Crap We're About To Be Flooded (It Happened)
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Topic: Crap We're About To Be Flooded (It Happened)
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Subject: Crap We're About To Be Flooded (It Happened)
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 18:54
|
I'm not kidding.
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Replies:
Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 18:59
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I'll pray for you and your home if that's all right.
------------- https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 19:27
| Appreciated, my friend. The rains have let up for now. We were about a 1-2 vertical feet away. I can't get that damn Peter Gabriel song out of my head now. It's nice living between two creeks most of the time, but I think this is the second 100 year flood I've seen since I moved into the house. If you don't know what a 100 year flood is, that's a weather trend for an area that's used in designing retention ponds, etc. |
Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 19:32
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I am glad the rains have let up. I am praying they stop so no harm befalls you or your property.
------------- https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays |
Posted By: J-Man
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 19:42
Yeah, hope all goes well, Brian
------------- 
Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime |
Posted By: jammun
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 20:00
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I'm hoping for the best for you. Um, regarding that 100-year flood thing, we've had about three of those here in the Seattle area in the last ten years. Fortunately I'm on somewhat higher ground, 'cept for that creek that runs out back. Get the music to high ground! ------------- Can you tell me where we're headin'? Lincoln County Road or Armageddon. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 20:53
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Thanks folks. We're all still in hurricane season around these parts. It can get rough and often devastating. I know you know this Mr. E. My sister is in the south of Tampa area.... |
Posted By: Plankowner
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 21:15
I'm East of Tampa.. and my sister lives in Atlanta .. 
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Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 21:25
|
Stopped my video game to check up. Is everything okay buddy?
------------- https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays |
Posted By: Any Colour You Like
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 21:25
| Hope everything goes well, nature can be fickle sometimes. |
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 21:58
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Seriously, Brian, wishing you the best of luck. Just spent thousands fixing up the basement after it flooded, badly, on our version of "100 year" storm about six weeks ago. This is how it looked down the street from us:
Others in nearby Ft. Washington, PA, were a bit worse off:
|
Posted By: Garion81
Date Posted: September 16 2009 at 22:20
Hang in there. While you have rain we have fires ------------- 
"What are you going to do when that damn thing rusts?" |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 17 2009 at 06:42
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We survived. It was a close call though. I've been here for over 10 years and it was probably one of the most unnerving evenings I've had. Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers. I took a couple of pics last night to share but it was too dark to catch anything worth sharing. Sorry we couldn't share any of the rains with you Garion, it would have snuffed your fires out for sure. If that hurricane that hit south of you had just been a little more cooperative. Then again when it rains heavy I know some areas of California have landslides. Here's pic of my back yard flooded a few years back:  If you go all the way back to the horizon of this pic, that's where the creek bed is. You can see my old pickup truck top submerged out in front of the shot. Well, best luck to everyone out there whenever severe weather hits you. |
Posted By: Garion81
Date Posted: September 17 2009 at 18:33
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Rain? Whats Rain? Haven't seen any in this parts in months. Fires and Landslides go hand in hand. Once the brush has been burned off the hillside then comes the rains to wash all that loose dirt down to the bottom ergo Mud slides.
Very happy to here you survived unscathed except for your wits. (As in scared out of)
 -------------
"What are you going to do when that damn thing rusts?" |
Posted By: J-Man
Date Posted: September 19 2009 at 11:45
I'm happy to here you're alright -Jeff -------------
Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime |
Posted By: CPicard
Date Posted: September 19 2009 at 11:56
| It makes me think I have to call my parents: there are some flood/water problems in Provence. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 05:16
| It finally happened. We woke up at 3 this morning with the water coming in the floor. Got the truck and car to high ground in the nick of time although the truck was acting up. Grabbed what we good. The rains aren't over yet. |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 05:23
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. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
|
Posted By: progkidjoel
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 05:24
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Hey, just found this thread...
Terrible stuff, hope everything works out for you 
How are things now? |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 06:01
| We're camped out at the office now. Will probably spend the week salvaging. Fortunately my CD collection is up high as are my home computers a/v equipment. So being a creek flood rather than a river flood, things aren't going to be too bad. I'm thinking the house is probably toast and we're going to have move out and abandon the site rather than rebuild. We'd need the floor to be about 3' higher to be safe. I'll keep you guys updated. For now not much to do but wait for the waters to recede. |
Posted By: progkidjoel
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 06:09
^Very sorry to hear about your house 
I can't imagine losing my house, and I can only hope things get better from here on in.
-Joel |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 06:40
Oh no, Brian ! Keeping our fingers crossed, and sending positive thoughts your way !
|
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 08:02
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Sorry to hear this Brian, hope you haven't lost anything irreplaceable as a result. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 08:07
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Slarty, just noticed this. Very sorry to hear this, there can't be much worse than to have your home flooded. That sucks. Seems like half the planet is either flooded or on fire at any given moment.
------------- ...that moment you realize you like "Mob Rules" better than "Heaven and Hell" |
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 15:29
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Hi Brian, I just saw an article on CNN about the rain and flooding in Atlanta and I thought of you and this thread. I hope that everything turns out alright for you. I've had my basement flood numerous times, but I am fortunate that it has never made it up to the main level of the house. ------------- 
|
Posted By: J-Man
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 19:07
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I am so sorry to hear about your home. I'm sure you can pull through this. You'll be in my prayers and thoughts. -Jeff -------------
Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime |
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 19:34
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Brian, I am so sorry to read this. Best of luck to you and your wife through the tough times ahead.
|
Posted By: jammun
Date Posted: September 21 2009 at 20:54
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Just stumbled onto this as well, as in your house did actually flood. Hoping for the best for you...I've had two-three inches of water in the basement (coming up through the slab!), and that's bad enough. ------------- Can you tell me where we're headin'? Lincoln County Road or Armageddon. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 22 2009 at 22:17
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Well, guys, I had to go back and see the last news I gave y'all. What hasn't been more than 30 hours or so have seemed like weeks. We went back a few hours later. The waters had receeded, but we were just equipped to peek in, found the water level had peaked at about 2-3 feet above the floor inside the house. It wreaked havoc. Totally rearranged a lot of the furniture. Knocked the refrigerator on it's back. Haven't had the chance to check out my electric guitar and my synthesizer. Each got wet on one edge. The amp and this sampler I had are toast. Still a lot of things above that level have indeed survived. Now we're engaged in triage to save the salvageable. Still many more in this area were not as lucky...
Spent our first night in Hotel 6 aka Hotel 666, way too pricey for a bear bones operation. The mattress was horrible and there were definitely some hookers in some of the rooms near-by. We decided to get the hell out of there and checked out a few others in the area. Found a good one that was much nicer and they took pity on us and gave us a discount. It's a nice suite to decompress in.
Signing off for now from a better hotel room (wife has a laptop).
Thanks all, Brian aka Slartibartfast.
|
Posted By: jammun
Date Posted: September 22 2009 at 22:53
------------- Can you tell me where we're headin'? Lincoln County Road or Armageddon. |
Slartibartfast wrote:Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 23 2009 at 01:49
Thanks for a little humor there, do I need lifting? Actually I need sleep, but it eludes me. By the way I will share pics eventually, but it will be selective. If you look at my sig, which will probably become permanent, look (squint) at the first panel. If you notice the black box, that was my original CD player from many years ago, it's resting on a surface that the water came within about 2 inches of. The second panel has LPs, followed above by the beginnings of my CDs alphabetically followed by some books followed by my most valued LPs above. All the LPs below the CDs are soaked by the foul flood waters, basically ruined. The third panel has another view of the wall that has my main CD collection. At the top there's some old computer game boxes, not ruined, most of my architectural books and some miscellaneous books and things below, all probably OK for now, but like everything else in the room, getting damper and stinky and will be part of tomorrow's salvage operation. The last panel shows my old music VHS tapes, still high. And the panel below that shows the entertainment center in the living room. The TV got soaked about 1/2 way up along with a few DVD's. Don't take too much pity on me though. As I've said, lots of people in the area fared worse. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
|
Posted By: progkidjoel
Date Posted: September 23 2009 at 02:10
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^^Very sorry to hear about the LP's Slarti - I hope the majority of them remain untouched
Sounds like there's some crazy weather about - This happened this morning in Sydney, there was the biggest dust storm a lot of people have ever seen in Australia, supposedly it flew in over 1000 Kilometers.. All the best -Joel |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: September 23 2009 at 07:00
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Brian:
|
Posted By: akamaisondufromage
Date Posted: September 23 2009 at 07:35
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Last time I looked at your thread Mr Bartfast it seemed you had missed the worst - now it seems you were not so lucky.
I know you said not to feel too sorry for you as others were in worse situation but I am really sorry for you both to have had to go through this! I've seen it happen in this country and it can be miserable.
I hope you get things sorted and can get back to normal as soon as possible! My thoughts are with you !
Its called the sea.  ------------- Help me I'm falling! |
Posted By: Garion81
Date Posted: September 23 2009 at 16:18
|
Good luck Brian. 2-3 feet of water in a house cannot be good. Good grief! I hope you recover quickly. I have been evacuated twice from fires but never had any damage. One time it was 10 days! I cannot imagine what you are going through. Has the area been declared an disaster area by government? If so you will probably get some help from the Feds.
-------------
"What are you going to do when that damn thing rusts?" |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 23 2009 at 18:00
Oh yeah, I've heard about those dust storms, yikes. We're looking into what additional aid we can get. I'd really like to just get bought out and move on. Today we finished moving the major electronic items out. Got a climate controlled storage unit for my CD's, etc. Will probably move into a small apartment next week. The house wasn't really big so we'll adjust OK. But paying rent and house payment at the same time will be a burden. Looks like we'll have no choice but to move back in. We didn't indulge in any of that funny mortgage, but still it will be hard to sell. If we manage that route, there are lots of foreclosures out there. My original dream was to scrape the old house off the lot and rebuild with a two story with a higher bottom floor that was energy efficient of my own design. (I work in architecture and solar houses was one of the things that got me interested in the career). We're in a warm climate so I was envisioning lots of screened in porch areas. Thanks again everyone. I need to drop by later and engage in some other topics to take my mind off all of this. Right now I'm working up the household inventory form and printing up floor plans for the adjuster, after I finish this post, that is. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 23 2009 at 18:15
|
wish I were there to help you, you're attitude is amazingly positive |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: September 23 2009 at 18:32
| Same here! I wish I could do something to help you and your wife. Even as useless as I feel now, I'll keep on sending positive thoughts your way. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 24 2009 at 21:41
|
I have to be positive because otherwise I'll break down. It is rather heartbreaking to go a house you've known for 15 years that you can no longer live in. And when you go inside, there's mud all over the floors and the smell is awful. But you just have to look at the bright side. None of us died evacuating the house. My wife's car lasted until yesterday but will be fixed tomorrow. Still having difficulties with my truck, which makes the salvage operation more problematic. The clean up is going slow but I wrapped up the day taking the last two bays (as seen on the right side of the first panel of my signature, going in reverse alphabetical) of my CD collection to the storage unit. I'm going to put them back in their shelves in the unit so I can access them. Before Friday is over, I will have "rescued" the rest of my collection. Only about 10-15 of the more recent ones in my entertainment center were waterlogged. We're going to get an apartment to get by while the repairs are being done. Not looking forward to apartment life or the fact that we won't likely be able to do anything else other than move back in after the cleanup. But if as they've keep showing people saying on TV that this was the worst they've ever seen, then maybe we shouldn't worry, but it will probably be a long time before we can sleep when thunderstorms occur. Thanks again everyone. I'll share some pics before too long. |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 25 2009 at 02:40
Good luck Brian, we are all thinking of you and your wife,  (all be it with an overriding sense of helplessness that we can't be with you shovelling the mud from your home and helping you drying out your possesions  ).
My parent's house used to flood on occasions, even with flood-barriers on every door and a ready supply of sandbags, we'd still get caught out by flash floods that occured when we weren't prepared. For us it was only ever a couple of inches of water and the damage superficial, but the musty smell of damp and ditch-mud would hang around for weeks after. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 25 2009 at 02:46
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Brian I can't imagine what you're going through, I just hope the new life you have after all this will somehow be as much a gain as your loss |
Posted By: JJLehto
Date Posted: September 25 2009 at 11:19
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Seen the pictures man. Holy crap indeed. Best of luck to you, everything will be fine in the end man. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 25 2009 at 17:06
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Did you see the one where the house was flooded and on fire (burning down) and there was a flooded out firetruck nearby? Yikes!!! Well, a little update. We met with the flood insurance adjusters this afternoon and we are feeling much better. I don't know how it is with adjusters for regular home owner's insurance, but these people are independent and really on your side. They were a husband and wife team based out of Oklahoma and travel all over the country doing this. Got all my CDs and DVDs safely in a conditioned space. We're due another round of heavy storms tomorrow. Probably not as bad as Monday morning, so maybe it will just wash away some of the deposited mud. Sunday, we'll bust open the stuck dresser drawers to rescue clothes. I have some LPs and we have some books to box and get to storage. Then there's posters and other wall art to rescue. Our bikes, dishes, foodstuffs that were untouched, in particular my cases of Death Sauce.  After that, I think it's pretty much a matter of hauling everything to the curb. My library room computer desk is a Rubbermaid plastic job, so all I have to do is hose it off. One step at a time and before you know it, I'll be back to annoying people in the other threads. |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: September 25 2009 at 17:09
| We miss your jokes... |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 25 2009 at 17:10
|
^ yes we do |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 25 2009 at 21:40
Herea are some pics: The Bridge In Winter Of This Year  Shot of the bridge towards the house afternoon post flood. I carried the last stuff out of the house as the creek water was getting close to crotch level on the bridge. The rail is on the side the side where the front creek water usually flows from. There is no rail on the opposite side yet. Fortunately at this level, the creek wasn't flowing too hard.  The back door into the kitchen. You can see the flood line. 31" was measured in the living room by the flood insurance adjuster.  Didn't quite get to top of bed level in our bedroom. All the dresser drawers are stuck. We'll be tearing them up with a crowbar to save the clothes. The drawers are swelled shut. Pics from my wife's camera:  From the early evening after the initial floods, rains returned and the water is coming back up to the underside of the bridge.  This view is from the same early evening. This is the front creek. Across the way you can see our nearest's neighbor's driveway. That driveway and the grass you see in front were all under water during the initial flood. It got back over the bridge curb level after we left to go back the Hotel 666. |
Posted By: jammun
Date Posted: September 25 2009 at 23:59
|
Slarti, jeez louise that's not good.
Not to trivialize your situation, but weren't they having prayer thangs for rain down there last year? I seem to have read something about arid conditions.
FWIW, here in Seattle they are issuing warnings that a dam may fail this winter, and suggested we get flood insurance. Our house is at maybe 400 feet, at least 100-200 feet above the river that would be causing problems. If we flood to that extent, believe me the flooding of the house (while not good) will be the least of our worries, since we'd essentially be living on an island. ------------- Can you tell me where we're headin'? Lincoln County Road or Armageddon. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 26 2009 at 19:20
Yeah, I'm still waiting for Guvner Scummy Perdue to apologize for that. The irony is not lost on me. If they tell us on the local news that we are still in a state of drought, Ima gonna have to git me a shotgun and shoot all those morons I see. Well, I shut the windows in the house and cranked up the window air conditioners full blast. Seems to be doing some good. I turned on the circuit that the fish tank was on so they'd get water heating. Took a load of cookbooks to storage and put up my most of my CDs. Here's the collection in shuffle mode (I just got them on the shelves by the handful without regard to order:  Here's the CDs that didn't make it:  We got an apartment lined up today, it's decent but the rent is more expensive than my house payment, but it's a nice place. We're due to move in Tuesday, but we'll have to slowly get replacement furniture. Tomorrow its back to salvage. Still haven't made it to the clean up phase. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
|
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 26 2009 at 19:38
Tori!.....  ------------- What? |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 27 2009 at 06:49
|
Yeah, these are just the cases. the discs were in a 50 CD "jukebox"
player and were above flood level. And since this was the deluxe
release of Tori's new one I actually had the part of the case that
wouldn't fit above flood level. Unfortunately any paper sleeves are now slimy and the booklets in the "jewel" cases are ruined. It's really weird. These were most of the new CDs I got in 2009. All my Umphrey's were soaked. The Umphrey's DVDs escaped harm. The CD exception for UM was Mantis which was an oversized paper cover so it was above the flood. I seriously thought about pulling all of those cases out as we were rushing to get things up and and out of the house as the waters were rising. I do care probably a bit too much about my musical items. I kept going back in for things as long as I felt I could do it safely, Got my acoustic guitar out. The most difficult rescue was the cat. Unfortunately, Squeaky has disappeared. She was an outside cat for quite a while after I first got the house, but has been kept indoors for about 10 years. I hope she will find her way back home. |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 27 2009 at 06:53
|
Cats are very resilient creatures and genetically programmed for self-preservation (hence the 9-lives thing) - I'm sure she'll show up once she realises the danger has past - fingers' crossed anyway. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Wilcey
Date Posted: September 27 2009 at 07:33
|
I'd missed this thread, but Brian, wow, A big load of love coming your way! It must be dreadful to see the water rising and have no way of controlling it. Sorry to hear about your losses and damage, I sincerely hope for you and your wife things get sorted out as best they can as soon a possible. R x |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 28 2009 at 07:01
|
Sunday was fairly uneventful. After checking on the house, I went by the office to do some bill paying and update my electronic checkbook. I use MS Money by the way which I understand is about to be discontinued. Fired up my synthesizer. Very pleased to see it still works despite having a corner that got wet. I don't have a pic to share yet because I think I left my connector cord back at the office. I picked up two sturdy plastic shelving units. Then we spent the afternoon taking a crowbar to our dresser units to salvage clothes and wash them at the mega laundromat. Most of everything cleaned up nicely. Will be trying to use the truck today to move books and LPs into storage. It hasn't been running smoothly, Hoping the gas additive will do the trick, but I suspect there is more damage to the electronics that will cause it to conk out. But maybe with a few trips to the storage unit the bad gas will be worked out and we'll have her running good again. The road back to a "normal" life is going to be hard one. I'll continue to use this thread to blog and vent. It's really weird dealing with the basic logistics of salvage, dumping, and clean up and then we have to deal with getting new furniture and repairs to the place. There is the possibility that we will qualify for a demolition and rebuild or a raising of the house. I know this old house too well, it's not suitable for a raising. It's going to be an "interesting" six months ahead. Would really like to get back to doing some reviews and crossover team evaluations. All in good time. Thanks again all for your best wishes. |
Posted By: Easy Money
Date Posted: September 28 2009 at 07:29
|
Just a little advice on any salvaged books and album covers that are more or less OK but smell bad. If you have the time or space lay the items made from paper or cardboard in the sun (remember the sun, it's been raining constantly here too, just northwest of you) and it will clean that smell up. I just salvaged a massive record collection and some books from a mildewing garage and have been going through one by one and pulling out the stinkers and letting the sun cure them, it works.
Best wishes. P.S. outdoor sun may be too harsh and cause warping, indoor sun filtered through windows might be better except for some really tough ones. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 28 2009 at 19:02
|
Thanks for the tip. I just got the surviving LPs and more books to storage, unfortunately all the books and LPs that came in contact with water are pretty much stuck together and "toast". Granted we will be having a few sunny days. Those CDs cases in my entertainment center are slimy. On the plus side, three of the cases in the entertainment center did dry out reasonably. Everything under Baku Llama is probably not salvageable. A lot of our old photos fared well though the albums are wrecked. By the way, we're having trouble with pictures that covered by plastic in the albums. If anyone has tips on how to deal with those it would be appreciated. The truck seems to be behaving well enough to use to transport items to the storage units. We should be in our new apartment tomorrow evening. I hope we don't get too spoiled having two bathrooms. The house only has one small cramped one. We've been really dead at work, which has been a sort of fortunate thing. I'll be going in tomorrow morning though, some stuff has actually come up to work on. If we hadn't been flooded I'd have been twiddling my thumbs anyway. Still, so much work to be done other than work work. Hopefully we'll be fairly settled in to the apartment after this weekend. Thanks, all. PS, would you believe The Incident is turning into the music that will remind me of this time? |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 29 2009 at 08:13
 Here's my keyboard on a drafting table in one of the upstairs offices at the house office. I'm thinking about setting up as my temporary music room as long as we aren't busy enough to need two additional people to help with projects. We're down to basically the three of us until business picks up. (President, Vice President, and me the President Of Vice or something ) Here's my acoustic, which was one of the items I rescued from the house as the flood water was coming in. There's my library room computer and printer. If all goes well today, I may be checking back in with y'all this evening from the apartment. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 30 2009 at 07:29
|
Day 10 Everything has changed and nothing has changed. Spent a full day at work yesterday and then some. Didn't get out until 8:30 PM. Of course forgot to get my meds so I'm back at work picking up some things I had stored here including computer components. Hopefully I'll be able to check back in from the apartment this evening. Picked up some Indian food from Zyka last night. Makes you feel much better than you could know. Had a good night's sleep on the air bed at the apartment. I think my wife is still asleep. Didn't try to wake her before I left. Lots of moving to do today. I we can certainly count ourselves lucky. Between the house office, two storage units, two different hotel stays, a wrecked house, and now an apartment, we have never been truly homeless. Well, its off to the house next to pick up a couple of appliances and some cords. Let's see if I can make it back to the apartment before my wife wakes up.  |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: September 30 2009 at 07:57
| Any news about your cat? |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 01 2009 at 08:06
|
The cat is hanging out around the yard. I still haven't been able get her, but I think she's eating the food I leave out. We also have ravenous possums around... I'll be taking her to the vet for a little boarding and petcare as soon as I can get a hold of her. She's still fairly freaked out right now. We're still a little freaked out, too, but settling into our new living quarters and taking care of the tasks at hand, of which there are many. |
Posted By: horsewithteeth11
Date Posted: October 01 2009 at 20:21
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Just happened to notice this thread. You and your wife will be in my thoughts and prayers over the next few months. Keep us updated on all the important info! ------------- 
|
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: October 01 2009 at 20:25
|
Brian, just want to pause to send some positive thoughts your way. Hope things get better soon dude.
------------- ...that moment you realize you like "Mob Rules" better than "Heaven and Hell" |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 02 2009 at 07:56
|
Thanks again everyone. Came in to work a little early. Still waiting on phone hookup at the apartment. Gas won't be on until Tuesday, so no hot water. Can you believe we already have cable TV service but no phone or gas yet? Arrgh!!! Still working on the salvage phase. We have dishes, bikes, wall art, some books, towels, clothing, sheets, a bed frame, a Rubbermaid plastic computer desk, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting, to get out. I drove my truck into work today. It's behaving for now, but there's a noise I haven't put my finger on yet. We're about to hit the stage where everything that needs to be moved now can be moved by car and my wife's is working fine. Turning in the rental today. FEMA's going to pay us a visit at the house this afternoon. Maybe by this evening, I'll have internet set up at the apartment. We've been luckier than others for such an awful event in our life. And then I hear about new flooding, sunami's, etc. occurring in other parts of the world... |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 03 2009 at 14:31
| Hello all from the office. One of the fortunate things about having an office converted from a house is that we do have a functioning bathroom here. Since we won't have functioning hot water at the apartment until Tuesday, I have opted to take advantage of that. We have a replacement bed on the way to be delivered today. The air mattress has been decent but this is one of those things we decided to go ahead and take care of. Nothing else new worth reporting on. Phone wont be on until the 8th. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 05 2009 at 07:59
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Day 14 Looks like we're in for a miserable rainy day here in Atlanta though not as miserable as two weeks ago. Hopefully in the next few days the gas will be on so we can shower and the phone will be on so we can have internet access. May actually be busy at work all day today. Haven't completed the salvage phase at home but may have that wrapped up by the end of the week. |
Posted By: Garion81
Date Posted: October 05 2009 at 13:44
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What a nightmare! Looks like you have some things taken care of but it never can be easy. Stay focused on what is important. Good luck.
-------------
"What are you going to do when that damn thing rusts?" |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 06 2009 at 08:17
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Drizzly miserable morning on the way in to work. Then I saw Monty Python is 40 and all is right with the world for another day. And with some luck we'll have hot water at the apartment this afternoon. Maybe I'll wake up soon and this will have just been a horrible dream. Eh, the struggle will continue. We shall see if it's true that that which doesn't will kill you will make you stronger. Then that Chinese proverb/curse comes to mind: may you live in interesting times. 2009 will not be a year I'll look back fondly on. Let's hear it for 2010... |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 07 2009 at 08:09
| Great news (mews?) on the kitty front. I dropped by the house yesterday after work and saw Squeaky in the back yard. She was about to run under the house but I coaxed her over. She followed me around as I set her up with a couple of carpet sample beds on the back porch and some fresh water. So apparently the possums haven't been getting all the food I've been putting out. Will treat her to some wet stuff this evening. She followed me around to the front door and into the living room a couple of times. I guess she's getting a grasp on what has happened. Maybe quicker than I am. This morning woke up to thunderstorms. Depressing. But life goes on. |
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: October 07 2009 at 09:50
| You'll get through, Brian, you both will - so glad to hear your cat is alright. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 08 2009 at 07:39
| What a contrast to yesterday morning. The sun is out finally. On a lighter note the cat keeps trying to run under the house whenever I come around with food and then she sees its me. One can almost forget what happened, almost. A lot of hard work ahead this weekend. Still have stuff to salvage and damaged stuff to itemize for the insurance company. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 20 2009 at 10:36
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Well, four weeks after the flood and I barely got my truck out of the rising waters the transmission gave out and took the engine with it, so if you just heard a screaming sound off in the distance, that would be me. My wife and I have decided that the least painful option would be to get them replaced at $3,200. Aaaaaaggggghhhhh!!! Trying to keep in good spirits about all of this. |
Posted By: Jim Garten
Date Posted: October 20 2009 at 10:53
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Brian - for some reason, this thread has passed me by; just read through it & all I can say is fair play to you for somehow keeping an element of your humour throughout this appalling experience (flooding & fire are the two things I absolutely dread as far as my house is concerned).
Certainly sounds as if Squeaky is slowly coming to terms with the situation - as Dean says, they are a resilient species & she will recover from this experience (to be honest, probably quicker than you will). Brian - my thoughts are with you as you go through the process of salvage, reconstruction & return to normality (or whatever passes for normality in your somethimes very strange mind  ).
Hang in there Brian & very best wishes, Jim ------------- 
Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 20 2009 at 12:18
| Much thanks. Squeaky's doing well. We had a couple of frosty nights, so it's good we've made her comfortable inside the house. We brought our pepper plants inside, too. They weren't doing too well the last cold night before but have perked up and we can put them back outside as the weather warms up, their season is about to come to an end. Stay tuned, I'll keep the thread updated as things go along. If all goes well, we'll get past it in a few months, but I don't think we'll ever get over it. One of those extreme life altering experiences... |
Posted By: Angelo
Date Posted: October 20 2009 at 15:35
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Craps, Brian. I missed this completely - thanks to Dean for pointing me here. Good to read that you are recovering from the mess, but still pity these things happen. Hang in there! ------------- http://www.iskcrocks.com" rel="nofollow - ISKC Rock Radio I stopped blogging and reviewing - so won't be handling requests. Promo's for ariplay can be sent to [email protected] |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 21 2009 at 19:00
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^ That's OK best wishes are always appreciated even if "belated". On the good news side, I am finally writing from "home" as in the temporary apartment. The cat's still doing OK. The pepper plants have apparently liked the warmer local indoors more than they have missed the sun. Still have two tropical fish doing well. Lots more work to do around the house, lots. If you walk around the yard you'd hardly notice anything had happened. Rains have washed away the mud. Inside the house it's a different story. The mold has done it's worst and the inside environment seems to have stabilized. The word from the county is that if your damages are over 50% of the value of the house you can't do a fix it up job. We've exceeded that according to the adjusters. I'd really like to knock it down and do something elevated that would put the house floor above that 31" flood level. Things will continue to get more interesting for sure. Sigh. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 22 2009 at 12:53
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This thread should still remain interesting for a while. We are officially in an area where the county says the house can't be repaired in place, it will have to be raised, up to six feet. We will be able to get a grant for up to $30,000 from FEMA to do so. I am still skeptical it can be done successfully. Having done so will make us much more comfortable when heavy rains happen, to say the least. Flood repairs will then be done after the raising. Stay tuned. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: November 02 2009 at 21:22
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Six weeks now post flood. The folks with the county roads and drains department appear to have become swamped and unresponsive. I need their input and inspection before I truly move forward. Salvage takes a lot of time but is about to enter the last phase. Still need to land a contractor. Things don't go neatly or according to plan or in an orderly sequence. I visit the house every day and it's home and yet it it is also the remains of home. Hard work and time and good luck and it will be our home again before we know it. October really whizzed by. I think for most people time does seem to accelerate as you grow older. Sometimes it moves into high gear but we still seem stuck in the mud at the same time. Anyway, so far, so good, so exhausting. I am surrounded by Indians. Of the Asian variety. Decatur has a large immigrant population and the apartment complex is right next to a Hindu temple. So many of my neighbors are Indian and you regularly see them taking a walk to the temple from the apartment complex. I still find it fascinating despite having lived in the area nearby for many years. Being a lover of Indian food, you can't help but love it when you catch the aroma of a neighbor's cooking. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: November 10 2009 at 10:31
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Wow, just completed the inventory and replacement costs of the DVDs that were soaked: Room Item Age Serial Number/Model Number Replacement cost Living DVD 4 Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume Four 25.29 Living DVD 6 Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume One 25.39 Living DVD 5 Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume Two 25.39 Living DVD 7 Barbershop 9.69 Living DVD ? Blazing Saddles 30th Anniversay Special Edition 7.95 Living DVD 11 Brazil Criterion Collection Box Set 41.69 Living DVD 5 Chappelle's Show Uncensored: Season 1 14.75 Living DVD 5 Chappelle's Show Uncensored: Season 2 14.75 Living DVD ? Clerks 8.49 Living DVD 11 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 28.65 Living DVD ? Fish Called Wanda, A 13.55 Living DVD ? Flintstones, The: The Complete First Season 33.25 Living DVD ? Flintstones, The: The Complete Second Season 35.95 Living DVD ? Friday 7.95 Living DVD ? Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The TV Series 28.49 Living DVD ? Jabberwocky 13.55 Living DVD ? Kentucky Fried Movie 7.09 Living DVD ? Kingdom Come 9.69 Living DVD ? Monkeybone 6.55 Living DVD ? Monty Python and the Holy Grail Special Edition 23.95 Living DVD ? Monty Python Live 14.29 Living DVD ? Monty Python's Life of Brian The Criterion Collection 31.15 Living DVD ? Monty Python's The Meaning of Life 13.59 Living DVD ? Ren & Stimpy Show, The: The First and Second Seasons Uncut 31.29 Living DVD ? Fighting Temptations 6.99 Living DVD ? Schoolhouse Rock 15.45 Living DVD ? Head (Monkees) 12.99 Living DVD ? Reefer Madness 9.79 Living DVD ? Time Bandits 15.76 Living DVD ? Caveman 9.69 Living DVD 2006 Clerks II 23.39 Living DVD 2006 Borat 9.69 Living DVD 2006 Robot Chicken: Season One 25.39 Living DVD ? Big One, The 15.05 Living DVD 2002 Bowling for Columbine 10.29 Living DVD 2004 Fahrenheit 9/11 11.69 Living DVD 2004 Orwell Rolls In his Grave 12.79 Living DVD 2004 Outfoxed 15.59 Living DVD ? Roger & Me 9.75 Living DVD 2004 Super Size Me 9.79 Living DVD ? the awful TRUTH The Complete First Season Volume One 14.59 Living DVD ? the awful TRUTH The Complete Second Season Volume One 14.29 Living DVD ? Bird 15.99 Living DVD ? Something New 9.29 Living DVD ? Dance With Me 6.55 Living DVD ? Ray 10.35 Living DVD ? Shrek 2 15.19 Living DVD ? American Blackout 9.75 Living DVD ? Quantum of Solace 27.79 Living DVD ? Casino Royale 23.99 Living DVD ? Jackie Brown Collector's Edition 15.29 Living DVD ? Jacob's Ladder 6.99 Living DVD ? Monster's Ball 10.05 Living DVD ? Pulp Fiction Collector's Edition 15.25 Living DVD ? Twin Peaks - The Definitive Gold Box Edition 65.19 Living DVD ? Wild at Heart 35.95 Living DVD 2005 V for Vendetta 8.79 Living DVD 2005 Fantastic 4 9.69 Living DVD 2001 Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings Box Set 24.69 Living DVD 2003 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Box Set 25.69 Living DVD 2002 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Box Set 25.09 Living DVD ? Twilight Zone: Season 1 (1980's) 54.15 Living DVD ? Twilight Zone: Seasons 2 & 3 (1980's) 51.96 Living DVD ? Koyaanisquatsi 9.69 Living DVD ? Somewhere in South America…Live at Teatro Coliseo Buenos Aires 13.59 Living DVD ? Patti Labelle: Live One Night Only 15.19 Living DVD ? 1984 26.99 Living DVD ? 12 Monkeys Collector's Edition 23.39 Living DVD ? Alien Quadrilogy 47.69 Living DVD ? Back to the Future: The Complete Trilogy 26.59 Living DVD ? Blade Runner 43.79 Living DVD ? Day After Tomorrow, The 21.49 Living DVD ? Donnie Darko The Director's Cut 13.55 Living DVD ? Dune 8.79 Living DVD ? Matrix Reloaded 8.05 Living DVD ? Matrix Revolutions 9.95 Living DVD ? Matrix/Matrix Revisited 9.09 Living DVD ? Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan The Director's Edition 12.79 Living DVD ? Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Special Collector's Edition 19.99 Living DVD ? Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Special Collector's Edition 19.99 Living DVD ? Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 12.99 Living DVD ? They Live 10.25 Living DVD ? Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy 10.29 ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: akamaisondufromage
Date Posted: November 10 2009 at 17:06
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On a tangent and only slightly related to this and to your name mr bartfast. But have you listened to the original BBC Radio version of 'Hitchhikers' ?
I'm sure you have silly question really concidering! ------------- Help me I'm falling! |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: November 10 2009 at 17:20
Is there a point in doing the replacement cost calculations? I supposed it's quite upsetting. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: November 10 2009 at 20:14
Just part of finishing off the claim. There's a personal property damage portion for the insurance and there's damage to the house structure portion I'm not sure if I'm just too numb to get too upset at this point.
Done the books, the TV show, the movie, but haven't experienced the radio show yet... And having my house flooded, I can certainly sympathize with having your house run over to make room for a hyperspace bypass... |
Posted By: akamaisondufromage
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 12:50
Yes what you need to do is go down the pub. Sorry for being off thread as it were - but you really should take a listen. I have always thought it was the best version. Although, as it was my introduction to H2G2 I might be biased. It is a different experience as more is left to your imagination. I only mention cos some if not all of it is on You Tube take a listen.
 Its always good if you need cheering up in any way!  ------------- Help me I'm falling! |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: December 11 2009 at 13:32
| One of my bosses expressed an interest in salvaging some of the flooded LPs I had. I pulled out a couple of sections. Contrary to what I had thought, there were some irreplaceables. Darryl Way's Concerto For Electric Violin and Wolf. Some Miroslav Vitouses, Some Thijis Van Leerses. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: February 09 2010 at 21:24
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“But after a while you realize time flies And the best thing that you can do is take whatever comes to you...” Well, I realized that time flies a while ago and I don’t think it has anything to do with Steven Wilson being born a couple of years after me that I understand a lot of the sentiment on the album. Me, I’ve taken a couple of months off posting on my flood experience here. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow??? I am convinced that the 21st is cursed. The flood happened 9/21 and more recently I was in a head on collision that totaled my truck on 1/21. Guess I’d better be careful on May 21st… We’ve resigned ourselves to another six months in this apartment. So we’ll probably be here when the first anniversary of the flood comes. On the bright side, we’ll have access to a pool over the summer and can exercise at the apartment gym. The status of the house is in limbo and now I’ve committed to a truck payment for the replacement. It’s kind of weird how my life flows around water. My grandparents raised my parents in a small town near where the Kentucky River flows into the Ohio. I remember when Hurricane Camille came over the family residence way back when we were living in Virginia. My Mom was living in Falmouth Kentucky when it flooded back in 1997. Barely made it out. I’ll count us lucky. |
Posted By: moe_blunts
Date Posted: February 09 2010 at 22:27
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Glad you're safe, buddy.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/moe_blunts/?chartstyle=minimalDarkRecent"> 
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Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: May 03 2010 at 09:32
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How's it going there Brian? I heard on the news this morning that there was flooding in the Atlanta area, and I immediately thought oh oh, not again. I hope that this storm isn't effecting you. -------------
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Posted By: Gamemako
Date Posted: May 03 2010 at 11:39
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It's not that bad in it Atlanta. Minor road flooding, but that's about it. Nothing like Tennessee got. Krog Street tunnel isn't a canal this time and I don't think the Great American Scream Machine is back to being an underwater roller coaster.
------------- Hail Eris! 
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 03 2010 at 13:03
Thanks for asking. I'm going by to see the house after work. Still don't know if the buyout is going through. There is some small comfort in living on the third floor of an apartment. But, yeah, this area just got severely whacked by storms. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 20 2010 at 21:36
| Coming up on the first anniversary of being flooded out. I did a browse to relocate this thread and found a couple of other personal thread postings of people flooded around this time last year. No good news to report here, so I'll just wish my fellow flood compatriots the best. |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: September 20 2010 at 21:57
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Brian, what do you mean "no good news"?? Sure hope things have gotten much better for you since then.... ------------- ...that moment you realize you like "Mob Rules" better than "Heaven and Hell" |
Posted By: Trademark
Date Posted: September 20 2010 at 23:33
| Well, we just had a whole slew of tornadoes up this way. My daughter's house was pretty much destroyed by two big trees that got thrown on top of it. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 21 2010 at 06:58
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I should also extend best wishes to all out there who are still or just dealing with a home disaster. Thanks for the question Finn. We're stuck in an apartment. Still having to keep a house payment going and mow the lawn, so the county property police don't go after us. No one with the country has been able to tell us anything about when or if a buyout is going to happen or what funds we'll get. We were told the paperwork was in the hands of GEMA (Georgia FEMA) and thanks for being patient. Contacted GEMA and they said the funds were being held up in Congress and that the county didn't apply for funds for the 9/21/09 floods, but did apply for flood funds for the year before. Considering that there were no major floods in 2008 that I can recall and most certainly know September of 2009 was really bad for the whole state, that doesn't make any sense. Either I was given the run around or the person who called me back didn't know what they were talking about. Anyway, trying to keep in good spirits about the whole thing. About to move up the chain of command in county and state government. The squeaky wheel is about to get squeakier. |
Posted By: Jim Garten
Date Posted: September 22 2010 at 04:55
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You give'em hell Slarti!
Some friends have just (just!) avoided a similar situation on Newfoundland which was hit by the tail end of Hurricane Igor yesterday - all seems to be well with them though... -------------
Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 22 2010 at 06:38
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What's kind of interesting, the worst flooding I've seen at the place wasn't due to hurricanes but just due to heavy rains. We've had two or three come through the area and it wasn't so bad at the creeks. The last one that came through was so bad that when I was driving home from work, I had to make several detours due to road floods to get home, but no house flood. In the continuing saga of the house, my wife invited one of those "we'll buy your home in any condition guys" out to take a look. They're usually a rip-off, but we figured what the hell? The guy wouldn't even make us an offer. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 29 2010 at 04:28
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Goddammit. Well, the official word is that a buyout is 1-3 years away. No choice left but to get on with the repair and move back in to a house that will likely flood again. And just to make things more interesting, my job is up in the air. Things are just not looking good. Not fishing for sympathy, just needed to vent. "You put your cleanest dirty shirt on Then you stagger down to meet the dawn..." XTC |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: September 29 2010 at 06:26
Sorry to hear that Brian. 
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Posted By: jammun
Date Posted: September 29 2010 at 22:04
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Slarti (aka Brian) so does the buyout entail the structure (your house) and the land, or just one or the other? Not even sure why I'm even asking this. I ain't no lawyer, but I'm just thinking. If my house was flooded/destroyed, I'd be thinking about selling the land, since the land is more valuable than the structure on it. YMMV. Sorry to hear about your job. Mine is really up in the air as well, as in I probably have employment through 10/15. After that I'm assuming company sez, sorry bud, yer on your own. I thought it would be 9/30, but there's a major software release on 10/9 and they need a warm, though by their assesment incompetent, body to suck up some work. Hey, it's $ in the meantime, so I'll be the slutty prostitute until they finally determine I was the one that gave them that nasty disease and all subsequent dealings cease and desist.
------------- Can you tell me where we're headin'? Lincoln County Road or Armageddon. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: November 15 2010 at 07:08
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Sorry for the late reply. It gets tough, but you have no choice but to attempt to deal with it. The county isn't moving that I can tell on the buyout, so a rebuild and move back in is in the works. We have looked into selling off the property, but no one is buying, period. You really have mixed emotions. I had been there for so long. Invested much money in the bridge replacement for which I am still in debt thanks to an incompetent contractor. Well, 2010 wasn't a kind year for me, so I'm putting 2011 on notice. It didn't work for me in 2009. It didn't work for me then, but I keep up hope. Bring down the rain. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: December 07 2010 at 18:33
| The "game" is on. We did a major clean out effort last weekend. The roof has been stripped and damaged deck replaced. Rotten fascia pulled off. Interior demolition, not yet. My wife attempted kitchen cabinets on Monday and really wore herself out, didn't quite complete the uppers. We'll have to take care of interior finish work, but he expects his part to be over where we can move in by December 27. No more speed bumps. The thrill of worrying about another flood during the next heavy storming, but I am so looking forward to getting out of this apartment complex. |
Posted By: manofmystery
Date Posted: December 07 2010 at 18:52
Solution to a government problem - become part of the government -------------  Time always wins. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: December 08 2010 at 22:08
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A bit disappointed by today's developments. When I got to the place last night they had cleared out most of the utility room and some of the music room. Unfortunately, there was a bit of stuff we wanted to salvage we had set aside there. It was all in a pile outside the front door. Came back early in the morning to try and set the save stuff aside. Rescued some laundry which included my misplaced Les Claypool Bucket Of Bernie Brains cap. Also the rafts we used to use going down the Chattahoochee. Haven't been down since that last trip where it stole my original wedding band. Already salvaged the air pumps and oars, so we're good to go again when so inclined. The wife came back a few hours later and the crew was on site working and had cleared out everything to the dump bin. Sometimes you just have to let things go. So after work today, I visited the house. Nice progress. They did in a few hours what would have taken us days as far as demolition and clear out. We had hoped to do that ourselves and save some money but were so beat from the weekend clean out. Most of the gypsum board has been demo'd from the interior. Have some fresh replacement siding installed at the wood siding areas of the outside. Makes things smell rather fresh inside. Stay tuned for more progress reports if you want. I'll try and work in a few pics. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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