Re: Blowing in the wind...

On 07.01.2024 23.21, Merlyne wrote:
> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]: 
> 
>> 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...
> 
> I bet it was pretty.
Well, as horse-drawn gold-plated carriages go I guess it's not that bad.
A bit blingy for my taste.
> A nice day for a ride, no traffic.
There never seem to be much traffic whenever the queen goes out in her
carriage. And then it's mostly police and 'unmarked vehicles' of some sort.

>>> 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.
>>
> 
> I went to a rather crowded funeral and a couple of Christmas parties in 
> the last month. No illnesses.
> 
> We finally got some snow. 10 cm today.
> There's is supposed to be another storm coming on Tuesday into Wednesday 
> which will change from snow to freezing rain to rain as the temperature 
> rises during the week.
> 
> Will report back on the weather next weekend.

I bet there will be some. Right now, right here it just managed to get
above zero degrees. So people are most likely skating along all over the
motorway - free at last. Gits.

-- 
BeH

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