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Color me wimpy - I'm about 15 ft. above sea level, and I haven't felt warm in days. Right now I'm working at my desk with a space heater at my feet, central heat on, jacket still on and sitting on a heating pad. I might maybe feel warm in a couple of hours. :eek:
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
No snow yet in Portland. But the fan in my furnace died and we didn't catch on until Sunday night when the house dipped below the thermostat setting. Monday morning it was 48. Before I went to bed last night it was 38 and I joked that my fridge is pumping hot air to keep the milk from freezing. The repair guy is supposed to come this morning, I'm hoping it is just a fuse since the service call alone is quite a dent in the holiday budget of a single income family. Went to 3 home depots, Costco and Target to find a good heater for the bedroom at least.

Generally I consider Portland to be moderate, its really only one or two weeks of bad weather, usually around Christmas. I think 3 of the years I've lived here I've had white christmases, this is my 5th year here. But we don't get more than 2 or 3 snowstorms a year, which is why the city doesn't keep snow clearing equipment and our city shuts down for a day or two (or two weeks in the case of last year).

Even Boston I didn't consider particularly bad and I dreaded a muggy August more than the winter. The worst cold I've experienced has got to be Michigan. I opened a casino in Detroit in 1999, and I thought that was bad. Long hours and little sleep on top of the intense cold and I got a nasty bug by the end of it. But that was nothing compared to my trip to the Upper Peninsula. I spent a week in negative temps at what was little more than a snowmobile outpost. Worst week ever, coupled by the fact that there was nobody to hang out with, very limited cell phone coverage and no internet access (not even a local dial up). Oh, and I deposited my rental car into a snowbank and the kind profiteers that offered to help only wanted $20 to winch me out.
 
Wow - can you make do with space heaters or a fireplace until after the holidays? I know how it feels to have major repairs happen at this time of year. I'd enjoy my holiday and deal with the reality afterwards if you can.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Well it sounds like we are going to have to because this won't get fixed overnight so I'll be buying a few more space heaters in the meantime. Since the home heat just heats the main floor rather than the areas we spend time in maybe it winds up being less bad than I thought. We'll see.
 
i'm also using space heaters as our heat pump on our ch&a went out. got an oil filled one for kitchen/dining/living room to maintain temp and 4 small ones for bedrooms. Lowes had some really good ones for $20. only problem i got is all 3 kids rooms are on same circuit so they can't ALL have them on at same time. hopefully dear hubby can fix that issue this weekend.
 
If you mainly sleep in the bedroom, electric blankets or mattress pads can be very cozy. Ay one time (long time ago) my main room had a fireplace and the bedroom had a heated water bed. Never turned on the furnace. :)
 
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Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
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I'm saying that being partially colorblind is a big disadvantage when putting something together that requires slacks and a tie and everything else.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Update on my furnace situation... I'm getting a new one installed tomorrow. Also getting A/C installed to try and salvage this into an "upgrade". I think in July I'll be thankful this happened. Maybe.
 
glad it's working out for you PDX.

we're still working with heaters and no idea when it'll get fixed, however our water heater part should get here tomorrow. this is a fun week.


oh and Michael Shanks on Sanctuary. yumm.:p
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
I heard about something similar a few months ago, wonder if its the same couple? Can't imagine its a trend.

A while back I was the only person with my name on FB, now I see a few others. One of them has distinguished himself by adding his clever nickname: "Daddi".

I am however the first 6 hits for my name on google :)
 
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Tonight I will be watching the Kings in HD for the first time on my new 1080p tv!!

I just bought an HDMI wire to replace that 1080i octopus that Comcast supplies you with for connecting their HD box, and I am pleased with the results.

Not pleased with Comcast's HD channel lineup, kind of a rip off. I will be looking for other suppliers. I just can't afford 90 bucks for a second rate HDTV package and another 50 for high speed internet. The cost / benefit analysis I did reveals their packages to be F*%^#& outrageous. Not worth the money. On Demand is their ONLY saving grace. I should not have to pay more than 85 a month for internet, HD cable, equipment, and all taxes / surcharges. Makes me absolutely sick. SICK! SICK! SICK!
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Comcast seems to hate Sacramento when it comes to HD. Honestly you guys should call and complain and ask why you don't get what Comcast in other cities get. Portland has 700-899 blocked off and most are actually used. Every basic channel worth watching is in the 700 tier and at least 4-5 versions of the premium movie channels are in the 800s. I think I pay a little more than you do but I do have two DVRs and every single channel. My wife loves OnDemand and Comcast has exclusive rights to the Blazers so the only reason for me to go to DirectTV is the football package, but now that Comcast has NFL Redzone that is less enticing.
 
Comcast seems to hate Sacramento when it comes to HD. Honestly you guys should call and complain and ask why you don't get what Comcast in other cities get. Portland has 700-899 blocked off and most are actually used. Every basic channel worth watching is in the 700 tier and at least 4-5 versions of the premium movie channels are in the 800s. I think I pay a little more than you do but I do have two DVRs and every single channel. My wife loves OnDemand and Comcast has exclusive rights to the Blazers so the only reason for me to go to DirectTV is the football package, but now that Comcast has NFL Redzone that is less enticing.
Honest to God - I only get 29 HD channels. I have two HD recievers - not even DVR. I must be overlooking something, they can't be serious about charging me like they do, can they?
 

Capt. Factorial

ceterum censeo delendum esse Argentum
Staff member
Honest to God - I only get 29 HD channels. I have two HD recievers - not even DVR. I must be overlooking something, they can't be serious about charging me like they do, can they?
That's terrible. I'm in Davis on Comcast's minimum HD package (no movie channels, no sports packages) and it looks like I get 56 HD channels. Almost everything I would care to watch comes in HD for me, outside of NBATV, ESPNnews, and TCM. Maybe BBC America. And Speed Channel, which for some reason I get in SD, but am not authorized for HD.

Enjoy the game tonight, but keep in mind that the road games are not really in HD. They're in a 16x9 format SD over an HD channel, which beats the pants off 4x3 SD (the SD channels on the HD receivers are simply horrible) but won't be quite as nice as the full HD of the home games.
 
[yt=AT&T Ad campaign from 1993]TZb0avfQme8[/yt]
They probably had patents on these technologies even back then, but that is pretty funny seeing futuristic devices like webcams and Kindles and GPS systems and thinking "WOW!" And now, we use them everyday. This is pretty much the Jetson age, save for a few impractical things. It's even better, in ways. I don't remember George Jetson having a flat screen TV.