*&^%##! ice!

[AllieBaba]

This morning I checked my horses' water on the way to work...I've been chopping ice since the cold snap started, what, 10 days ago? Anyway, both containers finally froze solid so I bought another, and then it iced up so there was just a little cone of water in the middle, and to chop the hard ice on the sides is to risk poking holes in the water containers (I've done that many times, thank you).

So this morning, I went to check, and sure enough, I was able to chop to the little bit of water, which isn't enough for both horses to drink their fill, and went to use the hose, which though I drain it carefully and religiously managed to get enough water somewhere in it to make it useless. So I put the hose in my rig to thaw and raced to the hardware store to get a bucket and the only buckets they had were these little tiny ones, so I was like okay, I guess I'll use the tiny buckets to fill what space there is available in the big container, and leave the little bucket with water out and that can hold them until tonight, when I'll lug a huge, ice-filled water container into my car, to my house, into the house, to thaw.

But the hardware store owner said "you're a good customer, you can have this one" and gave me one of those industrial buckets that things like pickles and macaroni salad come in (he'd used it to mix something in). Thank goodness, he saved my bacon. So I left the big container as it was, knowing the horses would drink it down, and I'd be able to more easily carry it to my car and house, because instead of being completely full of ice, it would only have the ice along the sides and bottoms (inches of it).

It worked, I filled up the pickle bucket and the little bucket, and left the big tub...when I got off work they'd drunk all the water, I was able to dump the tub upside down and bounced it and the ice came out, and the pickle bucket gets put aside until the next time. I filled the big tub a little more than halfway, hopefully they'll drink most of it, so I won't have so much ice build up.

Winter's a bitch with horses. We're supposed to have freezing rain next. Can't WAIT for that. At least there's a barn for them, they will go in there for that. And the creek will start running, for a while, until it finally freezes and I have to start watering again.

The funny thing is the hardware store owner told me when he gave it to me, "I'll let you have this one, but don't tell anyone or I'll get called an asshole." I about died. I wanted to say, oh, never fear, I know I'm considered a much larger asshole than you are in this berg, everyone hates case workers, and 2/3 of the population in this town are on my caseload, but didn't want him to change his mind.

Well, boring for everyone but me I'm sure. But it SUCKED this morning. I was late for work, my receptionist was pissed because I didn't call (no cell phone). And the ice is piling up around the horse's water station. I moved the tub further down because otherwise I'm falling on my ass...it's a solid sheet between the faucet and the fence because I turn on the water and take it over there, and it just covers the drive and ices over, and then there's all the ice I pull out of the buckets (by hand, thank you, in zero degree weather) morning and night.

The fun never ends.

And my house is about 52 degrees. I refuse to buy stove oil because then I have a huge electric bill AND a huge oil bill. I'm going to just get one of those radiators. Right now I'm using my stove and a tiny ceramic heater, and my electric blanket turned up to 10.

Which resulted in me oversleeping and waking up feeling like all the blood in my body was about to burst out the top of my head, like an overheated human thermometer.

 

[Oddball]

Ever considered an immersible heating element for the horse water?

 

[JenyEliza]

Ever considered an immersible heating element for the horse water?

Sure seems like a good solution to me.

Kinda like putting an electric blanket on your engine so it starts in the am....only this is so your horses start.

 

[dilloduck]

This morning I checked my horses' water on the way to work...I've been chopping ice since the cold snap started, what, 10 days ago? Anyway, both containers finally froze solid so I bought another, and then it iced up so there was just a little cone of water in the middle, and to chop the hard ice on the sides is to risk poking holes in the water containers (I've done that many times, thank you).

So this morning, I went to check, and sure enough, I was able to chop to the little bit of water, which isn't enough for both horses to drink their fill, and went to use the hose, which though I drain it carefully and religiously managed to get enough water somewhere in it to make it useless. So I put the hose in my rig to thaw and raced to the hardware store to get a bucket and the only buckets they had were these little tiny ones, so I was like okay, I guess I'll use the tiny buckets to fill what space there is available in the big container, and leave the little bucket with water out and that can hold them until tonight, when I'll lug a huge, ice-filled water container into my car, to my house, into the house, to thaw.

But the hardware store owner said "you're a good customer, you can have this one" and gave me one of those industrial buckets that things like pickles and macaroni salad come in (he'd used it to mix something in). Thank goodness, he saved my bacon. So I left the big container as it was, knowing the horses would drink it down, and I'd be able to more easily carry it to my car and house, because instead of being completely full of ice, it would only have the ice along the sides and bottoms (inches of it).

It worked, I filled up the pickle bucket and the little bucket, and left the big tub...when I got off work they'd drunk all the water, I was able to dump the tub upside down and bounced it and the ice came out, and the pickle bucket gets put aside until the next time. I filled the big tub a little more than halfway, hopefully they'll drink most of it, so I won't have so much ice build up.

Winter's a bitch with horses. We're supposed to have freezing rain next. Can't WAIT for that. At least there's a barn for them, they will go in there for that. And the creek will start running, for a while, until it finally freezes and I have to start watering again.

The funny thing is the hardware store owner told me when he gave it to me, "I'll let you have this one, but don't tell anyone or I'll get called an asshole." I about died. I wanted to say, oh, never fear, I know I'm considered a much larger asshole than you are in this berg, everyone hates case workers, and 2/3 of the population in this town are on my caseload, but didn't want him to change his mind.

Well, boring for everyone but me I'm sure. But it SUCKED this morning. I was late for work, my receptionist was pissed because I didn't call (no cell phone). And the ice is piling up around the horse's water station. I moved the tub further down because otherwise I'm falling on my ass...it's a solid sheet between the faucet and the fence because I turn on the water and take it over there, and it just covers the drive and ices over, and then there's all the ice I pull out of the buckets (by hand, thank you, in zero degree weather) morning and night.

The fun never ends.

And my house is about 52 degrees. I refuse to buy stove oil because then I have a huge electric bill AND a huge oil bill. I'm going to just get one of those radiators. Right now I'm using my stove and a tiny ceramic heater, and my electric blanket turned up to 10.

Which resulted in me oversleeping and waking up feeling like all the blood in my body was about to burst out the top of my head, like an overheated human thermometer.

That shipment of amphetamines finally came in huh ?

 

[JenyEliza]

Oh, and there is NO FUCKING WAY I could do 52 degrees in my house. Uh-uh. Nope. Nothing doing.

I have a Lasko ceramic heater that has a thermostat, remote control and a fan. This little fucker heats our entire 1,400 sf apartment.

Kids are with their dad tonight, so why heat the whole apartment? I just moved the heater to my room and put batteries in the remote so I can turn that on tonight (we're supposed to get down in the 20's). If it gets cold in my room---I just hit the remote control and turn on the space heater. Don't even have to get out of bed.

 

[AllieBaba]

No electricity where my horses are. Well, there is, but it belongs to the neighbors.

 

[Xenophon]

I thought this would be about Vanilla ice.

Happily its not.

 

[AllieBaba]

Oh, and there is NO FUCKING WAY I could do 52 degrees in my house. Uh-uh. Nope. Nothing doing.

I have a Lasko ceramic heater that has a thermostat, remote control and a fan. This little fucker heats our entire 1,400 sf apartment.

Kids are with their dad tonight, so why heat the whole apartment? I just moved the heater to my room and put batteries in the remote so I can turn that on tonight (we're supposed to get down in the 20's). If it gets cold in my room---I just hit the remote control and turn on the space heater. Don't even have to get out of bed.

Unfortunately, all the pipes freeze here when you do that.
Last year, during the cold snap (and I was paying more than $3 per gallon for oil to heat the house, $330 a month heating bill. Electricity to run the fucker $100 instead of the usual $50) all my water was working but I could hear a little water running. In my bathroom.

I finally told my landlord, who had the handyman come by, and he went around to the back of the house...my entire backyard was covered with 2 inches of water & ice. They had to have the poor plumber come out, crawl through that and under the house....my toilet seal was cracked or something, I don't remember.

No, heating only one room is not an option.

 

[AllieBaba]

But my landlady told me the plumber was one cold, frozen mess when he was done. He stopped by her house afterwards, he was soaked to the skin and she said she was actually worried about him. This is a big burly guy in his prime.

And now every day when I pass the plumbing vans on the road, they wave at me. Apparently I'm famous.

 

[JenyEliza]

Oh, and there is NO FUCKING WAY I could do 52 degrees in my house. Uh-uh. Nope. Nothing doing.

I have a Lasko ceramic heater that has a thermostat, remote control and a fan. This little fucker heats our entire 1,400 sf apartment.

Kids are with their dad tonight, so why heat the whole apartment? I just moved the heater to my room and put batteries in the remote so I can turn that on tonight (we're supposed to get down in the 20's). If it gets cold in my room---I just hit the remote control and turn on the space heater. Don't even have to get out of bed.

Unfortunately, all the pipes freeze here when you do that.
Last year, during the cold snap (and I was paying more than $3 per gallon for oil to heat the house, $330 a month heating bill. Electricity to run the fucker $100 instead of the usual $50) all my water was working but I could hear a little water running. In my bathroom.

I finally told my landlord, who had the handyman come by, and he went around to the back of the house...my entire backyard was covered with 2 inches of water & ice. They had to have the poor plumber come out, crawl through that and under the house....my toilet seal was cracked or something, I don't remember.

No, heating only one room is not an option.

Fortunately, living in an apartment this is an option. We have someone above us behind us and next to us, so we only have one corner of the apartment exposed to wind/cold (hard to describe accurately in writing). At any rate, I wouldn't have done this at our old house. But....since we're living in an apartment, why not save the money?

I still have the furnace on....I just have it set lower than I normally would and using the space heater in my room. No point in heating the whole place, when I will spend the majority of the time over the next 12 hours in my room and the kids aren't here.

Our dogs are curled up in the kitchen floor in front of the fridge (they like the warm air coming out from under there). We're going out shortly for the last pee/poop of the night. Woo-hoo!

 

[Samson]

Well, you've given me something else to ponder as I drive MILES, and MILES, AND MILES every week through the vast horse covered stepps of Wyoming: How do those fuckers survive out there when the temps are below zero (as they have been all week long).

I'll ask someone with horses.

Do you atually OWN the horses? I'd like to get them, but then I'd need to purchase several slaves to take care of them, and since emancipation, its been a bitch finding them in any stores.

 

[AllieBaba]

The little ceramic heaters are great. I got one last year, and while it won't keep the house warm, it keeps it above freezing. And I have a weird, convoluted house.

I should add, it's 52 degrees where I'm sitting, which is in the front corner of the house with two windows, one on each wall, and near the front door, which isn't sealed efficiently. The kitchen is balmy. I close off the kids' rooms, they just sleep in my bed with me until I move them later, or move one later. Once they're asleep and toasty, I can open the door to my boys' bedroom and he stays warm enough. My daughter (or son, depending) sleep in my bed with me. Last night it was my boy, he got poked in the eye by his sister the night before, popped a blood vessel and was afraid his eye was going to fall out.

 

[AllieBaba]

Well, you've given me something else to ponder as I drive MILES, and MILES, AND MILES every week through the vast horse covered stepps of Wyoming: How do those fuckers survive out there when the temps are below zero (as they have been all week long).

I'll ask someone with horses.

Do you atually OWN the horses? I'd like to get them, but then I'd need to purchase several slaves to take care of them, and since emancipation, its been a bitch finding them in any stores.

Horses are, evolutionarily speaking, animals of the steppes. Snow doesn't bother them, if it's dry. It's driving freezing rain that ruins them, they need wind breaks and/or shelter for that.

But snow they can handle.

 

[Mr. H.]

Never owned horses, but I rented an old house in the country for 15 years. I feel your pain.

 

[AllieBaba]

Hehe.

I choose this life. I piss and moan, but I love it.

 

[AllieBaba]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmDX0tgONFs[/ame]

 

[JW Frogen]

Is there a market for horsesicles in recessionary America?

 

[Samson]

Is there a market for horsesicles in recessionary America?

I'm reluctant to imagine what part of the horse would be used to manufacture a horsesicle.