A foul wind a blowin

[rodb]

 When my wife and I built our house in the late 70's in Aberdeenshire we had to put in an air brick near the sink for a "food larder" for the building warrant  . As soon as the house was passed I covered it up because of the draft into the kitchen.  Just as we had almost finished the house and were living in it we had the coldest weather in the UK about -26oC and the only heating was a Jotul woodburner. It did a great job and we avoided frozen pipes! but the diesel in the car froze so we couldn't go anywhere until it warmed up to around -9oC  Another problem I had when building the house was I put a 60A  RCB  on the main tails for connection to the DNO network  ( Hydro Electric back then) but they refused to connect me until I had it removed. Maybe just as well on reading the thread about fuses etc.
Rod

[biff]

By gum
        I went to modify my post and add a note and wiped the lot. There is no justice. Fruit salad for afters helps. H,mmm
   Biff

[biff]

We have a decent force 6 on the go at the moment.  We also have freezing cold dry weather and brilliant sunshine. It is behaving just like early March, when the controllers start flashing their red lights and smoking the durty black magic. Our cats are extremely nervous in the wind. Mum is quite dodgy and secretive, a true challenge for Mart. Freda is friendlier than usual, I have noticed in the past,  that she does get closer to me in the very cold weather, The hounds snore through it all. I have tried to get my NCT extended and putting the test off for another month until the infection rate backs off. The new variant is rife in the area. That did not work  so I will postpone the test for a month which should make a difference and give me a better chance. Our families in Texas have had their jabs, makes you wonder who is kidding who. Their,s is Modena A, and needs a second shot in 2 weeks time. Closer to home  Our Taoiseach, is telling us all that he is off to the states for the 17th of March to knock elbows with Old Joe. I don't  think so. I hope not. The Garda are doing a decent job and handing out fines left, right and center. There is money to be made in this old virus. Folks coming home from holidays are now going to find that their fine has been raised from 500 euro to 2,000 euro. Incredible  as it may sound, there are thousands of holiday makers expected back...Imagine that and paying the hotel for the 14day Quarantine.. There are going to be a lot of very unhappy campers. Dubai could look attractive  after all.
     Biff
 

[billi]

True Biff , i assume its better to  stay local , so i canceled  a "small one month  job" in Ireland  in January and more just to head back to Ireland   , while i am locked here in Germany (while snowed in  as a landscaper and surely  by the Virus too  )  

Not so easy right now to  talk about societies   and how to cope .....


 But if Ministers   need to meet ,  than it might be good ?!?  Or  is it a holiday  trip ?

[biff]

It would be a holiday Billi
      St Patrick's Day. However  he must have read my post above because the news now is, He has decided not to go.
 He must have been testing the reaction from the general public. President Biden will be able to manage without him. No snow here yet but excellent wind. Heavy snow in Cork.
      Biff

[biff]

  Be sure to keep your dental appointments in Tenerife,
         Because if ya don't  turn up to keep yar  appointment,  yar  name goes down on a list with 50 others who never turned up either,,  he he he..  And the lovely Roberta Beccaris has agreed to supply our Gardai with the full list, woo  hoo,  Knock  knock,,  whose der?? ,,Garda,,    GARDA WHO ??     Garda Wannaseeya,   Did ya enjoy that great holiday ya had in Tenerife,, did ya,?. Thas good. Here is yar  court appointment,  Bring plenty of cash,  2000 euro to start with., ,,
   What would you do, faced with a situation like that which has just about wiped out any good the great holiday did you..   think,,  think,,  if it were me, h,mmmm
   Ding a ling,  Hello,, Helo, Ahhhh Is that you Roberta,  my god, you speak great english,  listen,  the missus and me, took a wrong turn exiting the airport and bedad,  we totally  missed our appointment,  no no no, I'm not asking you to say anything,  No we want another appointment right away,  We are flying out immediately. Yes, Yes, Yes, We are on our way.
      Biff

[biff]

It must have been a very rough night,
     A few well anchored covers got tossed of various items and my little 1kw x 48 volt turbine broke its moorings in the early morning and tore off joyriding into the storm,  Nothing like an early morning sprint through the rain and a tussle with a tail rope on a flat out turbine that was bent on speed. Then inside and clamped the 3 phases together,
  It should be fine. Our house turbine was milling away content.  Off grid pleasures.
     Biff

[biff]

What a month for high winds,
 It was really rough for a few hours around 3am. Everything seems fine this morning, great output and full bank + hot tanks  . Our small halogen fire smooths the braking as the house shuts down for the night. Our RE efforts are one of the very few things that Covid19  don't impinge on which is cheerful also,  yesterday was the first day for a long time that no deaths were recorded due to Covid19,  We still counted 800 infections or so. Monday is a day where the count usually catches up with those missed over the weekend but No..NO deaths  on Monday 15th Feb 2021. It must mean that they are getting better at treating the patients and recovery is much higher..I hope so. Farther afield in Texas, The national grid has collapsed with the demand for heating power.  -10 ,,feels like -17..
 This is their coldest spell in 122years. Our cats wants very much to be loved and fed more, They are the best fed cats in Donegal and the most ungrateful..The all white Mam is Mrs Hubs incarnate. Very vicious and controlling. She is all yours Mart. Her kittens are big and stronger. Freda has retired from the food wars and we have together moments more now, especially with the freezing cold. She is still the great communicator she always was but has slowed down a lot. It might be that she got more fight than she bargained for.. quiet times.
       Biff
  Texas leads America in Wind Turbine power and Solar.
 However, this time the Wind Turbines froze and power to 3 million households crashed. The freeze extended south, right to the Gulf of Mexico.

[biff]

 Many of the big cities in Texas are still without power.
 The lucky ones have solar Arrays and Battery bank back up. However, a surprising number of well established  householders in affluent areas have no insulation, not even double glazing.
    The news  first put around was that the wind turbines froze, some Turbines did freeze but it was nothing to the devastation that the freeze I inflicted on the Coal  and Gas driven power stations. In fact, proportionally   The wind turbines have fared a lot better. As of 3pm our time  there is still no power. Power is being distributed for 3 hours at a time,  What ever good that will do.  Mr Abbott is getting a lot of stick. His Californian comments have come back to bite him.
   Biff

[biff]

 Good Wind Turbine weather 
         Too good. The trees are bare and the grass already flattened, A previous blow tested the covers and order was restored with even more weights. This morning,s walk was a force 8 one, with blustery turbulence going in every direction, only an idiot would be walking about in it, so I scurried I side to the heat before people found out.
    At least it is dry underfoot. Farther south there has been serious flooding for months. The weather is acting like March come early and indeed we must have had a record number of storms so far this February with still a week to go. We cannot complain, we get plenty of power and hot water that indirectly boosts the C/H. The PV  may rule the 8 months of the year but the other 4 belong to our wind turbine.
     Biff

[biff]

Trouble in Paradise,
       A few days ago, Leo revealed to the expectant multitudes, that 98% of the over 60s had already been vaccinated and that things were looking up. She looked at me and I looked at her  and the first thing we said,  THEY MISSED US.  So she is on the blower to the doc,s high priest and the doc will phone later, much later. Faith healers know exactly when to phone you.You will be half asleep and incoherent but still we managed to prevent her from sending us off to be tested once again..  Cause for celebrations,,, we are now on  the list. We felt better already but I spoiled it all by asking what would have happened if we had not rang up..The Joan of Arc in her forensic suit, helping the downtrodden bog dwellers of Donegal.
  I was reduced to running back and forth between the Battery banks and the house for the sake of a few extra volts .I feel more secure no6w. Mrs Biff tied me to the bed during the night , while I slept,  Still I managed to write this.  Have a good day all.
    Biff

[zaps1]

This whole thread is a lot more real for me, now I've been through my first Cork storm.

We get a whole lot of weather in one day, pretty much every day.

117mm of rain over a day or two, this week. The fields just 1km up-river from us flooded, and the river runs fast, heavy and muddy about 35 metres away (and not much of a drop) from the front door of our temporary home here, but - thanks in part to flooding upstream, I guess - didn't pay this house a visit.

[biff]

Hi zaps1,
       Both Cork and Kerry normally have mild winters. It is just these past few years that Cork has had some bad storms. Paul mentioned something about the Gulf Stream being pushed 200 mile south and that is what had made the change. You are not thst far from the Dingle Peninsula and Valencia. The weather there is always good. It is or it was always famous for its climate which was nurtured by the aforementioned gulfstream  which bends in and around Valencia. (We were taught this rubbish at school)
  Don't  worry, the weather will improve after St Pat's. If you fancy a bit of light reading, You could grab a book of short stories by Frank O,Connor, It will teach you a lot about how Corkonians think. He is from the city and up there with the best. 40 minutes away is Listowel where the Great John B
 spread his wings as a playwright and man of letter. Sadly there is an embarrassing contagious outbreak of flat cap gobeen men that John B warned us about. Enjoy. .
    Biff

[zaps1]

  Don't  worry, the weather will improve after St Pat's. If you fancy a bit of light reading, You could grab a book of short stories by Frank O,Connor, It will teach you a lot about how Corkonians think. He is from the city and up there with the best. 40 minutes away is Listowel where the Great John B
 spread his wings as a playwright and man of letter. Sadly there is an embarrassing contagious outbreak of flat cap gobeen men that John B warned us about. Enjoy. .

Thanks, Biff! I'll have a look out for the Frank O'Connor book.