Everything went great the last time Texas had a cold snap. In anticipation of freezing temperatures this week, we were all gently encouraged to plan ahead, including ERCOT.

For instance, I spoke with a lieutenant in Dallas Police’s auto theft unit. When we had a brief cold snap in January, they had 14 cases of people whose car was stolen when they went outside to start it then went back inside while it warmed up.

Which brings us to Thursday morning. I woke up early and looked outside.

Regrettably, I had not prepared. Loyal Scaiaholics will recall I misplaced my ice scraper eight years ago. It’s possible my hard-target search has not been fruitful.

The police lieutenant explained, listen guys, it only takes a few minutes for your defroster to start defrosting. But I needed it done now.

So when I saw a coating of ice around my truck, I took action. I got inside, started the truck and turned on the defroster. Then I went back inside to find something similar to an ice scraper. Like most Americans, I keep a hammer by the front door, so I was never out of sight from the truck and figured I could use the claw on the back of the hammer to chisel away ice.

Then I started driving around, doing the exact opposite of what Fort Worth Police encouraged. In my defense, the department’s spokesman did carve out an exception for media.

Then I adjourned to shove my microphone in people’s face to ask how they feel about cold weather. This may come as a surprise, but there were fewer people out and about than normal. I did spot one woman who lives in Downtown Fort Worth and came out to take pictures of the snow and eerily empty streets.

When I walked up to another gentleman, I explained my conflicted feelings about driving around town to tell people how unsafe it is to drive around town.

He mentioned the record cold last year. We may feel beaten down by the pandemic and hyper-partisanship, but let this serve as a testament to our resiliency as a society: After living through the record cold, we are now prepared, even in freezing temperatures, to head down the street and get some breakfast.

We should get above freezing today but then back below 20 degrees tonight. I discussed this issue with a plumber. Loyal Scaiaholics will also recall I successfully thawed a water pipe during last year’s coldness.

He said, since we all want running water now, his prices go up because he has to pay overtime for guys who are working long hours.

He explained a workaround: don’t just let faucets drip. Turn them on to a full trickle.

#ScaiaBlog is happy to provide can’t miss business ideas:

1.) Plumber, because Kids Today don’t learn trades

2.) Breakfast restaurant that stays open all the time, no matter what, defying even the Waffle House Index.