Another Brutal Night: Frozen Pipes and a Chilly House
Last night, the temperature dropped to -15°F, which made for a very cold morning. The first floor sat at 56°F, and the kitchen cold water line froze—not exactly the start I was hoping for.
The first order of business was getting the house warmed up. I set up some electric space heaters to help the furnace catch up. This house is tough to heat, but once it’s warm, it holds heat like a battery.
Next, I tackled the frozen pipes. The cold water line always freezes under the kitchen sink, deep in the basement wall (a long story for another time). I opened the sink cabinet, placed a heater nearby, turned up the basement heater, and left the faucet open to encourage thawing. After a few hours with no luck, I had to bring out the big guns—my plumber’s torch. A few seconds of heat, and the water was flowing again! I would have done that first, but dragging a step ladder into the basement isn’t exactly my favorite thing.
Blown Breakers and a Lucky Dryer Fix
On top of everything, a breaker blew—likely from the extra space heaters. It knocked out the washing machine and my downstairs office lights. Since I was already in the basement, I reset it.
While down there, I noticed one side of the double dryer breaker was halfway off. It was barely noticeable unless you shined a flashlight on it. After resetting it a few times, I got both sides fully ON, and just like that, the dryer had heat again. Looks like I don’t need to replace the heating coil after all—but at least I have the part if I ever need it!
Multi-Streaming and Fixing Blurry YouTube Videos
I finally took a good look at our YouTube videos, and they are incredibly blurry—way worse than expected. To make sure it wasn’t our equipment, I checked the same videos on Twitch, and they were crystal clear. Looks like the export button on Twitch doesn’t work as expected.
At the same time, YouTuber Nutty released a video about SE Live, so we’re diving back into multi-streaming. Tonight, we’ll broadcast to YouTube, Twitch, and (new) Kick!
You might notice Facebook is missing from that list. The reasons?
- It’s not supported by SE Live.
- Other programs that do support it are a pain to set up.
- Even when it works, you almost have to reset it every time.
- Finding a live stream on Facebook is nearly impossible.
Pups, Streaming Room Updates, and Tonight’s Plans
Stacie has been having a blast decorating the streaming room after we moved everything. Meanwhile, Rusty has spent most of the day in my lap or snoring in his bed. Sasha hates the cold, so she’s barely come out from under her blanket. The rest of the pups have been following family members around the house—so, just another normal day here.
As for tonight’s stream, we’ll probably wing it. It’s too cold for house projects, and my remaining Amazon packages won’t arrive until tomorrow. At least I’ve got the house back in working order, so now it’s time to relax and have fun on stream.
Join us live at https://www.twitch.tv/tectuma as we test multi-streaming, chat, and see where the night takes us. For more about us, visit https://tectuma.com. Stay warm, and we’ll see you there!
