jpx2rk

I've got a 60 ft long ice dam on the east side of the house, I'm hoping the weight of the ice doesn't take the gutter down to the ground.

I believe they are outlawed except in the northern territories due to road damage, etc.

I live mid-way between Knoxville and 'Nooga, and my back yard is still a frozen wasteland, the snow is melting some during the days from underneath, not from the top down, so it's just like owl snot when I walk the dog. Previous footprints have melted/re-frozen several times, so that's all the traction there is. Dog with 4 leg drive even has issues. LOL. Our SD road has been clear for a couple days, but our drive was a solid sheet of ice until yesterday at noon, and I went out with shovel and was able to bust up the ice for the most part and it's now clear so we can get out if we want/need. We can see Hwy 68 from our house and traffic has been moving along pretty good for a couple days, but the driveway was iced over and I just didn't try to get out cause I didn't have to, so I didn't. LOL Temps to hit the mid 40's today, so everything will turn to mush from the melting snow, and then the 2-4" of rain coming this weekend will be different anyways. LOL

GOOD on you, and the parents, are most appreciative of the peace for the time you provided. LOL

Women can be just as, if NOT more stubborn than the male gender, JMO. Yet they fuss like crazy at us for being stubborn. LOL

I was curious yesterday afternoon about our driveway, took a shovel out there and it was mostly clear ice, and about 1/2" thick, it would support my weight (200#) w/o cracking. I was able to remove about 6 sq ft of ice that came loose easily, but the rest was still pretty much one big piece of ice, so I quit while I was ahead (had not fallen). One small piece of loose ice just slowly slid across the driveway like an ice cube accidentally dropped on the kitchen floor that slides under the fridge. I came back inside. LOL Wife was watching me thru the front door yelling at me to be careful. LOL

It was 12* when I got up around 6:30am this morning, dog wanted/needed to go out soon thereafter. Not any fun for sure. Noticed last night during the final dog walk of the day that all of the yards had a nice glare to them, the layer of snow had melted and re-froze several times, so it's a sketchy just walking the dog. LOL The dog had a case of the zoomies on this glazed over snow just a few minutes ago, and busted her azz pretty good so I had to out a stop to that before she broke a leg or worse. Noticed that the neighbor's roof that faces east has a nice "sheen" on it as well from the thaw/freeze cycles as do all the other roofs. Didn't notice any ice dams on the gutters, but shouldn't be a problem for a few more days. Hopefully it will just melt, and not fall or cause any damage to property. Our driveway has turned to solid ice now, can see the concrete color thru the ice, but the paved road in our SD is dry and clear. I can see traffic on the highway about a half mile away moving along pretty good. Made some chili (with beans to start the argument again) yesterday, so we're good for supper for a day or two. LOL Finished off the pot roast last night, the left over veggie soup the night before, so things are moving along well here. LOL

Tuff call, but you say he is upfront with other people when pointing out their shortcomings. You could approach the topic as I'm saying this as a concerned friend, and trying to look out for the kids as well. You just want the best for everybody, but he has to do his fair share, if not more since he's an adult (?), and has kids to support. GL

I got brave (dumb ????) and went to the mailbox, was able to safely/playfully slide down the slight slope on the driveway, and made it back to the house w/o slipping/falling down. The snow on the drive had melted and re-froze so it was/is a sheet of ice with a little bit of snow left on it for a bit of traction. Walked the dog and it's trying to spit some rain right now.

Those treats make the effort very worthwhile IMO.

I have Dish service and Spectrum/charter for internet, the total for both is under $225/mo and no real complaints about either. (No movie channels or sport package extras). Dish signal does go out during heavy rains (not loss of power), internet seldom goes out but does get wonky at times for various reasons but is functioning 99%+ of the time. I've considered going with a streaming service but with Dish, (had Directv before), everything for TV is all in one place, channel selection suits my needs/wants. Press the guide button on the remote and scroll to my hearts content (which frustrates the wife), and I channel hop quite a bit as well. I hate commercials and try like hell to avoid them. I assume you have to close out one app (appletv for example) and open up whatever app you want to want, true or not??? If I'm correct in this assumption, I think it would be a PITA as much as I channel hop. LOL

Way too late to use the leaf blower for me here, the snow has melted a bit and re-froze a couple times, it's just a pretty solid sheet of ice in the back yard. It does crack/give way from my fat butt at times, but then the next step will support my full weight, sounds like a muffled firecracker going off. Driveway is probably the same way, yesterday was garbage day, but no one else in the neighborhood rolled their cans out either, nor have I ventured down to the mailbox. Walking the dog in the back yard is enough adventure for me at these temps. LOL

And the Knoxville area forecast is calling for more "precipitation" for this weekend, a mix of rain, sleet/ snow or whatever depending upon where you are. LOL

I have a dual fuel unit (electric down to 45 and NG below that), the NG part has been working it's backside off, but we are warm and comfy. When it's 46 or so, I wish I had gone straight NG as the electric heat portion is just not cutting it for these two old folks here at this location. LOL We do have and use a NG fireplace for those 46 and up days when we feel chilled. LOL

And here as well. We got power, and coffee, so I'm good right now. LOL

We got 3-5" overall here, it rained a little bit late yesterday, and then turned to snow again after we went to bed. It's 21* now, and I can walk on water (frozen, but hey) but it gives way under my fat butt. It took the dog forever to find the right snowflake to drop her load on this morning, and was having some trouble in getting traction on the frozen surface. LOL I don't need to get out, and won't for a couple days, going to fix a pot roast with taters, carrots and onion in the crock pot soon.

Wife and I stepped outside to smoke and there were a couple of kids sledding (trying to anyways) in a neighbor's yard. Not really enough snow here to give a good go for sledding. I mentioned that I've got some big pieces of cardboard in the shed, and the wife gave me "killer eyes" again. LOL She said I had her permission, and I asked if she would come pick me up, and she just went back inside and said I could crawl back to the house. LOL

Went to the local Ingles a couple hours ago, milk and bread sections were decimated. Only milk left was the "skim milk", one guy picked up a gallon to put it in the buggy, the wife, ugh not skim milk, put it back. LOL The Family Dollar store had several gallon jugs of milk left, didn't look for anything else.

It's been a few years since my last purchase, but I had heard it was 9 months or longer from several people and sources, so I just put a reminder on my calendar to check on it after 8 months or so, I basically forgot about it during the time frame. Don't make it hard on yourself. LOL

IF you need a door, just allow for a couple hinges and a barrel type lock to secure it closed until you need to get inside the crawl space. I have a crawl space access door on the low side of my house, about 30" tall by 36 wide, easy for this old fart to crawl thru when needed after I get down on the ground (hard part ). Two hinges have held it in place with a barrel type lock for almost 20 yrs. It's made out of the wood siding material and painted, so it has held up well to the weather.

My brother has had both replacements, about 10 yrs apart as the Dr/surgeon would not do both at the same time. Brother had about 6 surgeries on each knee prior to the replacements during HS and later (torn cartilage, ligaments, etc), finally got one, then 10 yrs later the other. He did therapy and was tickled to get both done after suffering like he did. He never knew when one knee would "give out" just using the stairs, or walking on uneven ground. SIL had it done a year ago, she needs another but probably won't go thru it due to the after surgery BS she went thru with her self centered DA husband who just left her at home and went back to work the next day after she was discharged from the hospital. Wife went to care for her as he is totally worthless in these types of situations. Plus her entire family does not deal with pain well at all, even though they will endure whatever pain is associated with the issue of needing a replacement procedure. GL with your surgery, recovery, etc.

supposedly the spray foam is not attractive to chewing rodents, but no first hand experience on that. Can you build a treated wood frame and a piece of treated plywood to seal the hole, then insulate with some of the foam board, paint and your done, assuming you have the carpentry skills, etc. Picture one of those crawl space access doors you see on houses, just don't make it where it will open unless you need for it to open.

Congrats, I try to visit eastern OR annually for a sage rat shoot. LOL

I've never seen those particular style of container before, I agree the AL7 lid should just pop off with pressure buildup. The screw on lid on the Unique powder is the type I'm wondering about. Price tags are visible and just a sign of the times unfortunately. Ah, the good ole days. I've got some "more recent" purchases with my hand written notes where a pound of Varget or Bmark were $27/lb. from back in the 2017-20 range. LOL

I sorta kinda think the gunpowder is a "flammable propellent" as well. LOL I only remember seeing those rectangular shaped metal containers with screw on lids similar to what acetone/paint thinner can still be seen in the hardware stores. Those were the one's my ? was inquiring about.