Enough is Enough is Enough

I don't know what sweet Nemo did to anyone to deserve having this latest weather ClusterF**K named after him.

I'm not all that worried about the snow amounts. If I lived further north or east I would be.
I am worried about the damn wind gusts - hurricane force at the coast they say.
Here in NJ our coast can't take much more.

This is still sitting out there

Although the storm surge is not predicted to be anywhere near as high as Sandy's there is so little left to protect us.

This morning Hope asked if we had enough gasoline for the generator. Even the little ones have become pros.

Then again there are those who wait until the last minute. I went shopping Wednesday for all things storm related. I passed Home Depot last night and it looked like the circus was in town.

What do people do with their shovels from year to year? How could so many need so much?

Right now I'm charging everything I can think of and making sure batteries are where they should be.

I try to have empathy for the utility workers but if power goes out and stays out I may need to beat the crap out of someone.

Then again, look how fragile it all is

I found these photos of Hope during her first snowstorm in 2010, she was 6 months old.

I love her face in the 2nd shot.

It seems to say "Enough."

Stay safe kids

I'll Hook Ya Up

During Hurricane Sandy my son did all he could to take care of his family and his neighbors.

He hooked up 4 other homes and created a schedule where everyone could have enough power to cook and warm the house or charge their electronics.

The kitchen was power central.

Cords then went down to the basement for the sump pump and out the basement window for a neighbor behind us. More cords went out the kitchen window and across the street or over the fence to the house next door.

The guy across the street created a secondary hub and taped it to the trash can so that it wouldn't get pulled into the street and run over.

We also told people to far to reach by cords to come by to charge stuff or use our stove to cook something.

The generator itself is missing from the photos because twice a day Jeffrey would take it over to his friend's house in a nearby town so they too could do what we were doing. It was easier to take these photos when the generator was gone since the noise and smell are horrid.

A week after power came back my son said he thought he still smelled like gasoline.

Speaking of gasoline. During one of the long waits on a gasoline line my son and Hope (who loves going anywhere with Daddy) witnessed the start of a fight between two men over position in line. Just as it looked as though it was going to get ugly my son started to pull away so that Hope didn't have to see this side of folks. As he began to back up Hope shouted out of the window "That is just not nice. It is not nice at all. Do you know how to share?"

People in other cars started laughing at the two men and with Hope. They tooted their horns and gave her thumbs up while she smiled from ear to ear and waved.

Two guys walked away with heads down.

I'm proud of my boy and his girl.

Herding Water

It started raining Friday morning. And it rained. And then it rained. And then it really rained.

In the wee early hours of Saturday morning the wind became frenzied. An endless whistle punctuated by roaring gusts. The kind of wind that either mutes all other sounds or distorts them into something ominous.

Is that the trees moving? Or is there an army of ninjas crawling on the roof?

Our backyard and the suburban crap sprawl beyond it inclines toward the house. Not the smartest groundbreaking move but it’s really fine as long as you have a french drain around the foundation.

We do not have a french drain.

We do however have a lovely lakeside view.



From the basement you feel as though you can reach out and touch the lovely lake.



Our basement flooded the first spring we lived here. That’s how we learned about french drains (and the lack of) and sump pumps.

The backyard lake sweeps toward the foundation into the well in the laundry room. The sump pump handles the flow and spits it back out.



Unless the ground is saturated to the consistency of cottage cheese. Unless it keeps raining and raining and raining.

Then the sump pump needs help.

After our inaugural flood we bought an industrial type pump and yards of hose and yards of extension cord.

My son pumps the lake before it gets to the well. The well is grateful and keeps the water from entering the laundry room.

It is a fine makeshift system that requires minimal manual assistance. Just position the pump correctly, lay down the hose and plug it in.






Then the power goes out. Then the dark creeps in. And the wind picks up.

My son bailed the water out of the well and into buckets. Then he heaved the buckets up and out the little window.

Armed with the biggest broom ever made I stood outside the little window. I pushed the giant puddles away from the house and toward the slight dip in the concrete that would send it out to the driveway.

Not since we put up the Christmas tree together has there been such camaraderie.

”You have to push faster! The water is coming in too fast for me to bail”

“I’m pushing as fast as I can!!”

“Don’t shout at me”

“I’m not shouting. The freaking wind is so loud I can’t hear myself think”

”Well you’re shouting”

There is a huge crashing sound and something flies by my head. A giant tree limb lands at my feet and does a dance before moving on.

”What are you doing out there?”

“I’m ducking”

“What? There are ducks out there?”

He continues to bail. I continue to sweep. We are just barely staying ahead of the water.

A clank. A sickening tearing sound. A huge bang.

The wind has lifted the latch of the pool ladder. The ladder crashes open to the ground.



I had been standing there a moment earlier. Thankfully I had taken a second to drape myself across the BBQ. My ankle was swelling and the muscles in my back were burning.



”What the hell was that?” says the voice from the basement.

“The ladder fell down”

”The ladder?”

“The pool ladder”

“Can you latch it up again?”

“Why!? In case some child wanders by in the dark during a freaking hurricane and decides to swim in a covered pool?”

Silence from the basement.

Even deafening wind can not drown out the sarcasm of my last nerve.

Three hours and then … let there be light.

The pump started up. I could hear Jeffrey thanking God and Jersey Central Power & Light.

I don’t know how to even begin to describe the conditions under which the utility people and the police and fire people have been working. Thank You!!

We lost the sweet little tree I’ve been mothering. I had hoped she was getting better but her roots were too weak and the ground was too wet and the wind was too strong. She showed her appreciation by just missing the pool, the shed, and my neighbor’s fence. She fell gracefully.




It’s still raining …

Wired To Fail

Technology is killing me.

Add to that the fact that apparently NJ is a freakin' third world nation that can't keep electrical power going.

Yes - I have bitched about this before.

We have had more power outages than usual the past few weeks. Once I think someone spit somewhere and NJ thought it was raining. Then there are the drunks running into conduit boxes and poles.

The standard line around here if power goes out on a Friday or Saturday night is "Must be closing time at Fridays"

My server and router and thingie and do-hickey are all wired in the basement. It is a lovely rats nest of wires and clamps and plugs. The more important a connection is the deeper it is buried.

Amidst all this chaos is the power surge protector and battery back-up. It's the black box next to the other black box behind the larger black box. It connects everything to electrical power through a series of tubes - just like the way the Internet runs.

Lately the black box goes berserk when power is restored. It emits a high piercing shriek and the system shuts down. Do not ask me why but the only way to fix this is to pull out all the connections, shut down the main switch, walk around it three times chanting and then sprinkle pixie dust.

Long ago I gave up questioning why things were done the way they were and I stopped challenging so called experts. If I hadn't I'd be in prison right now. Or dead from that last nerve I'm living on finally snapping.

Computer guy blames electrician #2.
Electrician #2 blames Electrician #1.
Electrician #1 has not been heard from since I threw him out of the house screaming "I'll fucking kill you. I'll kill you so hard that the next 5 generations of your whole fucking family will die"

Trust me - he deserved it. On a good day he was only 3 hours late and slightly drunk. He didn't see any problem with the range hood causing the outdoor lights to go out.

Today the security system guy decided to join the cast of this long running farce.

The battery in the main box needed to be replaced. Period. Just that. Only that.

Since I can't run up and down the stairs like I used to I had to leave him down there alone for a few minutes while I signed for UPS packages.

That's when the high piercing shrieking began.

I throw myself down the stairs muttering "WTF" to find alarm person fussing with computer cables.

Why?
Because they were there
Because he thinks he's an expert
Because he has a penis

"I can't get this to stop shrieking" he says. "Do you have official pixie dust?" I ask.

I would have shut down the system but it had already crashed. That was a time saver.

I pulled all the plugs and told him to replace the battery. He tried to tell me the electrical supply for the box was in the wrong place but he took one look at my face and backed away slowly. The electrical supply for the security system box has always been there, has never had a problem. If he wants to put his own personal mark of creativity on something he should paint or sculpt. Otherwise - replace the battery and leave before your future generations are in peril.

Once he left I crawled around the rats nest and reconnected everything. Then I booted the system, redid the FIOS nonsense, reset the Internet crap and had a cocktail.

It's windy tonight so there's a good chance the power will go out.

Hope I have enough pixie dust.

btw - I turned comments off on the slice of cake post - I just wanted to say thanks and didn't want people to feel they had to thank me for the thanks.

Yo! NJ, You're Not In Kansas Anymore

At 6:12 yesterday evening the sky went dark, thunder crashed in a boom that shook the house and lightening crackled like daggers from the gods.

At 6:14 the lights flickered.

At 6:15 they flickered again.

At 6:21 all the power went out.

I got out the lanterns and candles telling myself that it really wasn’t necessary. There were two hours of light left and surely this would be over way before then.

I went out to the carport to watch the storm – it was impressive. Dark swirling clouds that appeared to be going in every direction at once. Heavy sheets of rain that fell straight down until the winds drove them sideways.

When the wind turned from swift to howling and the hail started I went inside.

Much earlier in the day I had secured all the outside stuff – small planters and light chairs, I anchored the BBQ and cut off the gas connection. I put the patio umbrella in lock position and laid it down against the house.

In other words I prepared for the storm that every TV and radio station had been warning us about for hours.

I truly need to take over the electric company.

I understand wind and lightening and trees don’t go together. I get that virtually all lines here are above ground. I get it, really I do.

What I don’t get is why no extra crews are called in until after the power goes out. The weather service said the storm was 100% on its way.

I don’t get why the customer service number doesn’t have automatic updates. If you can program it to say – “there are widespread power outages, we are working …” then you can program a device where a person enters their zip code or phone number and gets a real estimate of how long power will be out.

You sure as hell shouldn’t have your system tell people all circuits are busy and then hang up on them. You’re responsible for power for millions of people – get a freakin’ IT person.

And people. People! For the love of God. Sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph – as my Mom loved to say – take some responsibility.

If the tree in front of your house has branches and limbs leaning on power lines then call the damn power company and tell them. They’re actually really good about that. They come, they make it better. I’ve done it many times.

And snooty bitch in the supermarket this morning – don’t call the power company and tell them you have downed wires when you don’t. You divert from people who really do. And sure as hell don’t brag about it in front of your kids and everyone on the deli line.

So anyway …

The power was out for 12 hours. Thankfully it wasn’t terribly hot so opening the windows made the air bearable. Although I did discover at least 10 new people around me who I truly don’t like. The power is out – it is not the end of days. Stop shouting to each other, get off your fat ass and walk the 10 feet across the driveway to have your scintillating discussion of whether or not you should go get ice.

And comfort your children and pets. It’s dark, the sky is lighting up and the earth is booming – don’t yell at them you pre-historic tub of beer and chips. Even in the total darkness I can see your neck is red and your trash is white.

All in all I try, as always, to put things back into a state of graceful perspective.

Some folks still don’t have their power back. I discovered that on the way back from the supermarket as I calmly observed people not having a fucking clue as to what to do when a traffic light is out. Gee – I suggest we all just floor it and hope for the best.

People in Iran stand on rooftops and take their lives in their hands to shout for freedom.

NJ can’t make it through an intersection.

Here are some shots I took last night …

Poor Siren did his "fearful aggression" pose and licked himself incessantly throughout the storm. Deaf and Dizzy Mia slept through it all.
I know Si Man well enough to let him be when he's trying to melt into the wall. I just spoke to him lovingly whenever he glanced my way...



There was a storm lull at sunset and the sky was pretty ...



My house is afraid of the dark ...



The candle lit kitchen looked pretty from the carport ...



The lantern at the side door was less romantic and more functional. My son came home from a double shift to find no dinner and the pizza place was closed. We BBQ'd bacon ...



The brake lights of an asshat who speeds down a dark street and then discovers it has a sudden curve ...



My neighbor's son finds me hilarious. Last night I called his solar lights and LED lantern "glowing orbs" and it made him giggle for hours ...



My stationary fan in the light of the glowing orbs. The shadows freaked Siren out so I spent most of the time in the dark. I wish I could have captured Mia's reaction to no lights - she shuffled into the living room at about 3AM and I swear she did a spit take ...



One last thing --- I’m taking a break from SATURDAY WORDZZLE. I have a lot distracting me and I find I only enjoy posting when it comes to me, and how it comes to me. I’m also finding my photo blog to be very relaxing.

I kinda need that right now.