We seem to have dodged the arctic bullet that is the Great Ice Storm of 2026. We lost power for all of abot four minutes The pipes are okay, and the roads are relatively clear.
Not so for our neighbors to the north. I understand that Oxford, MS took a major hit, with substantial damage to the electrical grid. Those folks are in a bind.
Drinking coffee with Belle this morning, we were talking about being cold, and the lessons we have learned over the years. Both Belle and I grew up in the '60s and '70s. I remarked that back in those days, girls would sometimes wear clothes that exposed a bare midriff. I seem to recall a universal trait, that when I would touch an ice cube to an exposed belly button, the lady would object. Sometimes violently.
Moving to another survivor of the '60s, we come to the Air Force fleet of aging bombers, the old B-52. During the '80s I was assigned to a unit in the Army Reserve. Our headquarters building was just off the north end of the runway at Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, LA. Barksdale is a major hub for the B-52. They were aging machines in those days, but it seems that the service life of those airframes may be 100 years. The earliest of them were delivered in the 1950s and may still be flying in the 2050. Incredible.
My first active duty base after tech training was Carswell at Ft Worth. I was working on B-52s and KC-135s (plus 10 or so Base Flight aircraft). The Buffs were F models from 1957 and 1958.
ReplyDeleteWhat BobF said. B-52s rotate through the refurbish process on a regular bases. There are no original parts on one, even though the serial number might date from the 50s.
ReplyDeleteYes, Oxford and the surrounding area took a beating. Prayers for them. The BUFFs are simply updating 'another' system.
ReplyDeleteThe frontal boundary must have been right over our house (near the Ross Barnett Reservoir). Folks just a few miles north got quite a bit of ice. We did get the cold temperatures and the local school districts were out on Monday. My folks up home (lower Midwest) got 14+ inches of snow and below zero temps. We feel very lucky here on the Rez!
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