1978 Simpson's Sears

 Some groovy pics from the 1978 Simpson's Sears FW Big Book Catalog!!

And we'll start with Kathy and Pam in some 'after five' dresses.

There's a lot of 70s styles going on here!

More 70s dresses for evening.

Jane and Pat!!

Man tailoring?? I'm not so sure about that.

We started with Kathy and we'll end with Kathy, here arm-in-arm with Pam.

That's So 70s: Jumpsuits Plus!!

 And now in washable, mock suede....

And not only a jumpsuit, but a tunic and peasant outfit too!

Yeah, It Got Really Cold Here

So as many of my loyal fans know, I live in South Texas, and we had a little bit of a weather issue last week.  We made it through okay, had some power outages, low water pressure, etc.  But overall I can't complain. Lots of other folks had it far worse.  Here the temperature hit a low of 17 Deg F and it STAYED below freezing for several days.  Where I live, the lows broke records that were set in 1895.  That is what caused all the problems.  

I'm sure that a lot of you are asking "How could a State with tremendous energy resources have gotten into such a fix."  Well it didn't happen overnight.  It was the result of lots of decisions over the years.  It's obvious that the power system wasn't able the cold weather, but the question is why?  Already the political finger pointing has begun.

Basically producers in Texas are compensated for what electricity they produce.  Therefore they have little incentive to invest in winterization. In other areas, producers are compensated based on their capacity and reliability that they have to deliver electricity, so they have the incentive to stay on line in all types of weather.  This lack of adequate winterization affected both renewable and traditional producers. (1)

On the consumption side, many homes in Texas are heated solely by electricity.  This is okay when the temps are fairly mild.  But when the mercury drops much below 30, then it becomes horribly inefficient and electric consumption soars. (2)

So on that fateful night, when producers were dropping like flies, demand soared through the roof causing the blackouts.

A lot has been made that Texas is on its own grid and couldn't get power from neighboring states.  However, I think that was a non issue.  After all those surrounding states didn't have any electricity to spare at that time anyway.

We'll have to see what the investigations say, but a think that a lot producers and the grid operator (the now infamous ERCoT) were caught off guard without adequate planning.   

I know that my family will better prepared next time.  Overall we were fairly well prepared: plenty of food, backup generator, alternative heaters, etc.  I'm no prepper, but I try to keep basic supplies that can get us through a few weeks.  One thing we were a little short on was water.  The water pressure got really low.  We had enough drinking water for about 3 days, not enough.  We were close to fetchin' water from the crick and using the propane heater to boil it!!!

footnotes:

(1)  A lot of ink has been spilled about how the renewables (wind) froze up and failed.  However in much colder areas, wind turbines run just fine.  It's that they weren't winterized properly.  The same thing applies for the gas fired plants.  They dropped offline due to inadequate winterization, not because they use fossil fuels.  

(2) Most homes here use a heat pump to heat them .  However, they don't work so good at very low temps.  So these units have a backup system call a heat strip.  It's basically a grid of high electrical resistance.  When an electric current is passed through, it gets very hot.  This heats up the air passing over it which is then circulated throughout the building.  Imagine millions of homes kicking this hideously inefficient system on at the same time!

Simpsons Sears 1976

 Just a really nice pic of Kathy and Karen from the 1976 Simpsons Sears big book catalog...........

Simpsons Sears!!

 Some groovy pics form the 1975 Simpsons Sears Fall catalog....

When Life Was Groovy: Tweeds, Corduroy, and Gaberdine, Oh My!!

What's better than one groovy 70s style, try three!! And all courtesy of our neighbors in the Great White North....

We'll start this off with some tawny tweeds.  And what better way to look cool, er, warm on those chilly northern days.

 Next up are some cool corduroys. Hey are they posing for this picture in a parking lot????

Finally everyone's favorite: groovy gabardines.  Well, I'm not sure they're Favorites per se. But, hey wait one minute, are Kathy and Karen in the same parking lot?!?!?!?  I'm sure that this photo shoot was the best that parking lot ever looked (unless it's photo shopped, entirely possible)!!!

Simpsons Sears is Back!!

And just in time for Fall................

 And why not start with parties???  The two on the right we all know, but the brunette on teh left looks familiar.  Anyone have an idea of who she is???

We have two amazing 70s fashion styles going on here. First on the left and center we have the "jacquard" pattern going on. And of course, the scarf on Kathy, very cool!!

 Here we have "Electro Knit" whatever that is!!  All in all it is shockingly 70s!!

 Kathy with a scarf and another "jacquard: pattern vest, must have been a thing in Canada back then...

So we'll end this post with a couple of pages of typical fashions from the Simpsons Sears FW catalog, like here.....

And here!!  Looks like we are getting ready for Fall already!!