Hi everyone, and welcome to HeartSupport.
I hate that the icy roads are preventing us from helping out our neighbors, so I’m creating this thread.
Post below if you’d like emotional support, and we’ll help you get through this thing.
Hold Fast friends.
I’m cut off from my normal support because all my friends have power outages.
Hello, Southerners!
It’s me, your HeartSupport friend who has lived her 27 years in PA, NY, and NJ.
There are some winter-related tips that I’ve aged with (and clearly have taken for granted). Now, I’m not sure how much of this you already know, so bear with me! I promise I’m not being patronizing:
The Drip - and I don’t mean a cool af shoe game and outfit. I’m talking the faucet. Sink, bathroom, laundry room, etc. If it is freezing, your pipes are freezing. I shit you not (this was even in my apartment lease) leave your faucets on drip. The sound may annoy you BUT having your pipes frozen will annoy you more. I promise.
The Salt. Not your table salt. Put the kosher and finely coursed sea salt down. Im talking the heavy duty, Lowes, Home Depot, ACE is the place your helpful hardware store, outdoor salt. Ice (BLACK ICE IN PARTICULAR) is dangerous. When us East Coast people have snow days, its not usually about the snow. Its about whether the streets have been plowed and salted in time. Icy roads? Sont ne bien pas. Having been in a car that has hydroplaned on ice, my solid advice is (unless you’re getting salt) just stay home. Shovel and salt your sidewalks.
Which brings me to my next point - Watch Your Ass. Yes, so that you don’t fall, but also that your local municipality doesn’t add insult to injury. In Pennsylvania, public sidewalks outside of your property is the home owners responsibility. If you didn’t salt/shovel your sidewalk, and someone slips and falls, they are suing Why Oh You and your home owners insurance. Will someone see you haven’t salted/shoveled and go looking for their golden ticket? It happens. And fines happen. Find out where your responsibility starts and ends.
I’ll be back in a bit to talk about the joys of living on an Emergency Snow Route and why you don’t park your car on the top level of a parking garage.
I am afraid that I may get fired from my current job because of the wheather and for my safety my dad doesn’t want me to go to work which I agree with him but I don’t take firing well he will moat likely tell me to call in tonight from work which will be the third time.
Gotcha Paladin. Where around are you located? Do you mean the Support Wall, or are other support pieces missing?
Ah man- I hear you on that one. Where do you work? And where around do you live? That’s not good of your boss to want you to come in, depending on the roads.
I’m not over there myself but I can say the heat is horrible in my state. But I see these people in the ice storm and I see the news of car crashes and the fatalities and such. My heart goes out for those who are in these crashes and are in the cold still waiting to be pulled out by workers. I hope everyone gets through this the best way possible!
I mean other support pieces missing. My friends have been without power for about a day now and I have been a dip day for about a week.
I work at a hospital as a housekeeper and I haven’t been able to go to work since yesterday.
I just hit someone’s car while trying to drive to the convient store. I barely made it out of the drive way and I slid into someone else’s car I honestly was about to cry I hate being in car accidents. Luckily it was just a dent and nothing too serious and the owner was okay but I will have to help my dad pay for it.
I still feel so bad about it…
I hear you Paladin. If you were your friends right now, would would you say to you?
I hear you BlackCatAnnie. That must have been so frustrating and nerve wracking to hit someone on accident- on top of everything else! I hope you find your way to seeing that it was just an accident, and that you were just trying to go about your day.
Hey southern friends, midwestern folk checking in! I see we have the advice of dripping faucets already so that’s definitely good!
First I want to say it sucks dealing with this the way you all are. I’m sorry things are going the way they are and I wish I could offer more than simple advice and some encouragement.
So here’s a little advice from someone who’s live in the cold a few months a year all their life!
Walk like a Penguin! Seriously, that sounds goofy but when you’re walking on ice walk like a Penguin. Keep your weight more forward and your arms out a bit at your sides, then waddle instead of taking normal steps. It feels strange, but it will help you from slipping on the ice.
If you’re without power and are concerned about your food going bad in the your fridge, try to keep it closed as much as possible. It will keep things cold longer than you expect. If you’re worried it won’t be enough, you could take some baking sheets/pans and pack it with very densely packed snow, then put it on the top shelf in your fridge. It kind of acts like ice packs and the cold will flow down to keep food safe. Past that, if you have a safe spot for it outside can become your fridge. Snow is cold, outside is cold! Stick some stuff in the snow or a cooler outside in the snow.
Layers on layers on layers! It’s not comfortable, but if you don’t have a lot of winter clothes put on layers. Two hoodies instead of one, sweat pants under jeans, a few pairs of socks. Especially if you’re going outside. Frost bite happens fast and unexpectedly so try to keep yourself bundled.
Don’t give up you guys! It SUCKS right now, back in 2008 (or 2009 I don’t remember exactly) we had an ice storm, followed by snow, followed by more ice on top of it and most of my area ended up without power for over a week. But, we all got through it! Please keep yourself as warm as you can, reach out for help if you need it, check for places around you that are offering a warm spot to charge your phone or get a hot meal if you need to. Communities will come together more than you could imagine during a time like this.
I’m thinking about you all down there and sending you all as much love and encouragement as I can muster!
You can make a space heater with a couple bricks, some tea light candles, and a terracotta pot! I have not personally tried this, but some good friends of mine are using these and they said it’s working extremely well!
I would tell them I have a really bad day and I need help. I haven’t been able to stop self harming and I just want to feel okay.
Gotcha Paladin.
But what would your friends say to you? To encourage and support you?
Also, do you have a copy of our book Rewrite?
They probaly say to me to try to stay calm or something I don’t know. And no I don’t have the book Rewrite
Praying for Texas. I don’t have much to offer advice wise, but I will check on this thread as often as I can
Would love to have posted during this storm but power keeps going out and I lose connection, my only support is online and my sanity
