At the end of the month

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So I was surfin' the blogs the other morning and found this. It made me chuckle.


The post about music the other day is still kind of bouncing around in my head. I can't believe how much The Coasters keep coming up when I remember a song.


And I forgot to mention Ray Charles, Boots Randolf, Mose Allison, and Leon Russell


I mentioned my affinity for the Boston Pops. When I lived and worked in Palo Alto, back in the '60s and early '70s, Arthur Fiedler used to bring them out to play at the Frost Amphitheater on the Stanford Campus. I never once made it to one of their concerts.


I told BP I might post something about our libraries.
I really might... some day.


Speaking of BP, he seems so totally organized, when compared to me.


Maybe the weather has turned for the better? Monday morning went from overcast at 6:00am to clear at 8:00am. Tuesday appeared to be a fake out... started clear, turned cloudy. Yesterday was spring-like. We'll see if the predicted warmer temperatures come through.


I think I mentioned some incomplete lists. I should probably post what I have so far... or they may never be posted.


I suppose I haven't mentioned one of my tasks in Lions Club this year is District Convention Chair. The official title is chairperson, but I am a holdout. I was told a long time ago, before the day of political correctness, "chairman" is gender neutral. It was explained that if it wasn't gender neutral, we would have to start calling women, wopersons... and there would be a whole lot of music we could play any longer.


Do me a favor and don't ask about the newest leak.


Today is opening day of Major League Baseball.
And tomorrow is April Fools.

the ands are for BP

Deadlines

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I hate it when my deadlines are made urgent by others.
It's okay if I procrastinate. Don't do it for me.

Aaaaaagh!

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Yes!

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It was clear and dry yesterday... all day.
Now it is supposed to warm up, too, to maybe the mid 80s by Thursday.
Yesterday was 62.

we'll see

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As it stands

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I may have mentioned there is a second leak. In fact I may have mentioned it several times. We Grandma Skip discovered it just about the time we were getting used to the idea that the repair team was finishing the original job and we were going to have the use of the entire house again.
That was on Wednesday.
Since it is an entirely new leak, in an entirely new spot (the pantry), it was determined the insurance company needed to be contacted for an entirely new claim. Flashback to February 17 (an auspicious date for an entirely different reason). I actually waited three days to post about it. Anyhow, I went through the same procedure. Only this time the response was less than speedy. A local adjuster was assigned. She called the next morning (Thursday). Only this time she set up an appointment to see the damage, which at the moment was minimal. She said she could come out the next afternoon (Friday) or the day after (Saturday). I'm like, "Huh?" After a little back and forth she was convinced to come over the same day.
She arrived, took some pictures of the leak, made some measurements and then went outside a took some picture of birds the roof. Looking at the roof from the ground tells the observer absolutely nothing.
She then told me that since we'd be using the same repair firm... because they are at least doing their best... the claim will be turned over to the same Ohio claims people who have arranged for the other job to take five weeks.
So, even though the repair folks are aware of this leak and know they are going to be doing the job, the most they can do until contacted by the insurance company is look at the leak as an interested bystander.
Friday morning the insurance company finally notifies them they can go to work. There is only one minor problem. The weather wasn't cooperating.
The first task the repair folks have is to dry things out. Part of that process includes spreading a tarp over the roof so no more water will enter. With winds of 25-35mph and gusts to 45mph, employee safety precludes anyone from going on the roof, let alone building a "tarpover."
Apparently it wasn't going to matter much. Because, even though it was raining, water no longer appeared to be coming into the attic. A young man had even gone so far as to climb up into the attic and find the other side of the leak. It was actually drying out. He brought in some equipment to further aid that process, a dehumidifier and a cyclone generator big fan that makes lots of noise. These were placed in a 5ft. by 6ft. room already containing a water heater, chest freezer, and much of the food we stock.
That was Friday. The weekend crew would check back in and test for moisture through the weekend.
Saturday morning was windy and drizzly, really drizzly. About 10:30 we get a call asking if it's okay to come check. The answer is in the affirmative. Grandma Skip looks in the pantry, which has been closed off since the equipment was installed, and notices the leak is back, only worse.
Now the drizzle has turned to a gully washer mixed with hail.
And the doorbell rings. He's here to check the moisture level with the fancy meters they use. He was able to see it with his own two eyes. It was concluded the only solution at the moment was to place a pan under the leak until the roof could be protected with a tarp so the ceiling can be dried out. Of course, he can't do that by himself. Besides the current conditions preclude that anyway. Some phone calls are made. They will return later, when the wind abates and it's not raining buckets, to further assess the situation. The radar image on the NWS site showed a train of thunder showers (showers?) traveling right over us.
About 5:30pm we'd actually seen some sunshine, but the clouds still had us outnumbered and were threatening. There was only a slight breeze when the crew... well, there were two of them... returned with materials for placing a tarp on the roof.
That may sound like a simple task. However the particular part of the roof where they were placing it has two valleys and three ridges. That may be nice for aesthetics, but gives carpenters huge headaches, even more so when there is a light breeze and they are doing temporary repairs with plastic sheeting. Then, too, there were sprinkles in the air to distract them even further. Fortunately it remained relatively calm and never quite rained. It only threatened. They finished in a little over an hour. The hurricane huge fan was replaced with a smaller, more effective fan.
The last words were, "I'll be back in the morning to check again."
Sunday morning, as promised, the doorbell rang and the checkup proved that the equipment is doing the job. Maybe Monday it will be dry enough to actually take the next steps?

So now this is how the house appears from the back. The tarp covers from the peak of the ridge on the left to the peak of the ridge on the right. You can see how it reaches the ridge at the top of the two valleys. If you're really interested, click on the image to enlarge it. The lump to the left of center is a skylight.

This is a good omen... right?

Someone will be here later to tell us what's next.

I hope!

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About that list

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So I did a post the other day. It was sort of supposed to be 15 recordings I'd take to a desert island. I think I mentioned there was no way I could really pick 15. I was right. There are artists, songs, and albums that continue to come to mind, like Queen and Vince Guaraldi and that my taste in music is driven by what I hear on one of the local NPR outlets and the stuff my brothers-in-law play.
What I am really happy about, though, is that I didn't go to the trouble of finding album art to post along with the list... or any recordings, except the one... because I'd probably have never posted that list.
Anyway, there are still some lists I started over the last two and a half plus years that aren't yet completed. They'd probably be done now, but 15 is about my limit.

so keep comin' back

Alrighty then

.

The latest on the new leak... it's in the pantry, by the way... is that it isn't nearly as serious as the one that was just repaired.
Of course we still dehumidifiers and fans running. We had to move a bunch of stuff elsewhere and the noise is a bit disconcerting, but not nearly as much as the sound of the drops of water falling.
It appears the roof is undamaged. It was a combination of heavy rainfall and tremendous wind force blowing the rain up under the eaves where they join from two different parts of the roof. Naturally, water follows the path of least resistance and the circumstances were such that flowing into the attic was easier than into the gutter.

15 recordings it's music

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I'm not a musician. That's not for a lack of attempt. I can remember from the earliest age having a fascination for brass instruments, particularly the trumpet. Asking me to select specific music to take along is like asking someone to herd cats. It's an exercise in futility.
That said, I have actually made some selections... even some specific selections. For the life of me, I cannot give a clear reason why I picked them over others. Besides tomorrow... or even this afternoon... I might not pick half of those here now. Although I will say one of the groups in the list will remain constant.
About the only thing I know for certain is what I like has been shaped by what I hear. Early on I lived in the Bay Area and listened mostly to San Francisco stations when all of them played music.. even KCBS, KFRC, KGO, KNBR (when it was KNBC). I remember hearing the likes of Vaughn Monroe, Frankie Laine, Peggy Lee, Patti Page, well, you should get the drift that it was before there was much television and we didn't have one until I was eight years old anyway. The radio seemed to be on constantly and one of the stations my brother and I listened to was KDIA in Oakland. The first song that comes to mind when I remember that is Young Blood by the Coasters, who generated a lot of music. I think my favorite station, particularly after 1958 when they started broadcasting the Giants games (they already were broadcasting the 49ers), was KSFO. I'm sure it was Al “Jazzbeaux” Collins who started turning me away from routine middle of the road music and the typical top 40 we heard on the other music stations. Eventually, I listened exclusively to KSFO from Don Sherwood in the morning to Russ “the Moose” Syracuse, and later, Bobby Dale, on the all night show. These guys and others played almost anything. In the mid '60s FM started to have its day because they could broadcast in stereo. That's when I discovered KIOI and tastes became even broader, probably thanks to things like the Mighty Wurlitzer Concert.
Then along came a huge change in my life... actually several. But the one I'm thinking about introduced me to the polka. Also I moved from the Bay Area and lost FM stations for about ten years. In fact I learned to appreciate country music because... well, because it's where I moved. There's lots of cows and trees here.
Enough of that, let's do a list. I will remind you it is what's in my mind today:

1. the Eagles - Hotel California
2. Grateful Dead - Viola Lee Blues
3. The Notorious Cherry Bombs (Rodney Crowell & Vince Gill)
4. BB King
5. Wes Montgomery
6. Leonard Bernstein playing Gershwin
7. Lionel Hampton
8. Haydn - Trumpet Concerto in E flat major. The 94th (Surprise) Symphony is a favorite, too.
9. The Highwaymen
10. James Galway - playing about anything
11. Kish Celtic Band
12. Duke Ellington - Paris Blues (soundtrack)
13. Mose Allison
14. LTD Band - Easy Pickin's
15. Oscar Brand - Bawdy Songs and Backroom Ballads, Vol.3

Tomorrow it may be Andrés Segovia, Earl "Fatha" Hines, The Boston Pops, Gene Pitney, Roy Orbison, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Pearl Jam, Jim Croce, Janis Joplin, Frankie Yankovic, Carlos Santana and a whole bunch of music I like but couldn't begin to tell you who is/was playing. Or it may not have even made a list today.

Did I tell you I learned to appreciate Polka music...

but not just any polka music.

won't do favorites,
just wants

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Broadcast problems

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This morning I posted this picture over at the other blog. Almost immediately the local newspaper reported the local TV station is off the air. The station's transmitter is atop that mountain.
The weather service seems to be having some difficulty with their facilities at the airport as well.

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Quote of the day

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From John May (on Facebook):

If you're not sure whether you've got dyslexia or dysentery, look in a dictionary.
If you can find dyslexia then you've got dysentery.

seems to fit... at least today

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Did I say entirely new?

.
What we have is a new leak.
There were actually drops of water falling from the ceiling in the pantry. This "new challenge" was discovered because Grandma Skip heard it, rather than saw it. It took a couple of minutes to track down the source, which turned out to be a fairly decent drip.
Of course, after I removed a bunch of stuff and put a pan under the drip, it stopped.

So now it appears we start over in a new place?

BTW - we're once more being battered by a Pacific storm that will probably get worse before it gets better.



Then, last night someone said, "You know, this stuff happens in threes."

SHUT UP!

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Houston we have a problem.

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It appears we shall be inconvenienced awhile longer.

The original damage has been pretty well repaired. It should be finished tomorrow.

Now there's an entirely new challenge in another place.

it got old a long time ago

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I hate it when that happens

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I was blissfully sleeping the night away. Then I woke up and looked at the clock. That was well over an hour ago. I'm sure the sound of the water in the downspout outside the bedroom window didn't help. But, even more, the thoughts of a number of things to do today must have also kickstarted things.
So here I am with full knowledge that anyone I have to contact is still sleeping. About the only thing I can do at the moment is go visit other blogs and leave comments. I will just have to make sure I proofread them really well before I click on publish.

maybe I won't if it
helps create traffic

I'm sure I will have something about Japan. I just don't know when

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Change

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It's calmed down a little.
What I mean is the wind isn't blowing like it was on Sunday. Although there was a wimpy little tornado down in the South Valley flatlands near Maxwell. Some fella whipped out his cell phone and shot video as he drove along the freeway. I wonder if there's anything in the vehicle code about that? It appears only as a funnel cloud in his video, but it was verified to have actually touched down at one point.

But that's not the change I mean.

All of the patching here at the house is finished. Even much of the cosmetic work is done. All that is left now is to replace baseboard and crown molding, make sure the texture on the walls and ceiling match, paint the walls matching the existing paint, and paint the ceiling... or in the words of the man who's doing it, "One more day." But it isn't today. they'll do it tomorrow. At least that's what he said yesterday when he was leaving.

I pretty much determined that change is constant and if we adjust with it, we get along just fine. The real issue isn't so much change, but in how it is perceived. An entire group can deal with changes as long as everyone sees things the same way. All it takes to screw things up is for one individual to see things from a different angle.

This doesn't seem to be going anywhere in particular and I have things to do. I'll figure out what they are eventually.

oh,well

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What I saw

_

Yesterday morning 7:20am.
At least the rain had stopped.

There were a lot of downed trees and other wind damage, but none in our neighborhood.

Some time later

.

I'd had every intention of posting here first thing this morning. You do know what is said about plans?



What happened is the stuff seen pooling to the south last evening blew in with sustained winds above 25 knots... and some gusts to 60 mph, left us with almost 2 inches of rain and no poser power for about 8 hours. The crap in the image is mostly moving northeast. We have probably seen the last of the heavy rains. Those winds are still with us, though.
It really only served to remind me that it hasn't been even half what the folks in northeastern Japan are dealing with.

or what's going to
happen east of here

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This doesn't bode well

_

It all seems to be pooling way too close for comfort.

cold & wet

Ketchup

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That's just a play on words. It might even be a mondegreen[1]. Re-read it as catch up.


Most of the holes have been plugged. What I mean is the drywall and insulation that was removed has mostly been replaced. There was a slight oversight when the materials were ordered so they were short about 48 sq. ft of R-30 insulation for the attic. So there is one more hole to cover... after the insulation is installed. Then it is a matter of finishing the taping and matching the texture of the wall and ceiling before repainting. Oh, and there's a slight matter of matching the crown molding.


I mentioned judging a speech contest. The Anderson Women's Improvement Club invited me... imagine that... to judge the speeches of the high school seniors participating in their contest. There were nine very good speeches.


My favorite weather page contains the following:

Wind Advisory
Flood Watch
Hazardous Weather Outlook

The only difference between there and here is there it's in red.


Back at my normal reading pace thanks to the latest addition to the book list.

copy and paste limits
the options for color

[1] even more detailed explanation here

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For the record

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It was a New England boiled dinner we had last night... corned beef don'tcha know, with brussels sprouts instead of cabbage. Oh and the corned beef just melted in the mouth. Just typing this makes my mouth water.
I wish I'd remembered to take a picture

better'n bacon
if that's possible

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Thoughts on a quote

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Frank Lloyd Wright said, "Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles."

I saw that quote in the margin of another blog. A new on shows up automatically every day. Anyway, he had to have said that over 50 years ago. The only thing that comes to mind today is someone must have been listening and taken what he said literally.

We somehow got lucky... luck being relative... and the reconstruction begins this morning.

Another winter storm has arrived. I'm not sure I haven't a clue what the year-to-date rainfall is, but it must be fairly decent because the releases from Shasta Dam into the Sacramento River have forced the City of Redding to close some trails because of high water.

I have been asked to judge at a speech contest this morning. That should be fun.

A little Celtic music?

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Maybe that's a bit of a stretch?
It's timely, though.



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Finally

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No, we are still waiting for word from the insurance company.

I finally finished the Washington bio last night. I think the last book I spent that much time reading was Anthony Adverse.
Samuel Johnson said, "What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure."
I wonder if anyone said anything about what is read with effort?

I suppose the taxes should be done next?

among other things

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One of those days

_

Still inconvenienced

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Tomorrow will be a full week since the last time someone has actually been here to do any repairs. I did find a piece of rigid polystyrene insulation to block most of the draft from the hole in the wall. The repair folks did call... after I bugged them... to tell us the ball is in the insurance company's court now.
The current weather is doing nothing to improve my attitude.

yeah, yeah... I have one of the
little blue badges

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Follow-up...

...to Saturday

The Lions Clubs International Foundation has established a designated fund for donations for disaster. Donations can be made in confidence, for 100 percent of every donation will go directly toward disaster relief. LCIF has more than 40 years of experience in disaster relief, and all funds are administered by local Lions in the area.
The $1.25 million mentioned over the weekend is now $5 million.

Seven months ago

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Before I explain the title let me remind everyone, that no matter what else happens, the Giants are the World Champions[1] until the next World Series ends sometime around Christmas[2].



Some of you may remember Grandma Skip and I went on the road for most of the month of August last year. First we went south, along the Central Coast to Cambria (near where Hearst Castle is) for a Lions PDG reunion.

That trip was followed by the annual Twin Cousins Birthday Celebration at our city of origin, San Francisco. Since the Giants were home that week and playing a day game, we went.

This is where the story starts.



Well, not actually here. It really started over near our hotel.
Oh, and I am posting this because I mentioned something[3] about remembering to post about the t-shirt in the post seven months ago.
So, anyhow, we were walking somewhere near the hotel when we passed a shop called, interestingly enough, the Giants Dugout Store. There was all manner of paraphernalia. But right there in the front window by the door was this shirt with a picture of a former schoolmate[4].



It seems that the previous Monday had been Jerry Garcia bobble head Tribute Night.

So that's how I came to have another black t-shirt, which may or may not be an actual souvenir of the Giants World Series season.



[1]...of Major League Baseball
[2] Another merchandising opportunity holiday between the World Series and the Super Bowl
[3] ... in the small print at the bottom of the post
[4] Menlo Oaks School, Class of 1957

Yep, yep, yeah

It's on Sunday this month.



Friday the thirteenth, that is...

it's a continuing thing

Wrapping up the week

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I already used odds and ends once this week. So I had to come up with another title.

Our inconvenience, which you may read about elsewhere on this blog, is developing into an irritation. We have heard from nobody since Wednesday. That means unless I call them sometime this weekend, it will be Monday before we know when the next steps will be taken.
I'm thinking a phone call to them at 6:00am tomorrow would get their attention?

I am still of the mind that the earthquake and tsunami put things in perspective. Stuff happens. That stuff doesn't necessarily happen to me. The stuff that does happen where I am involved may or may not be serious. In any case the only thing I can control are my own attitude and my actions.

Tomorrow is the switch to Daylight Saving Time. At least it's not on the first weekend of April any longer. About the only other plus is the extra daylight in the evening.

I still haven't finished the Washington biography. I realized, though that not only have I read the author's Alexander Hamilton bio, I have also read the bio he wrote about John D. Rockefeller.

A further thought regarding the Japanese disaster and Lions Clubs - Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), the charitable arm of our association has committed 1.25 million dollars to Japan. From what I know about LCIF and Japanese Lions Clubs that is basically a return a small portion of the generous contributions made by the Japanese Lions.
Of course the commitment is the minimum that will donated from LCIF. The actual amount will be whatever other Lions Clubs throughout the world donate to LCIF for the disaster relief in Japan.
The best... if there can be a best when it comes to these situations... thing about it is that no, none, zilch, nada of the donations goes for administration. Every penny donated is spent for charity.

The last I heard there was one person missing on the coast from the tsunami. He was taking pictures. Four others who were camping on a beach were unaware of the danger and were swept out to sea. They were able to make it back to shore.

Update

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There have been some reports of major damage at some places along the Northern and Central California coast. No injuries have bee reported.

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Revision of concept

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I am guessing we haven't been nearly as inconvenienced as some folks over on the coast? As I write this, they don't even know how high the waves of the tsunami will reach. Even more inconvenienced are the folks in Hawaii where the waves were at six feet. Inconvenience doesn't even begin to describe what the folks on the island of Honshu are dealing with.

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Yep... inconvenient

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The room within a room is gone, along with the air-handler used to maintain a negative airflow. The remediation portion of the job is complete.
There are, however, still some signs that there is yet more to do.



An estimator was out yesterday afternoon to figure the needs to complete the job, which, you will see in the following picture, expanded to include more than one room.



The worst of it is the room on the other side is open to the garage so there is a strong draft.

yes, it's been three weeks

Odds and ends

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The repairs to the roof have been made. All else is in abeyance whilst a report from a testing company is prepared.


We still have cats prowling at night. I haven't seen them in the daytime for awhile. Garfield comes to mind. There was a fairly decent solo performance the night before last.


Today is the first day of Lent. I have decided to give up singing.


It has been slow going with the latest book I have been reading, Washington a life, by Ron Chernow. Usually, I breeze through just about anything I'm reading. This book is so full of information it takes awhile to digest.
I'm looking forward to some fiction.


I saw another squirrel the other day.

that's two in 25 years

I dare you and other challenges

.

I was reminded, while reading another blog, of the silly things kids do when challenged.
Maybe I should rephrase the last part of that statement.
Things I did as a kid when challenged.
My folks had gone out for the evening. They had called a babysitter to watch my sisters and also keep track of my brother and I. We had finished eating and I was in the back yard waiting for my brother to finish washing the dishes. In any other home I might have been helping, but somehow it wasn't worth the trouble so dish washing duties were rotated. In fact we weren't even allowed to be in the same room.
When the dishes were done we were going to play catch. I was on the back lawn tossing the ball into the air and catching it. Actually I was pretty much minding my own business. It seemed like my brother was taking forever. To a kid five minutes seems like forever. I was getting a little sloppy throwing the ball into the air. At this particular moment my finger slipped off the ball such that I released it horizontally rather than vertically. I flew in a relatively gentle arc toward the house and struck in that one spot directly between the double-hung windows over the kitchen sink. I was in a little bit of awe... or shock. I'm not sure what my brother was feeling. He opened on of the windows and made some sort of wise-ass comment. I'm sure I responded. Then I heard those magic words. "I bet you can't do that again!"
I can't even remember if there was any further discussion. If there was it didn't last long. The warden woman watching my sisters didn't have time to react before I let fly again, this time with a little less arc and a little more speed. My brother must have closed the window. The ball did not hit directly between the double-hung windows over the sink. Instead it went through the pane of glass in the lower half of the window through which he had just been hollering.



It may have been the loudest noise I had ever heard up to that point in my life.
My brother and I weren't going to have a game of catch that night. Fortunately, for me, my parents weren't nearby so there was going to be a somewhat delayed reaction. In fact it wasn't until the next day that their reaction became apparent.
It's funny, though, because about the only thing I remember about it is that I now know how to glaze a window.

my brother knows
a lot about guilt
by association

.

Still Inconvenient

.
The cleanup folks will be back again today. They have to dust remove the residue from the sanding they did to remove mold so a testing company can come in to check that the mold is removed.
The big even today, though, is a roofer will be here to begin repairs so the leak will be gone. That is provided it isn't raining.
The current outlook is pretty good.

can only see
to the north
from right here

.

Go ahead. Ask

.

You: What in tarnation are you doing up this early on a weekend morning?
Uncle Skip: Huh?
You: Are you going fishing?
Uncle Skip: What? ...No! It the first Sunday of the month again. You know Grandma Skip and I help at the community breakfast over at the Frontier Senior Center every month.
You: Oh, yeah, right. What's that about anyway?
Uncle Skip: The Senior Center has the breakfast every month, except July, to raise some of the funds used to run and maintain the center. They also have a thrift store. There are times, too, when space at the center is rented out for receptions, meetings, reunions and other events. All of the income comes back to the center for operating it.
The Frontier Senior Center is owned by the senior citizens and they raised all of the monies to purchase the property and continue to raise the money to operate it.

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What pony

.

In a comment yesterday reference to a pony. Here is the story:

The joke concerns twin boys of five or six. Worried that the boys had developed extreme personalities — one was a total pessimist, the other a total optimist — their parents took them to a psychiatrist.

First the psychiatrist treated the pessimist. Trying to brighten his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with brand-new toys. But instead of yelping with delight, the little boy burst into tears. “What’s the matter?” the psychiatrist asked, baffled. “Don’t you want to play with any of the toys?” “Yes,” the little boy bawled, “but if I did I’d only break them.”

Next the psychiatrist treated the optimist. Trying to dampen his out look, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with horse manure. But instead of wrinkling his nose in disgust, the optimist emitted just the yelp of delight the psychiatrist had been hoping to hear from his brother, the pessimist. Then he clambered to the top of the pile, dropped to his knees, and began gleefully digging out scoop after scoop with his bare hands. “What do you think you’re doing?” the psychiatrist asked, just as baffled by the optimist as he had been by the pessimist. “With all this manure,” the little boy replied, beaming, “there must be a pony in here somewhere!”

The story is attributed as being one of Ronald Reagan's favorites.

I like it anyway

.

The saga continues

.

"I found water." He said. In essence, we were being told what we already knew. The water spots on the ceiling had been caused by a leak in the roof. Only now it is official rather than an assumption. There are also more holes in the ceilings and walls of two different rooms. Also there is a huge plastic tarp on the roof. The big air handler is still sucking air through the HEPA-filters to keep the mold from infiltrating and now they've brought back a dehumidifier so the damp wood in the rafter dries out so it can be sanded to remove mold.
A roofing contractor was brought in to look at the exterior of the roof. His verdict is that the valley was installed wrong.
The last we heard yesterday is they will call to let us know when they will be back next.
We still have yet to hear directly from the insurance company since the second adjuster, in Ohio, called last month to say he was now on the case claim.

it's nice to have a plan

Inconvenience revisited

.

You might just see the watermark to the right of the anchor for the chandelier. Then maybe the damp spots. One is in the corner, another just shy of the corner. You can read more of the story here.



If you've been keeping current, you know that the cleanup company has been visiting us regularly. First to make an assessment. Then to dry out. Then to further assess whether there were hazardous materials issues and/or mold.
It turns out it was "or mold." Some remediation is required.
That was as of last Friday.
The cleanup company came yesterday, the first day anyone was available, and began the remediation process. It might be called construction before destruction.

This is how it looks now.



Note there are now holes where the water spots were before and that part of the wall has been deconstructed.

it's chilly with those
french doors opened
.

Odds and ends

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Sometime last week, probably Wednesday or Thursday, was the 1000th post on this blog


The cleanup company is due back today. The drying was all done last Friday, but this will be the first work on what's known as remediation. When they're don with that, reconstruction starts. In each instance the insurance company has to sign off before anything further can be done. I guess that's why they felt it was better to have an adjuster in Ohio handling it instead of someone from here?


The building pictured in the post yesterday is the actual building where we used to play. There were a number of old places like that in the area, some even bigger than that. Most were built in the latter part of the 19th Century as summer homes for the rich folks in San Francisco.


The cat(s) have moved the campsite, but are still patrolling and disrupting sleep. I kinda wish the dogs that get loose in the neighborhood could time their runs for when the cats are in the yard.


It is raining again.


Somebody's having a birthday today.

there may be a third cat

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This isn't about a haunted mansion

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Knucklehead wrote a post last week, followed by a post by Suldog on Monday about childhood mayhem innocent fun. their posts reminded me of those days.



It is kind of about growing up in my neighborhood.
Yes, the building in the picture is in my old neighborhood. Except back in those days it was painted a different color and wasn't in nearly as good shape as now. It is, believe it or not, a school. Just as it was back in the old days. The main difference back then was that most parents didn't want their kids anywhere near the place because they considered it dangerous and the parents who sent their kids there weren't exactly mainstream. Like that alone would keep kids away. Heck! It was the so-called dangerous stuff that made it attractive.
Okay, so it didn't have any grass play areas. Neither did the public schools back then. It didn't have any paved areas, either. As close as I can tell, it still doesn't have grass or pavement.
Back then the play equipment was pretty rustic. You know. The kind of stuff kids really like to play on. There weren't any swing sets. There were rope swings... lots of them. They had things kids could climb onto so they could get a really good start on the rope swing, kinda like from a tree branch like Tarzan or Robin Hood. Or, a kid could ride a bicycle right by the rope swing, grab the rope, and let the bike keep rolling until such time as gravity or the lack of inertia took over.
Then, of course, there was always the possibility that if there were more than one kid, they'd all want to be on the same rope swing. So the first kid would swing off the fake tree branch and swing back and the next kid would jump on. Then when the swing came back another kid would jump on. I think the most kids on the rope swing was five.
There were horizontal bars, like gymnasts use, scattered throughout the school grounds, too. It was fun to ride bikes under them and grab on while letting the bike continue. I wonder if any dads ever figured out how those bikes got bent forks, bent wheels, broken chains and other damage?
Even ten years later, when my kid sisters were growing up, parents were still forbidding their kids from playing there. How do I know this? Sooner or later the probability that a kid will have a relatively serious injury, like a broken arm or leg, will occur. My youngest sister was the victim.
It was a really great place to go play because there were always other kids there; there weren't any major traffic thoroughfares nearby; and our parents never thought to look for us there because we weren't allowed to play there. The best thing about the whole place was we could use our imaginations.

There is a certain irony in writing about my kid sisters, who are ten and twelve years younger. At the risk of incurring their wrath, I will tell you they are both older than Suldog.