The Progeny
The Cold, Sickie, and Furnace Report
Early this morning, around 3:30 am, our temperature got down to 22 degrees below zero. And with a wind speed of 17 mph, the wind-chill was -49.
As in....real, real close to -50.
Now, normally I wouldn't be up at that hour, just to check on the temperature. It takes a lot to get me out from between my flannel sheets and electric blanket. However, since el hubbo and I awoke approximately around the same time to cold air, he determined the heat had shut off...and as long as he was getting up, I didn't want to miss out on the fun.
Here's what happened:
It got SOOOOOOO cold, that our auxiliary heat--called a 'heat strip'--tried to come on, but it drew so much power that it threw all the breakers on the main breaker box.
This shut down a vast number of things, including the heat pump (but not the electric blanket, or maybe we would have woken up sooner....)
So down we traipsed to the basement, where Loren got 'er goin' again, and then decided to turn on the gas furnace to get the heat back up, more quickly.
About this same time, Melinda came downstairs, saying she'd heard two loud booming sounds, that seemed to come from the attic. I thought it was probably due to the cold, but being non-scientifically-minded I didn't know how to explain this very well, and "I think it's just the cold weather," didn't seem to allay her curiosity/alarm.
As Loren said it wouldn't hurt for someone to go up in the attic and check, Ma donned her slippers, found a dim flashlight and headed to the upper regions of civilization.
You know, it is VERY VERY COLD, in the attic! I waved the flashlight around for a bit, looking...looking, and finding nothing out of order--except for all those boxes I'd messed up. It's barely possible that my search was hastened by not wishing to come to an untimely end in a frigid attic, frozen underneath fallen crossbeams from the 1920's. It just doesn't sound romantic enough.
I'd prefer a demise under house parts from the antebellum years, at least.
By this time, Carolyn was awake, wondering why the door to the attic was open. She too had heard the loud booms and wondered if the end of time was imminent.
At any rate, we all got back to sleep, well...maybe not Loren, but it took a very long time to get warm under the covers, again.
Contractions due to extreme cold was the final explanation given to the kids for the noises.
Loren spent all morning putting in a new cable from the heat strip to a different breaker box, so that it won't flip everything off, again.
The Sickie Report: Carolyn and Nolan are feeling much better. Now Derek seems to be ailing from this strange virus. That might be what made his heart go wonky...which is still doing funny things but is somewhat regular, for the moment.
Anybody else had a funny sickness that involves headache and nausea? Sore throat for a couple. No actual upchucking--so far. Loren must have had it too, for his stomach was funny and he had a headache.
At least we can get out of here now, if we need to. Ethan and I braved the cold, yesterday, to clear in front of the garage, just enough to back a car out and turn it toward the yard.
This morning I knocked myself out clearing a path through three drifts, so that we can exit out across the grass.
There is an unbelievable drift in the driveway, but we can tackle that later, when the weather moderates.
As of this moment, it is sunny, with a temp of -12, wind speed of 14 mph and wind chill of -34.
In other words, conditions in the channel are quite cold but not insurmountable.
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As in....real, real close to -50.
Now, normally I wouldn't be up at that hour, just to check on the temperature. It takes a lot to get me out from between my flannel sheets and electric blanket. However, since el hubbo and I awoke approximately around the same time to cold air, he determined the heat had shut off...and as long as he was getting up, I didn't want to miss out on the fun.
Here's what happened:
It got SOOOOOOO cold, that our auxiliary heat--called a 'heat strip'--tried to come on, but it drew so much power that it threw all the breakers on the main breaker box.
This shut down a vast number of things, including the heat pump (but not the electric blanket, or maybe we would have woken up sooner....)
So down we traipsed to the basement, where Loren got 'er goin' again, and then decided to turn on the gas furnace to get the heat back up, more quickly.
About this same time, Melinda came downstairs, saying she'd heard two loud booming sounds, that seemed to come from the attic. I thought it was probably due to the cold, but being non-scientifically-minded I didn't know how to explain this very well, and "I think it's just the cold weather," didn't seem to allay her curiosity/alarm.
As Loren said it wouldn't hurt for someone to go up in the attic and check, Ma donned her slippers, found a dim flashlight and headed to the upper regions of civilization.
You know, it is VERY VERY COLD, in the attic! I waved the flashlight around for a bit, looking...looking, and finding nothing out of order--except for all those boxes I'd messed up. It's barely possible that my search was hastened by not wishing to come to an untimely end in a frigid attic, frozen underneath fallen crossbeams from the 1920's. It just doesn't sound romantic enough.
I'd prefer a demise under house parts from the antebellum years, at least.
By this time, Carolyn was awake, wondering why the door to the attic was open. She too had heard the loud booms and wondered if the end of time was imminent.
At any rate, we all got back to sleep, well...maybe not Loren, but it took a very long time to get warm under the covers, again.
Contractions due to extreme cold was the final explanation given to the kids for the noises.
Loren spent all morning putting in a new cable from the heat strip to a different breaker box, so that it won't flip everything off, again.
The Sickie Report: Carolyn and Nolan are feeling much better. Now Derek seems to be ailing from this strange virus. That might be what made his heart go wonky...which is still doing funny things but is somewhat regular, for the moment.
Anybody else had a funny sickness that involves headache and nausea? Sore throat for a couple. No actual upchucking--so far. Loren must have had it too, for his stomach was funny and he had a headache.
At least we can get out of here now, if we need to. Ethan and I braved the cold, yesterday, to clear in front of the garage, just enough to back a car out and turn it toward the yard.
This morning I knocked myself out clearing a path through three drifts, so that we can exit out across the grass.
There is an unbelievable drift in the driveway, but we can tackle that later, when the weather moderates.
As of this moment, it is sunny, with a temp of -12, wind speed of 14 mph and wind chill of -34.
In other words, conditions in the channel are quite cold but not insurmountable.
Tweet
posted by Ma Hoyt | 1:03 PM
2 Comments:
Oh, yes, I know about large "cracks" (as they were more like a crack than a "boom") in the middle of the night that jolt one awake, as my room *was* the attic for awhile.
Yes, I believe "crack" is a better description. I even told the kids I'd heard one myself, just the night before, but that didn't seem to make them feel better...
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