Ol' Man Winter Has the Last Laugh

Spring is knocking on the door, just a few days away; and what a relief. This has to have been the worst, most severe, frigid and unforgiving winter that I can remember in the last 30 years; we almost broke the record for the most snowfall ever in a single season here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. But worst of all were the sub-freezing temperatures which were an almost everyday occurrence for close to two months.

But even with the end in sight, the days growing warmer and longer, Ol’ Man Winter had one more surprise up his sleeve, a hidden ace that he trumped us with as a parting gift that we didn’t discover until we made the final inspection before starting up the air conditioning unit where I work, which, obviously, we didn’t get to start up, after all.

Ruh Row, Shaggy! SURRRRRRR-PRIIIIIIISE!!!!!!

Those were the feed and return water lines for the A/C chiller unit. And no, what you see isn’t the end result of an explosion, though it does look like a war zone. This is what happens when ice freezes and expands inside pipes, even though they were completely and thoroughly insulated, showing the true power and force that Mother Nature holds over our so-called technological wizardry.

After further investigation, it was decided that the entire run (500 feet of 6” Schedule 40 PVC pipe) should be replaced. However, that’ll have to wait ‘cause the Ol’ Man is still smirking and chuckling at us under his breath. The forecast for the next few days is now calling for a possible wintery mix, rain and snow, so I’m not putting my thermal long johns up just yet!