You know you have a problem when...

[nobozos]

With all the talk of Snowmageddon 2011, I found myself yesterday pondering what would happen if we lost power in our house. I thought, "No big deal. My parents live in an apartment in a Senior Citizen's high rise with an emergency generator. They will have heat, and my family can go there."

I was pretty satisfied with that, until I realized that I've got guitars that would likely not survive the cold. I wasn't prepared for the possiblity of having to explain to my wife why of all the things in the house I could take, the guitars were the first thing I think of to grab.

So,

I went to Menard's and picked up 2 boxes of fire logs, and an indoor safe portable LP heater with 6 cans of LP, along with a new fire extinguisher.

That's right. I decided that we would stay at the house to keep my guitars warm. Now, my wife doesn't know that. She just thinks I'm being overly-prepared for keeping the family safe.

I'm a dick.

 

[mikeller]

Yeah, well, I have pondered the same thing and sorta have a contingency plan to keep the guitars warm too...

 

[Headstock]

Snowmaggedon. Hilarious. Our local forecaster has warned us that we need to be prepared for 3 to 12 inches of snow. Wow bud... thanks for narrowing it down. Their map had a line literally through the dot that represented our city. Top half said 3-6, bottom half said 6-12. I can drive across the city in 10 minutes.


Course with that LP and the heater you'll need to worry about burning the house down which presents a whole other set of problems.

 

[nobozos]

Well, I have a fireplace in the basement for burning the logs, and the lp heater is rated as safe for indoor use. I have carbon monoxide detectors, so we should be fine.

Oh BTW, the storm is pretty bad. It's not been insane yet. That's supposed to happen tonight into tomorrow. We haven't got an amazing amount of snow yet, but the wind is making he snow we have so far seem like more than it is.

 

[agt]

Best wishes for you guys and your families ... and your guitars.

From someone who lives in Southern California but spent 7 winters in the midwest during graduate school.

 

[GWDavis28]

Well we got hammered with yet another 12-18 inches of snow and we are about to get hammered with what you are going thru, sleet, rain, ice. I'd say this season we've had about 6 feet of snow. I don't remember this much snow since the Blizzard of 78, everything was shut down for a week.

Hang in there and ride it out. Glenn |B)

 

[Mpcoluv]

You guys have all the fun.
It was over 50 here today with a slight drizzle....

 

[MikeVt]

I'm not sure I understand the 'my guitars won't survive the cold' part. Don't we ship them across country in unheated trucks? Don't gigging musicians travel to cold areas? I can see where humidity or the lack thereof could be a problem, but as long as the guitar is warmed slowly, why would cold ruin it?

Mike

 

[Miqueas92]

"I'm a dick".
Yes you are!!
And, all the rest of us to, as we would all do basically the same thing!!

Mick

 

[DrGonzo5150]

Haha it's pretty funny how much we all think alike...
We had a cyclone warning two days ago and my first thought was "where am i stashing my guitars" haha.

Hope you all remain safe and warm

 

[ScoobySteve]

Does your lady check your browsing history?

Just sayin'.

 

[guitfiddle]

Great thread. Lots of chuckles in here. I'm in the great white North (from Newfoundland), and can proudly say I've never lost a guitar to snow. We got a crapload hitting us again today, so hopefully I'm telling the same tale tomorrow.

 

[beej]

Don't we ship them across country in unheated trucks?

Exactly. Guitars will be just fine in the cold. There's advice about warming them up slowly, but to be honest I never even do that and I haven't seen finish cracks.

And speaking of Snowmageddon ... not quite the 30 cms they'd predicted here either. On the plus side, fear kept all the jackasses off the road this morning so it was an easy drive to work.

 

[five7]

guitars are more sensitive to cold than basses? Good reason to sleep with them!

 

[nobozos]

Exactly. Guitars will be just fine in the cold. There's advice about warming them up slowly, but to be honest I never even do that and I haven't seen finish cracks.

If you say that's the case, then I believe you, but why chance it?

Yeah, the storm wasn't as bad as all the "experts" were predicting. Don't get me wrong, it sucks, and my street is still impassible unless you have a 4x4, but it's not the snow storm of the century that we were all told to expect. Nothing like the blizzard of '79 here in central Illinois.

 

[nobozos]

Does your lady check your browsing history?

Just sayin'.

She doesn't scare me. (yes she does.)

 

[browndog]

I was expecting to wake up this morning and think I’m in the movie “The day after tomorrow”.

I was extremely let down. I didn’t even need the snow blower. Weather forecasters.

 

[nobozos]

I needed a snowblower, but mine was insufficient to handle the depth and weight of the snow. Fortunately, my neighbor's snowblower apparently has a Hemi, so he came down and got my driveways.

After he was finished, he showed me that he had blown the snow down into the window wells of my basement windows, and filled them with snow. He also covered my dryer vent. Since I had just got done shoveling my sidewalk, and 4 of my elderly neighbor's sidewalks, I didn't have the energy to dig out the dryer vent and windows.

Luckily, my daughter (11) and our neighbor kids were playing outside. What do I do?

"Hey guys, who wants to play the funnest snow game ever? Okay, we're gonna play Avalanche rescue team. There's two families trapped under the avalanche in this hotel, and the only way out is through the windows. First, you have to dig out around the breathing pipe (dryer vent) so they don't suffocate. Next, you have to dig all the snow out of the window wells so they can climb out. Hurry, there's not much time!"

Those 4 little girls had my windows and dryer vent cleared out in less than 10 minutes, they hand fun, and I didn't even have to pay them.

Yes I am, if there was any doubt before.

 

[browndog]

^^^^
Now that made me laugh. Good work.

 

[Sweat]

Well this weather suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do not know how you northerners do it, to top off icy conditions cold that we are not used to our power grid is over loaded due to weather and the Super Bowl so we are having rolling blackouts, already had 4 different ones, FING YUCK!