Reporting from Texas in North Austin Comrades. Hot take: shit is bad. I expected rolling blackouts and had myself relatively stocked for a week long haul just by myself with canned goods. Dripped my pipes and all the right things.
Did not expect to go nearly 48 hours without power or a cell signal. Spent all of monday reading and sleeping. Eventually I realized I wasn't going to be able to make due covering myself in every blanket in my house when I saw a layer of frost covering my phone and I made a blind trip further south out of desperation to my mothers. Skidded on the ice twice. Fell into a ditch once...managed to get out. Saw people walking to Heb. Saw birds fallen from the sky like icecicles....
Got to my moms eventually...she was so happy I thought she was going to start crying. Have had limited cell and internet over the past few days. Seems like I have a problem with toe circulation...had to sit by the fire for a good hour but color eventually came back. Power only came in 15 minute increments....but it was warm here....and there is coffee.
Today is thursday....power and internet have been consistent since last night. Checking from the cloud and my house is still down. Not sure where I'd be if I had stayed it out.
To all my comrades in Texas: stay warm and safe. Please. We need you.
This reads like a dispatch from Syria ffs THIS IS A FAILED COUNTRY WAKE UP SHEEPLE UNIRONICALLY
China totally should. Would be great agitprop, which is why they probably won't
Cuba does send an incredible amount of help to foreign countries, given their size and capacity
Its amazing that even despite the brutalization we've done to Cuba the past 60 years, they would still send their medics to us.
Alright so this sounds like a god damned war situation wtf is going on
widespread infrastructure failure. At least Afghanistan and Syria have the excuse that their shit got blown up (by the USA usually), we have just let ours rot through decades of neglect and mismanagement. :amerikkka:
Folks, never drive over 40 in ice, and always always drive slow when approaching turns, intersections, bridges, or curves.
Start breaking like twice as early as you normally would
This is accurate....but to be clear I never went over 15 and I still slid. Its been bad out there folks.
Not victim blaming here, just PSA-posting.
Pretty wild that they haven’t been able to at least salt the roads. I know in dFw they have that capability. Not sure about further south
No I get it...just wanted to say I would not have advised going anywhere near close to 40. I hear the highways have been salted and aren't so bad....but side streets are an absolute death trap after the winter rain. I was supposed to get my son on monday from Bastrop but I still am not willing to risk it.
There is a whole lote more road per capita and a whole lot less salt than northern states, they prob just actually dont have enough.
I know it's been said a lot, but if your car does not have ABS (even if it does) pump your breaks when you start sliding (even before). If you lock up, your tires have 0 traction and you will loose steering control. Down shift (can do this in most automatics) and pump your breaks to slow down and steer into the slide (if possible). Also y'all have summer tires, an inch of snow or slush can be just as dangerous and slippery as ice.
This is really preaching to the choir, but the US is one of the wealthiest states in the world and Texas is one of the wealthiest states in the union. None of that wealth is being used for the public good and we have a shitload of comrades and working class people who are going to die because the state can't get them the bare standards of being able to live... heat and shelter. Hang in there comrade.
Saw birds fallen from the sky like icecicles…
All those birds migrating south for the winter and storing up energy for nesting season. I wonder how impactful fronts like this will be to those species. The inverse of the Australian Outback burning and the roads being lined with charred koalas.
Appreciate it comrade. I'm good now and with family. Stay warm and safe!
If you get subsequent pain and swelling in your toe, consider that it might be chilblains. I've had it before from going out for cigarettes on my porch when it's very cold without socks or shoes, a few of my toes swelled up and it was so painful I could barely see walk. Also, glad to hear you're ok. Stay safe, comrade.
I think my symptoms match more closely with Raynaud syndrome. Self diagnosis but the discoloration is identical to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raynaud_syndrome
if it very cold it would not be raynaud just normal close to frostbite
This has been my self diagnosis...but obviously I can't be sure. I've had it much more mild before but I've never really worried about it much....cause...well...fucking Texas! Lol. Usually putting on a pair of Darn Tough socks from Vermont is enough.
I've gone back to work today after two days without power. We still don't have heat or clean water. We're being told to work 9 days in a row to make up for lost time, even though everyone's exhausted and cold. One of my coworkers said boiling water makes you a pussy. Another one blamed the power outages on socialists.
Have been without power since 2am monday morning, been in a shelter for 3 days now. Glad you're safe, comrade.
