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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: redrider90 on February 14, 2015, 07:43:15 PM
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I know you all in the northeast are getting hammered. I live deep in the woods in NC. We are surrounded by big time trees and getting hammered with 45 MPH wind gusts. Stuff is coming down all over the place. On top of that I have a new small generator that is not ready for prime time. And not to mention I took some very strong new meds today that have knocked me down for the count. We got the stove stuffed and enough in the house to keep it going all night if we loose power. Right now it is 51 degrees with 16F in the morning. Lights are flickering.
BTW Grandfather mountain in NC is gusting at 90 MPH.
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If you get this before the power goes down -- hunker down, and good luck!
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I know you all in the northeast are getting hammered. I live deep in the woods in NC. We are surrounded by big time trees and getting hammered with 45 MPH wind gusts. Stuff is coming down all over the place. On top of that I have a new small generator that is not ready for prime time. And not to mention I took some very strong new meds today that have knocked me down for the count. We got the stove stuffed and enough in the house to keep it going all night if we loose power. Right now it is 51 degrees with 16F in the morning. Lights are flickering.
BTW Grandfather mountain in NC is gusting at 90 MPH.
It's gusting 60 MPH here in Central Virginia, and I live in the noisiest house ever when the wind blows. Current has been on and off, no way it's staying on all night so I'm off to bank the fire and go to bed while I have light and hot running water. Branches coming down, trees bending way over, outdoor furniture etc tumbling everywhere.
Miserable night. I'll put the chainsaw in the truck when I head out in the morning, I'll need it to get anywhere away from here ....
Lannis
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Lannis, Keep warm and pretend it is the VA rally from a couple of years ago. Will look forward to your future posts.
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Hang in there, Harvey. There are a couple thousand houses without power all around my immediate area, but for some reason it hasn't quit here. You know I'll be OK if it does go out though.
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Similar high winds. Power fading here, too, but still on.
Should be interesting in the a.m. as some mighty strange noises and banging going on outside. Probably going to find some neighbors' patio furniture here or wheelbarrow ... and closest folks are ¼ mile away.
Bill
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Not to mention the -30F windchill in the Boone area.
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Okay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrvkHAxnjzI
Btw, it was a bit gusty today. Wind blew down power line to my town and we were blacked out about 12 hours.
That's okay, when my little hottie got home from work we just went to Hawi which was upstream of the power break,
And had a great mexican dinner.
Hope you enjoyed the song.
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Right now we have a Jack London short story outside the house. It took a bit to shovel out the door to the chicken coop, and when I finished there my footsteps had disappeared.
Early today I walked down to get a paper, before the wind got going. Now my driveway is waist deep in snowdrifts. If you've seen my driveway you will understand why I'm waiting a bit before clearing it out.
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Lannis, Keep warm and pretend it is the VA rally from a couple of years ago. Will look forward to your future posts.
;D Days like today are why I never complain about the heat. I'd rather be "too hot", than have a half-dozen layers on and still be cold!
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Everyone survived?
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Lannis, Keep warm and pretend it is the VA rally from a couple of years ago. Will look forward to your future posts.
Couple of trees down in the driveway to move, a bit of roof lifted up, and everything that was loose outside tumbled around the yard or down in the woods, but overall it wasn't bad. Power blinked off a few times as trees bent over in the wind and shorted wires, but the reclosers operated as planned (I assume) and things were still humming in the morning.
Woodpile is going down fast! Need to find some dry deadfall and get it bucked, split, and stacked ....
Lannis
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Everyone survived?
Yep we did but right now in the midst of a snow, ice/sleet, freezing rain event. Later tonight is when the bad stuff hits. Warm air aloft comes in and starts raining. It could be not bad or it could knock out power everywhere. They still are not sure. Only maybe 5 total inches but freezing rain starts after midnight and goes on until morning. Those in VA have all snow and those in the Southern NC have all rain. We are stuck in the middle. Right now it is sleet and may it stay that way all night.
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Yep we did but right now in the midst of a snow, ice/sleet, freezing rain event. Later tonight is when the bad stuff hits. Warm air aloft comes in and starts raining. It could be not bad or it could knock out power everywhere. They still are not sure. Only maybe 5 total inches but freezing rain starts after midnight and goes on until morning. Those in VA have all snow and those in the Southern NC have all rain. We are stuck in the middle. Right now it is sleet and may it stay that way all night.
Yep, still up trying to keep the path to the woodpile clear .... about a foot of snow and coming down hard.
I've been laying on the couch in front of the living room fire reading Jack London stories, trying to imagine laying under a spruce-bough lean-to wrapped in a rabbit-skin robe in front of a fire made of pine-wood I chopped while setting up camp, having been "on the trail" for two weeks and the food almost gone for me and the dogs, and two hundred miles of unbroken trail ahead ... Glad I never lusted after the lure of gold!
Lannis
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Jack London stories --
Ever read "Burning Daylight"
Available on Gutenberg e-books.
It's got a few 'cold' situations in it.
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How did it turn out for you, Harvey? Here it was all either snow or ice pellets, so none of it stuck to the trees, and we never lost power. I did go out about 11 PM and knock the stuff off the canopies we have over boats and wood piles, so they wouldn't collapse if we got much more. After I did that, the ice pellets rolled off and never built up again.
Edit: I see the Duke Power outage map shows no outages around your house, so it looks like you're OK.
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Jack London stories --
Ever read "Burning Daylight"
Available on Gutenberg e-books.
It's got a few 'cold' situations in it.
"Martin Eden" and "Burning Daylight" are two of those Jack London stories that I think he thinks are a bit autobiographical .... the towering strong Man of the Wilderness who is a king in the wild North, but despised by the warmer world, and finally makes it as a huge success, but too late ....
London's chapter about railroad freight costs, and how the railroads conspired to keep themselves rich and everyone at low wage rates by taking advantage of their monopoly, is a pretty good explanation of why raw capitalism needs a few shackles on it if it's not to get out of hand. Unless, of course, like Burning Daylight, you can go to the board room with a .45 in your hand and have your way with the robber barons ... !
Lannis
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How did it turn out for you, Harvey? Here it was all either snow or ice pellets, so none of it stuck to the trees, and we never lost power. I did go out about 11 PM and knock the stuff off the canopies we have over boats and wood piles, so they wouldn't collapse if we got much more. After I did that, the ice pellets rolled off and never built up again.
Edit: I see the Duke Power outage map shows no outages around your house, so it looks like you're OK.
Nary a flicker in the lights. It was much worse in the wind storm the other night. It was first snow and the all sleet. Virtually dodged a bullet on this. Woke this am and in the breaking sunlight between clouds I could not make out one flicker of ice on the trees.
Now I still need the 4X4 to get up my 1/10 mile incline. You have been here twice Jim. What do think the angle is on my driveway? 30 degrees???
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;D Days like today are why I never complain about the heat. I'd rather be "too hot", than have a half-dozen layers on and still be cold!
I'm with you...screw the cold!! ;-T
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You have been here twice Jim. What do think the angle is on my driveway? 30 degrees???
Three times, I think. Once to pick up the distributor, once when I brought the carb intake boots, and once to investigate the heating oil situation. I must not be overly annoying if you underestimate my visits. 30° might be a bit on the high side. It may hit 20% or 30% in spots. The Internet tells me that 30% is about 17° ;D
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Three times, I think. Once to pick up the distributor, once when I brought the carb intake boots, and once to investigate the heating oil situation. I must not be overly annoying if you underestimate my visits. 30° might be a bit on the high side. It may hit 20% or 30% in spots. The Internet tells me that 30% is about 17° ;D
You are quite correct about the angle. I just went up the get mail and took my trusty angle finder with me. Max is 15 degrees. So you are dead on Jim.
Damn it sure seems like more! When I was running regularly on my trails back here I had my own version of heartbreak hill that started down on the river and ended at the crest.
Close to 0.15 mile from river bottom to crest and it sure felt like more.
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No doubt, a 15° slope is very steep. It just doesn't look that way in print. :D
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No worries,
Al Gore predicted that Global Warming by now would be in full effect. Be patient, soon you will be roasting. :pop
Bill
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I'm with you...screw the cold!! ;-T
If you try to screw the cold, you might freeze your didgeridoo.
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If you try to screw the cold, you might freeze your didgeridoo.
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/cold%20horn_zpsxokktoam.jpg)
I hate when that happens! >:(
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Penderic, you've got a good internet connection and waaaaaaay too much time on your hands.
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No worries,
Al Gore predicted that Global Warming by now would be in full effect. Be patient, soon you will be roasting. :pop
Bill
I read a great science paper on the subject this week.Well they have identified why Boston and the N.E. is getting so much snow. The water temperature is much higher than normal which is warming the air. Very cold air does not produce massive snow falls. Cold air is dry and cannot hold much moisture. So all the warm ocean water makes for an increase in snow.
So I am not taking about climate change now just the water temps off the coast of the N.E. This is not a political statement and has nothing to do with Al Gore. ;D ;D
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I read a great science paper on the subject this week.Well they have identified why Boston and the N.E. is getting so much snow. The water temperature is much higher than normal which is warming the air. Very cold air does not produce massive snow falls. Cold air is dry and cannot hold much moisture. So all the warm ocean water makes for an increase in snow.
So I am not taking about climate change now just the water temps off the coast of the N.E. This is not a political statement and has nothing to do with Al Gore. ;D ;D
It depends. We have an ocean effect here and no snow. +52 and light overcast at midnight.
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And over on the other side of the big ditch we in Queensland in the land of oz have 2 tropical cyclones, one of which is predicted to hit Brisbane, a city of roughly 2 million people. Goes with the 88 to 90 deg f temps and warm oceans of roughly 80 deg f, up to 1 1/2 + feet of rain in the next 2 days oh and a big monsoon trough to kick it all off.
A bit of cooler weather is starting to look appealing.
To those of you up to your armpits in snow, stay warm, stay safe.
Cheers
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After using my well water for an extended period, bathing, crapper, and dishes I checked the water temp with a refrigerator thermometer.
Out of the tap after running it 15/20 minutes it was 40 degrees. Don't know it some of the cooling is the distance from the well to the house or not.
The "well house" is in a concrete like bunker underground and covered with a tin roof. It you didn't know it was there you would think it was just tin laying on the ground. But I was running the water at 60 PSI for at least 15 minutes. My well is 120 feet deep and it is maybe 125 feet from the house.
Do not know how far down the pipe is buried so I wonder if I am picking up cold from the ground.
Think it possible that water temp would be that cold in the well.
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I'd guess your well water is around 50° to 55° down at the 120' depth. That's about what I get here, summer and winter. It's common for the water pipe from a well to be buried only a few inches from the surface in this area.
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I'd guess your well water is around 50° to 55° down at the 120' depth. That's about what I get here, summer and winter.
It's common for the water pipe from a well to be buried only a few inches from the surface in this area.[/b]
Which is why I am running water in my shop and the house all night, all day for the next few days.
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Let me just jump in here (as I have nothing better to do) , and say the good news is your water is running. Im thinking this is bottom of winter here. Last year was killer for frozen everything.
(http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s91/Woodrow_07/HPIM1434.jpg) (http://s150.photobucket.com/user/Woodrow_07/media/HPIM1434.jpg.html)
Woodrow
-10F here in Norhern Wisconsin
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Three times, I think. Once to pick up the distributor, once when I brought the carb intake boots, and once to investigate the heating oil situation. I must not be overly annoying if you underestimate my visits. 30° might be a bit on the high side. It may hit 20% or 30% in spots. The Internet tells me that 30% is about 17° ;D
Dumb question and slightly off topic, does anyone know what a road sign means when it says "8% Grade Ahead"?
Does that mean the grade is 8% at its max, or is it 8% average?
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Let me just jump in here (as I have nothing better to do) , and say the good news is your water is running. Im thinking this is bottom of winter here. Last year was killer for frozen everything.
Woodrow
-10F here in Norhern Wisconsin
My biggest fear from the ice storm 2 days ago that thankfully petered out into snow and sleet was loosing my power for an extended period (got wood heat) and not able to keep the well running constantly Wed thru Friday.
The next 2 nights are going to keep all the plumbers oh so very busy.
I think we going to be close to 0 Thursday night which in the 27 years I have lived here I have never seen.
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If the power does go out for more than a a few hours , and you never know, is it a option to go down into the water bunker room and drain pipes back ?
Then if and when the power comes back at lest you have dry unfrozen pipes to fire up .
At least your ready for the worst case . At my house when we feel there is a good chance of being out of power
I fill up the bathtub with water , and a few 5 gal buckets . Also need a supply of beer, Kerosine and whatnot.
I also have wood stove heat .
Today its cold but tonight its going to be Gadzooks cold , if that air makes it down south it could freeze up a lot of water pipes .
Oof-Da
Woodrow
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I think we going to be close to 0 Thursday night which in the 27 years I have lived here I have never seen.
Supposed to be -13 degF here tomorrow night, which we're generally not really equipped for! Another night to be up feeding stove and running water ..... !
Lannis
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I notice Vasco de Gamma conspicuously absent from the commentary. Do they have weather in Oz?
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Supposed to be -13 degF here tomorrow night, which we're generally not really equipped for! Another night to be up feeding stove and running water ..... !
Lannis
The predictions have gotten less severe lately. A few days ago they were saying something like -10 here tomorrow night, and now WRAL's weather page is predicting 4°F for the coldest night this week. That site shows Appomattox having a low of 0° tomorrow, so maybe it won't be quite as bad as you think.
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If the power does go out for more than a a few hours , and you never know, is it a option to go down into the water bunker room and drain pipes back ?
Then if and when the power comes back at lest you have dry unfrozen pipes to fire up .
****
Oof-Da
Woodrow
I drain the water from the whole system, turn off the well pump, and empty the toilet tanks whenever we leave the house for more than few days in cold weather. Takes a few minutes to do and undo. Presume it's worthwhile; even if not, a false sense of peace of mind helps ... until reality hits. ;)
We have a 17Kw (almost) whole-house generator, but when, as right now, the propane people guessed wrong and cannot keep up with deliveries -- we are at a "very concerning" level just now -- I worry about what would happen if we run out of propane.
Maybe you or others here know what happens -- besides the obvious power loss --when the propane tank hits empty. Is there harm to anything mechanical, or is there an issue with an "air gap" in the line when refilled, restarted, etc.? If so, should/can one do anything preemptive to prevent or mitigate damage?
C'mon spring. This sucks. :'(
I notice Vasco de Gamma conspicuously absent from the commentary. Do they have weather in Oz?
No. ;D
Bill
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--when the propane tank hits empty. Is there harm to anything mechanical, or is there an issue with an "air gap" in the line when refilled, restarted, etc.? If so, should/can one do anything preemptive to prevent or mitigate damage?
Bill
I don't know of anything bad happening from running out. I have a propane powered fork lift and I normally run it on a tank until it quits, and then swap tanks. In fact, unlike gasoline engines, there is no extra cranking to start it after a full tank is connected.
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I don't know of anything bad happening from running out. I have a propane powered fork lift and I normally run it on a tank until it quits, and then swap tanks. In fact, unlike gasoline engines, there is no extra cranking to start it after a full tank is connected.
Thanks. Very helpful.
Kathi is always impressed with what folks know here.
The other day, she wondered aloud about something, then suggested I post it here as a question.
I didn't. ;)
Bill
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You're certainly welcome, Bill.
Now I can let my imagination run wild, trying to think of Kathi's question. :D
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I drain the water from the whole system, turn off the well pump, and empty the toilet tanks whenever we leave the house for more than few days in cold weather. Takes a few minutes to do and undo. Presume it's worthwhile; even if not, a false sense of peace of mind helps ... until reality hits. ;)
We have a 17Kw (almost) whole-house generator, but when, as right now, the propane people guessed wrong and cannot keep up with deliveries -- we are at a "very concerning" level just now -- I worry about what would happen if we run out of propane.
Maybe you or others here know what happens -- besides the obvious power loss --when the propane tank hits empty. Is there harm to anything mechanical, or is there an issue with an "air gap" in the line when refilled, restarted, etc.? If so, should/can one do anything preemptive to prevent or mitigate damage?
C'mon spring. This sucks. :'(
No. ;D
Bill
On modern propane heating systems the computer takes over and will reset over and over trying to fire the burners. Eventually any air would pass through and it will work.
On the older unit with a pilot light you hold down button and keep fire on it until it lights. Are there any old pilot light burners out there?
If you have a gas cooking stove just light a match and turn on the valve to get gas in the pipes flowing.
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On modern propane heating systems the computer takes over and will reset over and over trying to fire the burners. Eventually any air would pass through and it will work.
On the older unit with a pilot light you hold down button and keep fire on it until it lights. Are there any old pilot light burners out there?
If you have a gas cooking stove just light a match and turn on the valve to get gas in the pipes flowing.
Thanks.
Happy to report that the cavalry arrived today just as we feared the hostiles were going to get through our final protective fires. ;D
(http://bill-and-kathi.smugmug.com/photos/i-xKTrJqj/0/L/i-xKTrJqj-L.jpg)
(http://bill-and-kathi.smugmug.com/photos/i-GfCQ7ZN/0/L/i-GfCQ7ZN-L.jpg)
In actuality, we still had just shy of a 20% cushion, but, as I am a nervous Nellie and the temps and the possible need for the propane-fired generator, I was still worried. ::)
BTW, to compare for anyone interested in propane-pricing in this area, at least, this delivery was $2.349 a gallon. I cannot say -- without hurling :'( -- how many gallons went in. But, it was last delivered to full on 27 Dec. Really not bad, IMO, considering, tho we also have to factor in some our electric bill for that period as we have made some use of the oil-filled-radiator spot heaters.
On balance, very happy. Hard to buy peace of mind. Mine is much better now.
Now to the next thing to obsess over. :D
Bill
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Thanks.
Happy to report that the cavalry arrived today just as we feared the hostiles were going to get through our final protective fires. ;D
In actuality, we still had just shy of a 20% cushion, but, as I am a nervous Nellie and the temps and the possible need for the propane-fired generator, I was still worried. ::)
BTW, to compare for anyone interested in propane-pricing in this area, at least, this delivery was $2.349 a gallon. I cannot say -- without hurling :'( -- how many gallons went in. But, it was last delivered to full on 27 Dec. Really not bad, IMO, considering, tho we also have to factor in some our electric bill for that period as we have made some use of the oil-filled-radiator spot heaters.
On balance, very happy. Hard to buy peace of mind. Mine is much better now.
Now to the next thing to obsess over. :D
Bill
I just had my first fill this winter. I have a small 320 gallon tank plus the shop. I paid $3.10 gallon. That is freaking crazy high. When I look at NC State website for propane it is showing $2.75/gal.
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This wood is gone.
I had another cord by the front door when this picture was taken.
I am down 1/3 cord left at the front door.
(http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t652/redrider901/DSCF9640_zps2f1ff99c.jpg) (http://s1318.photobucket.com/user/redrider901/media/DSCF9640_zps2f1ff99c.jpg.html)
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Harvey, you probably saw this photo, but here's the wood we had at the start of winter. What's under the 10' x 20' canopy is gone now. Luckily we made a "reserve pile" that's under a white tarp at the far end, and we haven't quite gotten to that yet.
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/triplejim/Misc/log_pile_2014_zps01952c8f.jpg)
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Do you have water today, Harvey? I was relieved when I found that I do. I must have buried the pipe deeply enough after all. When I put in the pipe and power wire, I ran an extra wire in case I came up with a use in the future. After having the pipe freeze at the well head one winter when we had a 10° low, wired it to an outlet, and have a 75 watt lamp plugged in. When it's very cold, I plug in the end at the house.
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Do you have water today, Harvey? I was relieved when I found that I do. I must have buried the pipe deeply enough after all. When I put in the pipe and power wire, I ran an extra wire in case I came up with a use in the future. After having the pipe freeze at the well head one winter when we had a 10° low, wired it to an outlet, and have a 75 watt lamp plugged in. When it's very cold, I plug in the end at the house.
Yep we have water!! Yea. Shop is running also. I know for a fact the water line to the shop is shallow cause when I had the ditch dug deeper in my drive to keep it from washing over the road grader dug the pipe up!!