Re: Blowing in the wind...

BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]: 

> 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.
> 

We got 30 cm of snow yesterday.
It's supposed to be cold next week. Like the high is -14C :(