Rolling blackouts have come to an end, giving us the opportunity to argue about face masks again. North Texas has climbed above freezing for the first time since last Saturday.

Back in 2011, I was two years into this life I chose in Texas. Scaiaholism was only contained to the WBAP website.

That year, we all collectively fanned ourselves while saying, “My, oh my,” through 71 days above 100 degrees. As someone who grew up in Ohio and lived several years in Oregon, you could categorize me as anti-heat wave.

But as all the pro-heat wave activists gather outside my house for a march, I would add that I was quite vocal about how, once we got close to the record for consecutive days above 100, we should blaze a path toward it.

If you’re going to be miserably hot, be historically miserably hot. Tragically, my dream was shattered just two days from the record.

Similarly, this will only go down as our 7th longest stretch below freezing.

The issue today was grocery stores running out of food and gas stations running out of gas.

“Good weather for microphone shovin’!” I exclaimed and headed to QuikTrip.

I wandered up to one fella who said he wasn’t even there to fill up. He had just pulled in to buy some coffee. But the coffee truck hadn’t arrived, either.

“Wait, so there’s not even any breakfast pizza in there?!” I wondered. This was getting serious.

Another said he was still waiting for his water to come back on.

This website is what I would have shown him if I hadn’t left my phone in the car. Fort Worth is giving water at 16 sites in areas where water is cut off because of water main breaks or, paradoxically, you have a boil water order but no electricity to turn on the stove.

The Texas National Guard will work with the city and non-profits until everyone can drink their water again.

But while we struggle, let us look back on this winter, North Texas, as a winter of accomplishments.

Loyal Scaiaholics will recall my pride at successfully developing a snow shovel work-around. Over the past week, I’ve had faucets dripping so much, I worry that when I become an old man, I’ll be asleep, hear a faucet drip because of a plumbing issue, sit bolt upright in bed and yell, “It’s cold in Fort Worth!” My third wife will lovingly calm me down by explaining people sit bolt upright in bed a lot.

One of the bathrooms is in the back corner of the house, though. Flummoxed, I was concerned I would not be able to keep the pipe from freezing. I had the faucet running, but the pipe ran several more feet along the back wall to the toilet.

The last li’l bit of pipe to the toilet had frozen once before.

“I can figure this out,” I thought to myself.

I’m not sure why, I apparently own a hair dryer for some reason. I started blowing that at the wall where I suspected the pipe to be located. A few minutes later, the toilet started filling up.

But this time, the temperature would stay below freezing a full week.

“So, it’s a battle of wits this toilet desires!” I said, smirking.

I rigged the toilet so the thing that fills the bowl would not close. Then, my desire to not receive a billion dollar water bill kicked in.

I turned off the water valve to the toilet to a mere trickle. And my water has stayed liquid.

This was a costly snowstorm. That’s not a joke: some lost their lives, others have had to move out of their home, still others face financial hardship from damage.

But listen, gang, we’ve come out stronger for this experience. [And this is a joke] If you’re ever feeling down on yourself, feeling like you can’t innovate, feeling like you have a problem that can’t be solved, just look to my toilet.

Sure, you’ll still face problems. The Insurance Council of Texas says, as we start to thaw, they expect another round of claims from burst pipes.

But the key is to always stay level, always continue running and always work together to find solutions, whether with your toilet and hair dryer or with other mammals. I’m not going to micromanage.