oh yeah oops thats what i meant

There's a weird amount of egyptian themed mausoleums at homewood cemetery. No idea what that's about. Lots of mausoleums, generally - not something all cemeteries have. Some of the epithets are pretty wild, too.

Thanks for all these tips - I hope they help other people too! So far, I still have power and water (and even internet!) but that could all change quite quickly. Keeping everything plugged in and charged, for sure, and water bottles topped off. I have plastic tarps and stuff that I can tape over the windows more easily than a blanket, if that works as well?

you as well!

hopefully your power will stay on. there may be ways to check that without being there - your router might be one. Nextdoor might be another, as much as I'm loathe to send ppl that way. if the power is out for a while you can reconsider what to do. I hope things work out for you and the kitties!

are you willing to bring one over and hook it up to my apartment in the next 4 hours? sweet!

I said so because of the potential of power loss, which is why i specified electric reliant heat. Gusts over 60mph plus ice means a lot of the city is at least at risk for power outage, and when the power goes, so does electric and some oil heat. If the power stays on, I'm sure cats can do a few days, and the pipes are unlikely to burst anywhere that would cause dangerous flooding for the cats. But if electric heat is all you have, and there's a risk of power outage, that's something to consider. That's why I said that.

yeah for that bus the difference was seconds. If there hadn't been a snow delay called, there may have been school buses and way more commuters. if it had happened a few hours later, the bridge would have been full. If it had happened on a different day in the afternoon, you could have a crushed after school running club underneath as well.

I have heard several different stories like the one above, people who are usually there or would have been there at that time of day, and didn't on a whim, or because of the snow, or because they were being lazy.

It's truly remarkable no one was killed. The couple in the car that were pulled to safety had some gnarly injuries, but this could have been dozens dead, easily.

a little late to get one for this storm though. i talked my mom into buying one a while ago so we could spend time outside for covid reasons, but she took it back with her. i feel better knowing have it at least even if its not meant yo get as bad where they live.

if we lose power here maybe ill ask neighbors on next door or something but ill put it on my list of things to get when i have the money for the future.

do you have any suggestions for past last minute? im googling how to boil water with tealights.... so thats where im at

oh i had no idea! well then, same question applies for that too. Though if you have a gas stove I think you can at least boil water and food and keep yourself warmer that way - though absolutely do NOT try to heat your house with it, that's either going to cause poisoning or explosions or both. But you can use it to fill hot water bottles and keep yourself warmer.

I'm also worried because the heat is pretty much the only thing thats gonna keep pipes from exploding, too.

I'm not sure there's a non distressing or potentially distressing option here, unfortunately. You could try to see if there's a place they could stay that has openings - i grew up with dogs, though so I don't know if there's a kennel equivalent. but that'd be distressing too. I'd suggest looking for a reputable pet sitter who is willing to talk to you about contingencies, but if you want to leave now, its a little late for that.

Yes, its distressing to spend the time in your room, but if they have you, toys they trust, and a little box, you can at least know they'd be safe. That'd be my choice, if my parents were willing to let me do that. I suspect parents will understand that you made this choice because you wanted to be sure you were there for the holidays and will do what they can to accommodate.

But again, I don't have cats, so I'm not sure how these things work that well. Best of luck. Hopefully you won't lose power either way while you are out of the house. I suggest preparing your place best you can just in case, cats or know, which means dripping the faucets and making sure everything is as sealed as it can be. Also, maybe empty the fridge/move it to the freezer. Annoyingly, even if your house dips quite cold, your fridge can still spoil. But none of those things matter as much as your safety.

i assume taking them with is not an option? i dont have pets so i dont know the pet networks here and if nextdoor or fiverr or something is a good place to check. itd be useful to know if your power goes out regardless and have a plan. sorry i cant help more.

but tree branches are such USEFUL power line support structures! /sarcasm

What are people who only have electric heat supposed to do? This is a genuine question. Other than leave the faucets dripping and make a blanket fort, of course - those are already the plans.

Can you get someone to catsit? Do you have non-electric heat? There's going to be wind and then it will get cold enough that your cats will not be okay with just blankets. You could also have burst pipes. If you have propane or oil heating, and you have winterized your place, and especially if you have someone who can gear up and check on them? Or better yet, can you leave them with someone else? If your heat goes out over those days, your cats will not be warm enough. I don't know what you have set up in terms of litter boxes or if youve done this before with them.

the one protected walkway I think is supposed to also be for bikes? i'm just excited they bothered with a single protected walk way at all

I absolutely still get chills thinking about how bad that collapse could have been had it been a different day or a different time. i'm not one to call things miracles but this feels damn close

if they actually double check things late next week after it ices, drops, and goes back up and rains again maybe they can catch any similar problems before they go unnoticed for years and almost kill dozens of people.

It is going to be stress tested on weather fast, too. I hope after we go from 40 to 0 tomorrow and then from 0 back to 40 on wednesday they get crews out there to see if they can see anything, just in case. I'm excited for the protected sidewalk.

Well, that's irresponsible. Especially if there are going to be any kids there, as our pediatric ers are not in the best of shape. It's wild how people's point of view has changed so dramatically. Also if people are flying into the US, if they have a flight back, you're giving them some covid to share with the plane.

You sound responsible enough to test and isolate when you get back, even with the n95, but that's probably what one should do.