quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Yes, although I’m politicking for a night in Indianapolis or something. As it stands we won’t get in to N. Ridgeville until really late and I have to try to get the trailer in to the garage because there is no overnight parking anywhere in town. We have no reason to rush, why push it?

Mrs. Miller isn’t having it. She’s all done with driving and wants to be done with it.

Put your foot down and tell her she is wrong as usual. Who does she think she is?

I’ve been married 45 years. This isn’t the hill to die on.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
There's a feature on most cars that you may not be familiar with. It's labeled "DEFROST".



Wait till the first snow, when you're cuddled up on your sofa with an afghan in front of a fire in your fireplace.

The magic of winter.

Ha! Sharon’s car has heated seats! Never used them before.

They work!

quote:

Originally posted by Lisa:
Probably time for a stop at home depot for a snow shovel and some ice scrapers for your car windows. Oh, and DEFNITELY buy the windshield washer fluid that is good down to -20 degrees....and buy it now, because it gets hard to find mid-winter. The regular stuff freezes up over the winter and you will soon learn that windshield washer fluid is key when driving on salted roads after a storm. (Cars around you kick up salt mist which coats your window - sometimes you need to run the wipers/washer fluid as often as once a minute. And if you have no fluid or your fluid is frozen, you have to pull over and wipe the window with snow from the side of the road every few minutes. Ask me how I know this. Don't be like me.)

Home Depot is on the schedule for tomorrow. Ice scrapers for sure, batteries for the thermostat, weed killer, several other items.

I thought all washer fluid was rated for freezing weather. Guess not! I’ll get some. Also new wiper blades for Sharon’s car.

Forecast for the next two weeks is for fair weather but I know it won’t last. The last two winters have been mild which means either climate change has tempered things or we’re due for the great blizzard of ‘22!

We can turn this into "Help the Millers Survive Their First Winter" thread...

You can hold off on the weed killer till spring. Gardening season is basically over.

AA and AAA batteries are bucks off at Costco right now.

Speaking of batteries, how old are your car batteries? Cold weather will bring out the worst in an old battery. Have you got a jump starter?

Check the sillcocks to see if they need to be shut off and drained before winter.

Ask the neighbors if power outages are a regular feature of the neighborhood. If the power lines are ALL underground, you may experience fewer of them than otherwise.

Biolite has some nice solar-charged lamps and things. The Sunlight 4-pack is good... keep them in a south-facing window and they will always be charged and ready to use. You may remember Biolite as the maker of the wood-fueled phone charger, AKA the Biolite campstove.

Or do you have a bougie whole-house generator and auto-transfer switch?

Is it cold enough there for a block heater?

Skip the standard snow shovels. Get a square-point transfer shovel (D-handle if you prefer) and a sturdy metal grain shovel. In fact, I'd get a transfer shovel to keep in each car.

It doesn't get very cold very often here in the Pacific Northwet. But I've survived a few snowy and icy winters. Winter in Washington DC is much nastier than here.


Heavy duty silicone spray in the car door locks once a month. If the car battery dies, the remote doesn't work.

Welcome home!

Great advice about winter. Would also say have some charged up flashlights for power outages if they are a thing there. There are night lights that have batteries so they stay on when the lights go out and you can maneuver around in the dark.

Like PJ says, get a metal shovel. The plastic are not worth anything.

And instead of weed killer (too late now)..get a bucket of ice melt.

quote:

Originally posted by BeeLady:
Welcome home!

Great advice about winter. Would also say have some charged up flashlights for power outages if they are a thing there. There are night lights that have batteries so they stay on when the lights go out and you can maneuver around in the dark.

Like PJ says, get a metal shovel. The plastic are not worth anything.

And instead of weed killer (too late now)..get a bucket of ice melt.

And make sure it's the kind that doesn't burn doggie paws.

We’re in a newer section of town with underground utilities. The last time power went out here was during hurricane Sandy. That said, I have three generators and I’ve tested each one.

The plumber comes Wednesday to install a battery backup sump pump (and a comfort height commode!) and I bought a $50K insurance rider (remarkably cheap) that covers basement flooding. Car batteries are new, truck has a block heater and heated mirrors. Garage is heated and power is dirt cheap so I can keep it at 40 or so. Truck is 4wd with M/S rated tires.

That said, I’ve been told I worry too much. Kim drives a box stock Hyundai Elantra and has never had an issue. I brought my snow chains but they’re not allowed here.

Get the kind of ice melt that is safe for pets and doesn’t kill your garden.

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Originally posted by wtg:
We can turn this into "Help the Millers Survive Their first Winter...

Lol.

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That said, I’ve been told I worry too much.

I'm the same way. I prefer to think of it as good planning.

Passing along notes based on my decades of living in Chicago, including through several snowstorms that dumped 20+ inches of snow on us. I don't think the weather is all that much different in Cleveland.

We get anywhere from 25 to almost 90 inches of snow in a year. There are some years when I never had to get the snowblower out because the snow was easy to shovel by hand. We used to have a two stage snow blower but it was big and awkward to maneuver on our suburban lot (though it was fun to walk around the whole neighborhood and clean everyone's sidewalks off!). We eventually got rid of it and got a smaller Toro unit a few years ago. Now I think I'd be looking at the Ego battery powered one. My neighbor has one and it works well.

Temps can go as low as 25 below, but that's a record temp and it may only happen every couple of decades. When you have to be careful is when you have an extended period of cold weather, even if it's only a little below zero. Be aware of any water pipes that might be on an outside wall.

My parents never had a heated garage. I used to park my car outside when Mr wtg and I lived in an apartment, and our current garage isn't heated. The only time I had trouble starting the car was when I had an old battery and the temps dropped well below zero.

No special tires for winter. Back in the 70s, studded tires were a thing for a short while but were banned because they tore up the roads too much. Front and four wheel drive cars can get through typical snowfall without much problem. Heck, I even drove my 1978 Datsun B210 in snow. I just had to put a few large bags of cat litter in the back to give me some extra weight over the rear tires. The manual transmission helped as well.

If you have to park outside for some reason and there's freezing rain coming, pull the wipers away from the windshield so they don't freeze to the glass.

And best of all, remember that you're retired. If you wake up in the morning to a thick blanket of snow outside, make yourself a cup of coffee and revel in the fact that you don't *have* to go out until later when the roads have been plowed....

Couple of winter tips for Sam.

As has been pointed out, some salt used for de-icing can irritate a dog's pads. Buy pet-safe salt if you need it for your house, but if you're away from home, be aware that there may be salt down that isn't dog-friendly. Wipe feet off after you get inside.

Snow can accumulate on the hair on a dog's paws, especially between the toes on the underside. It acts almost like matted hair and pulls on the skin. Some dogs will try to pull the snow out and end up irritating the skin even more. We used to gently work the snow out after bringing in the dogs from doing their thing outside. It isn't all snow that does this; it's mostly the type that packs well to make snowballs.

Some dogs are more sensitive to the combination of cold weather and snow than others. Our Newfs went out no matter what the weather, but some of our goldens had tender tootsies. They'd shoot out the door to run around in the cold and a fresh snow cover and then a minute later come to a screeching halt, trying to pick up all their feet at once as they got painfully cold. I've had to go after a dog more than once to pick her up and carry her inside. We did have dog booties that we used on really cold days. Most dogs hate them and then tend to slip off, but they're better than nothing.

For all of us that drive in rain/snow/slush

Aquapel.

Most of us are familiar with Rain-x, which can leave a haze and needs to be reapplied often to work.

Aquapel was in the stores for a short while, but now I can only find it online. It comes as a little felt applicator that you snap the insides to allow the liquid to soak the pad. Apply to a clean window (pick a warm day this time of year) and then take the time to go over and over the window with paper towels to buff it off. About $10/treatment?

It stays on for at least 6 months and longer in some areas. I won't drive without it. The heavier the rain, the more the water just beads up and rolls off if the car is moving.

And no, I don't have anything to do with the company!

Of course if you don't have to go out - being retired, that is better!

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Yes, although I’m politicking for a night in Indianapolis or something. As it stands we won’t get in to N. Ridgeville until really late and I have to try to get the trailer in to the garage because there is no overnight parking anywhere in town. We have no reason to rush, why push it?

Mrs. Miller isn’t having it. She’s all done with driving and wants to be done with it.

Put your foot down and tell her she is wrong as usual. Who does she think she is?

I’ve been married 45 years. This isn’t the hill to die on.

And this is the wisdom that has kept you married 45 years. Bravo.