Wonderful Wednesday

[Irmi]

Good morning everyone!

The weather has been absolutely wonderful since Irene left our area. Today is the third, and hopefully last day that I have taken off from work to clean our house from the flood. We had 18 inches of water in the living area of our house but we are getting to the point that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The water levels outside are beginning to recede, the water is out of the house and things are falling into place to eventually be able to move back into the house.

I haven't been on the computer much since the flood, so I hope everyone is ok. Take care.

[Paulette]

Was sorry to hear of your flooding Irmi. Our power went out here around 10:30 Saturday night and finally came back on last evening around 7:30. Lost the entire contents of my fridge and freezer. I didn't imagine it would be off for so long or I would have moved the good stuff Into the rv! Oh well. The fridge needed a good cleaning anyway! Three trash bags full! Yesterday morning I leveled up the rv in my driveway so I could turn the fridge on. We had been going out there and running up the genni to charge phones and watch a bit of tv but my driveway is not level so I don't usually run the fridge out there or extend the slides. I'm just thankful that there was no physical damage to anyone or thing.

School was supposed to start on Monday, but because of the power outages and road closures they didn't start till today. So this morning the DgD got on the bus! And after 4 days, it is definitely time to get some cleaning done in the house. If I don't vacuum soon I'll be needing a rake!

Hope everyone has a great day. Weather here in MD is perfect. Hoping Lori and the sultan have a good trip to ga today and tomorrow.

[HorizonSeeker]

Oh Irmi, I'm so sorry to hear about your flooding. After all the misery here in Nashville last year from the flooding I have a greater respect for those who go through it. Sounds like you are ahead of the curve now and on your way to getting things back together.

I'm heading out to the lake this morning to test out a new kayak. Still have my Sea Eagle but added a hard shell that I bought off Cragslist yesterday. Will not be on the water from Thursday through Monday because there seems to be some kind of stupid disease that boaters get over the holiday weekend and I tend to avoid them. Need to work on the house and Seeker for my upcoming move any way.

[Nasoosie]

GOOD MORNING IRMI, PAULETTE, HORIZON AND ALL!

What a mess, Irmi! We have some places around here, on the other side of the mountain and in the valleys, that suffered the same damage. Vermonters are still inundated and many are trapped over there. I do not envy the horrid job of de-mudding and sucking up water.

We really had it lucky up here in the mountains of the Adirondacks, unlike those down in the valleys and lowlands near Lake Champlain where the flooding damage was legend. Some of the nearby towns on the other side of the mountain are so damaged and still without power. All of the rivers and streams and lakes and ponds overflowed big time and with amazing power of rushing water and mud and floating debris. Bridges that had been in place forever washed out, roads were undermined and washed out, houses were invaded and washed off their foundations, had walls washed away, trees downed, and more and more. When you have no power, can't get from your home or shelter to get groceries and other needs, and can't even begin to imagine shoveling out mud and debris from your property, I can only imagine that you would want to throw in the towel, abandon whatever you can't find that are treasures, and start over somewhere else. The main road (73, I think) between Lake Placid and the Northway, I 87, is closed due to washouts and rocks and debris all over it. They are rerouting all traffic onto route 3 west to get to the highway south.....good thing you got out when you did Carol!

We have several smaller trees down on some of our property roads here, but nothing compared to some others. No trees on the leanto or the cabin down at the pond, thank heavens. The brooks here are high and slighlty overflowed, and the pond drain pipe is sucking the extra water out like a giant vortex! Our power was out for less than a day, unlike others who are still without power. I feel very lucky.

Those who are still complaining about the weather warnings need to have their heads pinched! Weather has never been in the control of humans, and never will be. The best we can ever hope to do is better understand climate patterns, use radar to follow storm paths, predict as best we can where storms will go and how strong they will be, warn those in the paths to take precautions, and then sit back and see what ultimately happens. Those who believe all the warnings were just a hype by the news agencies should come up here for a visit. I would like to personally muzzle the poo-poohers and tell them to fend for themselves the next time around. People think that weather should be a science as predictable as math equations and laws of gravity-----WAKE UP! Weathermen do the best they can with what we have in this day and age.....take it or leave it.

There, I feel better now! I hope Cedar and Kathy and others down in the valley might have power restored by now, or will have shortly. It will be a long time before the towns of Jay, Upper Jay, Keene, Keene Valley, and AuSable Forks get shoveled out and back to any semblance of functionality. Places in Vermont are still isolated and accessible only by helicopters to deliver water and food and first aid supplies.

My friend, Kathy, came through her surgery ok last evening, and I will go to the hospital in town to pick her up today, if they will allow her to go home. Her daughter has to work today, so I offered to be her taxi....I only hope she will be able to get up into my very high truck! I may have to crane her up there, along with the use of my footstool.

Other than that, I will begin to get my leanto cleared out for the coming winter I guess, and make sure I still have everything I need in the trailer so that I can leave from my daugher's house for the trip south after the baby birth. I need to have my local RV place inspect and winterize before I haul it north to her house, too.

I hope you are all safe and having fun somewhere, or doing something special that will allow you to laugh!

[bluepinecones]

Good morning, all
I'm up way too early again as the tree service people are back - hopefully will finish today. They made good progress yesterday; got the 4 largest trees down and a couple of others trimmed. One more to come down and about a dozen more to trim, all overhanging house. I was a nervous wreck watching them yesterday just waiting for a giant limb to crash thru roof or side of house. All of this requires a climber up in trees to rope and cut then swing branches to ground; pretty amazing to observe. These are huge old trees with some limbs extending more than 20 feet out over roof. Know it will cost a lot more next summer to cool the place with so much shade gone. Maybe I'll save enough on not having to have the gutters cleaned so often to make up for part of that.
Irma - so sorry about the flood mess you're dealing with, been there done that and know it is no fun.
Stay safe out there.

[avalen]

good morning, gotta go

[Liz]

Good morning from western NY. So sorry to hear about all the trouble Irene has caused some of you. Irmi, what a mess you must have to clean up. Wish I was closer and could lend a hand. Power is still out in so many places. I still can't get ahold of my sister in MA, which tells me she is without power. I hope her son-in-law was able to get over there and get her generator started. When I talked to her before the storm and asked her if she had it ready, she wasn't too worried as they don't need heat yet, but suspect she wasn't counting on long-term loss of power to refrigerator & inability to charge my brother-in-law's power wheelchair, the sump pump if her basement is flooded, etc.

I'm using my time this week to take care of some business...got some RV insurance quotes and decided on AARP/Hartford Motorhome Plan that Beth had recommended awhile back. Next I need to see about transferring title to my car to my daughter, since I've decided to give it to her. It's not towable with out a dolly, so doubt if I'll ever take it with me, and no sense it having it sit most of the year. It'll be one less expense registering, insuring, & maintaining it.

Sarah, glad you are finally able to get the trees taken care of and now the roof. Hope your sister is improving.

Wishing all a safe and productive day.

[Acadianmom]

I'm with you Soos on the people that don't listen to the weather warnings. Most of the people that died in Irene were the ones that didn't get out early or stay put and not drive around. It's a pain in the behind to have to evacuate and nothing happens but better than being stuck without power and water for days.

Sorry you lost all your food Paulette. Been through that before. I need to get some bottled water to freeze in case we lose power. I have never tried that but it's suppose to help. There is a tropical wave in the Caribbean that is suppose to move into the Gulf by the weekend. It could turn into a tropical storm and they can't say yet which way it will go. Would be nice if it was just rain and it would go into Texas since they need rain so badly. My DH must not be paying attention because he hasn't said anything yet. I was planning on going to my sister's for the weekend but will have to see what the weather does.

Martha

[dayspring39]

Good morning everyone, we had a few sprinkles last night but not enough to even cut the dust! Yes, Soos we can never predict exactly what the weather will do!
Irmi Glad you are back in your house but sorry for the awful mass. So many have suffered in this latest storm.
Sarah, glad the trees are coming down safely and that you will be able to get your roof done.
All is well here in normal. Take care and have a good day,
Kathleen

[cpatinjones]

Good morning everyone!

The weather has been absolutely wonderful since Irene left our area. Today is the third, and hopefully last day that I have taken off from work to clean our house from the flood. We had 18 inches of water in the living area of our house but we are getting to the point that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The water levels outside are beginning to recede, the water is out of the house and things are falling into place to eventually be able to move back into the house.

I haven't been on the computer much since the flood, so I hope everyone is ok. Take care.

Irmi, I am so sorry to hear that you had flooding in your home from Hurricane Irene. My heart goes out to you. I know how stressful just thinking that flood waters could or might enter your home can be. I am happy to hear you are almost complete with the cleanup. Keep the faith.

[JoanE]

Sorry to hear about problems caused by Irene. My sister lives in upstate NY. They lost power but she has a generator. Unfortunately, the generator would not work..needed a starter battery? Anyway, long story short, by the time they got what they needed and got the gen started, their power was back on. Lots of damage in her surrounding areas. Roadways totally washed away. Most of the smaller bridges are gone. Many people still without power. My relatives in Long Beach NY, which is where I thought the brunt of the storm would hit, did fine. Some flooding and power outages but mostly okay.

[rvgrammy1953]

Oh, Irmi, sorry to hear about the flood...but glad the clean-up is going well....Hope Steve has TV to watch....

[Bethers]

Oh Irmi, what a mess you've had to deal with. We'll make sure to take extra care of you and Steve when you get here - you'll need a break big time. I'm glad the worst is over, and that the weather following Irene has been so pleasant.

I also learned just how lucky we were that the manager here happened to run into a PPL supervisor on Monday -or my guess is we might not have had power restored until when they told us or even yet - as down the road from us was still without power this morning. I don't know if it's been restored yet or not. I remember being taught years and years ago that there is one thing that is the most critical for life, and also causes the most damages in our lives - and it is water. I sure do have a big respect for it.

I cannot believe that tomorrow is the start of September. This summer just flew by - literally flew.

LIz, I see you are still "downsizing". No need to have that car expense while you aren't anywhere near it. And buying another car if/when the time comes, really isn't hard.