Re: Blowing in the wind...

On 18.12.2023 20.45, Merlyne wrote:
> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]: 
> 
>> On 29.11.2023 15.27, Merlyne wrote:
>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>
>>>> On 22.11.2023 14.33, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 08.11.2023 14.11, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 25.10.2023 16.26, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> So we had a storm with an spring flood yesterday - one of
>>>>>>>>>> those 100year events supposedly - with sea level up to 2m
>>>>>>>>>> above normal. Pleasure boats and holiday homes being knocked
>>>>>>>>>> about and lots of water damage in some areas, with several
>>>>>>>>>> dikes and sluices breaking down (not around here thankfully).
>>>>>>>>>> Also the storm ripped a ~150cm hole in the top of my roof,
>>>>>>>>>> causing rainwater to drip from the ceiling in my bedroom in
>>>>>>>>>> several places during the night. Once I discovered it a couple
>>>>>>>>>> of buckets took care of most of that, but I have to retreat to
>>>>>>>>>> the guest room to avoid the chinese water torture of
>>>>>>>>>> plonk-plonk into the bucket. The indignity was shattering.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Oh wow!
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The weather's been crazy here all summer.
>>>>>>>>> I think we had a record number of tornados touch down.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> A year ago May, we had a derecho storm, which I never heard of
>>>>>>>>> before. We lost 30-70% of the tree canopy around the city.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I feel your pain. My basement flooded in April after a brutal
>>>>>>>>> freezing rain storm. Dealing with the insurance company is a
>>>>>>>>> pain in the butt. 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I on-lined the insurance comp. right away and the accessor did
>>>>>>>> call back on the monday, which is pretty good assuming mine
>>>>>>>> wasn't the only claim he had to deal with. On the other hand he
>>>>>>>> did mention that a few roof plates and some work probably didn't
>>>>>>>> exceed the deductible (~€550). 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> So he referred me to a roof repairer whom I called right away.
>>>>>>>> This guy affirmed that he could take the job and hinted that he
>>>>>>>> may come by the same day to look at the damage. He didn't. He
>>>>>>>> also didn't come the next monday when I contacted him.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> So, today (two weeks later) the roof repair man finally showed
>>>>>>>> up. Only not the one I had called but someone from a different
>>>>>>>> firm subcontracted by the first guy. (These are all single owner
>>>>>>>> firms with a 2 or 3 workers.) This new guy took a look and
>>>>>>>> determined that not only the missing ones but all the top bits
>>>>>>>> of the roof was rotted through to the point of disintegration.
>>>>>>>> So that roof now has a brand new top bit. Also too he did not
>>>>>>>> think the rest of that part of the roof will last another year
>>>>>>>> (or storm or heavy snowfall) so there's that. These are fibre
>>>>>>>> cement pieces called (tm'ed) Eternit - ironically one might
>>>>>>>> presume. 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Still waiting for the economic damage - and given the state of
>>>>>>>> things I doubt I'll get any help from insurance.
>>>>>>>> Meanwhile I still have to replace the wet bit of isolation mats
>>>>>>>> - and find the puddle that is still feeding the slow drip in my
>>>>>>>> bedroom. 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Also I need to clean and return the tarp I borrowed from the
>>>>>>>> neighbour. And the ladder.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> So how was your fortnight?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Uh...uneventful?
>>>>>> Aren't you the lucky one. Meanwhile my chimney has started taking
>>>>>> in water whenever it rains and depositing it along with whatever
>>>>>> soot it dislodges on my scullery floor. Not the whole floor, just
>>>>>> the little, hard-to-get-to bit in the corner beside the chimney.
>>>>>> I've never had run-through chimney water before...
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I had that happen a couple of years ago. Apparently the baffle at
>>>>> the top of the chimney was warped or broken or something so when
>>>>> the rain hit it at the right angle it dripped inside the house.
>>>>
>>>> I don't have any baffles or caps on my chimney. I suspect the storm
>>>> put so much water down it that there was standing water that didn't
>>>> have time to evaporate (also because the there's no burning so no
>>>> heating of the flute), so whenever any water got in it overflowed.
>>>>
>>>> I did have the chimney sweep around recently for the mandatory
>>>> yearly check. He brushed the gunk down off the flute but didn't do a
>>>> damn thing about the wet mess on the bottom - his vacuum cleaner
>>>> would get dirty or something, and apparently they no longer carry an
>>>> ash shovel. [Wanker!] I did that myself after he left (I *do* have a
>>>> shovel), and I haven't have sooty water on the floor since (he said
>>>> with no regard for hybris). 
>>>>
>>> Don't jinx yourself!
>> That's not a thing that happens. Everything bad that happens to me is
>> somebody else's fault. Anyway no more water, even with all the snow
>> that must have found it's way into the chimney...
>>
>>>>>>> {We need the tarp for stealing steles}
>>>>>> {We can't just use someone else's tarp for clandestine, and
>>>>>> possibly morally dubious, activities. Also it's really dark most
>>>>>> of the time now, so maybe a tarp won't be needed at all.}
>>>>>>
>>>>> {Hello darkness, my old friend}
>>>> (Quite. The dark has always been a friend of stealthy stele
>>>> stealers.) 
>>> [Unless it snows. Snow + Moon shine = call the police]
>> % Speaking of... I've been technically snowed in for a few days, in
>> the sense that drifting snow (and frankly atrocious snow clearing)
>> makes biking all but impossible on the country road that takes me home
>> (or away as the case may be). %
>>
> 
> West Virginia?

Or the nearest discount supermarket. Yes, probably that. Either way I
stopped being snowed in and I may or may not be snowed in at present -
haven't checked - in any case according to the news there is snow-chaos
elsewhere in the country.
All non-essential driving is discouraged. And yet the Queen goes for a
joy ride in her horse-drawn gold-plated carriage. Sheesh...

> This is an El Nino year. So far it's rain which changes to freezing rain 
> which changes to snow which melts. Rinse. Repeat.

Fun/flu for the whole family.

-- 
BeH

" We are trapped by language to such a degree that every attempt to
formulate insight is a play on words." - Niels Bohr