My thoughts after living through a week-long bullshit winter storm in Texas
In case you are living under a rock, Texas has been not okay since Thursday. This winter event has caused thousands, if not millions, in damage in just a few days – and a lot of people realized how unprepared we are for any winter weather.
For starters, I had no food, and I completely rely on electricity to keep warm – so my backup was blankets and dog cuddles. I did not have power for over 80 hours, and now, I don’t have water. I know I am more fortunate than many people out there, but here are just some things this naive Texan learned after a week in the tundra.
Texans are assholes when it comes to grocery stores, but H-E-B is king
So when the weather started getting bad on Thursday, the grocery stores immediately emptied. This is the prime reason I had no food, and even if I went and got some food, there was nothing non-perishable left. The few things that weren’t swiped off the shelves were frozen, and would eventually spoil in my fridge while I sat powerless for 80 hours.
Texans, get your shit together and quit acting CRAZY all the freaking time. At this moment, I have no idea when I will be able to get food again, but restaurants are opening back up slowly, so at least I will be able to pick up food.
However, H-E-B came in clutch yet again. In one store, they actually just let everyone have the food for free because the power went out. I will always be a huge H-E-B supporter, and it might feel culty, but at least in this Texas cult I feel rewarded.
Even if you wear two socks, you will get a blister in new rubber boots
I have lived in Texas my whole life, so I have Texas-versions of winter things. Basically, that means my coats are not very heavy, and my Hunter boots sit around doing nothing most of the time.
But before the weather hit, my friends that live about 1.5 miles away and I made a power pact. If one of us lost power, the other one would open their home. Unfortunately for me, I was the one that went powerless.
This meant every day, I would let the dogs out and then layer my ass up to walk 1.5 miles away, hoping I would not fall and break my leg and be stranded. I did slip and fall twice, but luckily I just got scraped up.
So yeah, I got two huge blisters on my heels even though I wore two layers of thick socks – that’s what I get for growing up in Texas, I guess.
But despite the frigid pilgrimage, this made me way better off than other Texans. I was able to be in the heat for about 8 hours a day, and they had food that I was able to cook.
Melted snow makes toilet go flush
I have a tiny turf yard in my apartment, which saved me for a number of reasons. One, my dogs are insane. They will drag me across the road in a heartbeat, and it was not safe for me to take them on walks on the ice.
70 pound dog vs. uncoordinated Taylor = pain
They were able to go to the bathroom outside, and I was able to scrape together the snow that wasn’t yellow to melt and throw into the toilet bowl. Amazingly, this allowed me to flush.
I now consider flushing a luxury – that is something that has changed for me. I was also allowed to clean my apartment a little bit with my melted snow. It’s the little things, you know.
7 blankets is ideal for warmth with no power in Texas
Every night, I had to brace the cold while I slept. My friends in the power pact have cats, and like I said, I wasn’t able to walk the dogs that far without threatening my safety.
And surprisingly, I am actually a good mom and wouldn’t leave the dogs alone at night, so I would walk back every day to freeze with them.
I quickly learned 7 blankets is ideal for keeping an optimal amount of warmth while living in freezing temperatures without heat.
The pups also each got their own blankies.
Dont leave dead power banks in the house, otherwise, they are just bricks
I hate to say it – but the worst part of this power shit was not being able to charge my phone.
And I had like 5 power banks lying around that were not charged. It was so disappointing to find a power bank, get excited, plug it in – and then NOTHING. And they take FOREVER to charge in your car.
I will now be making sure they are charged regularly. Even if this is a rare event in Texas.
non.perishable.food.
Once food has returned to the grocery stores, I am going full-on doomsday prepper. I am going to have a whole shelf of non-perishable foods and gallons of water for emergencies.
I use to think people who bought excess canned foods were a little loopy, but no longer. Not having food is a mental obstacle as much as a physical one. I was so hungry just because I knew I didn’t have food.
Keep spare water in the house or you will be brushing your teeth with Waterloo
I had recently partnered with Path water, so I had been filling reusable water bottles in my fridge. This gave me water for two days, and I am so lucky because I never kept spare water in my house.
But, I did run out, and all I had was black cherry Waterloo sparking water. So, that’s how I have been brushing my teeth.
Showerless shave gel and antibacterial wipes = shower
I had showerless shave gel in my bathroom for years, and I had never touched it. But holy hell, when you have to sponge bath it, it was miraculous.
I love being clean and being able to shave gave me that little comfort while I was sponging the rest of my body down with a rag and some soap.
Plus, I used antibacterial wipes as a pre-shower. I will also always keep wipes around after this.
Texans suck at grocery stores, but we are great at helping one another out
Okay, I gave Texans a bad rap about their panic-buying, but when it comes to helping each other out, we are superb.
I had so many people reach out to me on Instagram offering me their homes, and honestly, it was so heartwarming. Plus, so many restaurants were giving away free food and water (and they still are), and a ton of local Instagram influencers were just really adamant about spreading the word.
Just when you feel like people suck, they always surprise you. I think this proves that people are inherently good, they just get swept up in social media bullshit.
We are also stupid in Texas, but like, in a fun way
And Texans are stupid, like really reckless, but it’s fun to watch. We just have to make the most out of things sometimes.
Anyways, I wanted to jot all my thoughts down as we near the end of this phase and start dealing with fun plumbing problems across the state. Stay warm, friends.