricane passes, it will take a while to get everything repaired again.

    Liked by 1 person

  33. Everyone drips a faucet to prevent freezing. So, the ‘water company police’ are on FB? Hmm… I echo every point you made, John. And your JohnKu says it best of all.

    Liked by 1 person

  34. I’m glad you are making out okay, John. Yes, looks like the fingers have already started to point. Sometimes things just happen. I have always admired the helpers more than the blamers.

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.