The Storm (February 23rd to February 27, 2010)

Starting Tuesday, February 23rd, snow started falling in our area. Finn's school was closed that day and the rest of the week. By Thursday, February 25th, snow started falling a lot faster. Finn and his friends started playing outdoors.


Finn sits in the cave that he, David, Gray, and Emily built.


Looking through the tunnel.

Gray yanks David out by his feet.
Just before I got Jennifer from the train I took a few pictures.



Jennifer, as we got home.

Shortly after we walked in the door, the power went out. Lola investigates a flashlight. I was able to make dinner by lighting the stove burners with matches.

Not content to sit in the dark after dinner, I decided to go for a ride back to the train station, which is on the river, to take photos. Before I left, I took this shot of the street we live on.


This is the train platform at Beacon station.
The hill down to the train station.

I waited for this train to arrive to shoot it. It stopped on the tracks and did not leave for half an hour.

The forward end of the train.

The train as it arrives from the north.

The dock to the ferry that takes you to Newburgh.
When I was taking these pictures, Cara called me around 9pm and said the power was back on. So, I went home. Pulling into the driveway, I got stuck and it took my neighbor Flip and his daughter Susan to help me get free again.

Cara helped me clear the driveway in anticipation of there being a lot more in the morning, when I would have to clear out a path and get Jenn to the train. She was ecstatic, playing in the snow and pelting the house with snowballs. Jenn and I went to bed, Cara stayed up to play video games because she was wired with adrenaline.

All three of us saw blue and green flashes that we believe were the power lines arcing. About 12:30 a.m. Friday, I woke and the power was off again. I warned Jenn to set her alarm on her phone, and we went back to sleep. When we got up to start our day at 5:30 in the morning, the power was still off. I checked the train schedules and weather reports with my cell phone. Jenn showered with candles downstairs - we still had hot water as the hot water heater requires no electricity.

I went out side to shovel so the car could get out.

Ready for work, Jenn stepped outside and snapped a shot or two with her cell phone. At least 12" had fallen overnight.

I carved a path to the car, where Cara left it at the end of the driveway the night before.

Jenn posing before we leave for the train.

A payloader runs ahead of us on the way to the station. It went to DIA Beacon, an art museum.

An Amtrak waited at the station. They never stop there, so you know something is wrong when they are there.


When we drove to the station we went to the riverside, where we always go. On a normal day, Jenn goes under the tracks then up between them to the platform to board the train. That route was blocked off because the wet snow flooded the tunnel. You can't tell too well but I threw a snowball into about 6 inches of water to demonstrate that there is water there. I drove Jenn around to the other side of the station, where she can take stairs over the tracks to get to the platform. I went back to the riverside to take some more pictures.

On the hill that leads away from the riverside of the station, a Smart car was buried since the night before.
I then drove home, knowing Jenn was safely on her way to NY.

A tree across Rombout Street, which runs parallel to ours.

A tree down on Main street.

A tree down near DIA Beacon.


Our dogwood bows under the weight.

I was low on gasoline so I went to the only station that appeared open and operating. I filled the tank and went home. Power did not appear to be coming on any time soon. The power company advised us to seek shelter elsewhere if we lacked heat (which we did). I set a few pots on the stove to boil water to keep the house tolerable. That got the temp back to 70F from 62F. I bagged snow from outside and set bags in the refrigerator and chest freezer.

As I cleared the driveway I saw my next door neighbor and asked how they were. They had generators and wood stoves, and they were bailing their sump by hand. She advised me to do the same. When I went to check on it, it was indeed full, almost to the basement floor. I bailed it out.

When I was done with that, Cara and I prepared to go to NY. We packed up the bird, but left the cat. Her boyfriend joined us and we headed south on Rte 9D to the Bear Mountain Bridge. Only a mile or so from the bridge in Garrison, a tree was across the road, but on the shoulder there was a gap that some were driving under on the shoulder. The ruts were very deep and we decided it was a bad idea to try. We turned around and went to Rte 403, then Rte 9, to Peekskill and turned North on route 6 to the Bear Mountain Bridge and we made it to the Palisades Parkway on the other side of the river. That highway was largely clear but some spots had a lane closed due to a downed tree. We cross the Hudson again on the George Washington Bridge, got to Jenn's hotel, and called it a day. We had a decent dinner, bowled at the Port Authority, then went to sleep in warmth.

The next day I decided to go home for fear that the basement would be flooded and the cat frozen. Cara stayed behind to help Jenn at the hotel, and Vinnie went to Beacon with me.

I got home and found that the basement was not flooded - the sump had filled again, but did not overflow. The cat was alive, and the house had only dropped to 52F. The snow in the chest freezer did not melt at all, so I knew the entire contents were at most 32F. The snow in the refrigerator melted, so I knew some things in there had to go, but it wasn't a total loss. Relieved, I sent messages to Jenn that I would bail it, warm up the house, feed the cat, then return to NY.

I set pots boiling on the stove again and soon the house was warming up. I had to light the burners with matches, again. I decided to take a little break in the kitchen and gather my thoughts when I heard clicking. I looked at the stove, where the noise was coming from and realized that it was the burner ignition making the noise. I was puzzled. Then I saw that the clock was blinking and the power was back. I did not have to bail the sump again because that started right up.

Sure the power was on for good, I told the girls and they decided to come home. We avoided total disaster for a change. It was exhausting for all of us. I missed work entirely on Friday.

Sunday After the Storm

Looking down the streetOur backyard. The neighbor's arbor vitae are bent over our fence, and our dogwood lost a small limb.

Our house.


Images from around town.

Winter Diversions

(Warning: boring)

Some people watch football playoffs. I fix things.

The faucets on the clawfoot tub upstairs (dropping some adjectives there, ain't I?) have been dripping since we bought the house. I always took care of it by tightening the packing nut or wrenching the stem in as hard as I could.

They also squeaked madly, and the bird has mastered this noise to the point where she can break glass with it.


I removed both stems and handles.


I know it looks like an obscene elephant, but I put the short hose on the spout so we could direct the water a little when we draw it for a bath.

Recently having become a bright boy, I decided that photographing washers and rings on the stem in the order in which they ought be assembled was a good idea.


Stem detail showing order of beveled washers, washers, rubber seat. This shit is old. I ain't gonna write down a part number and order it.



Fully exploded from seat to handle.

So I take the whole mess to Home Depot to get new washers & seats. Like I said, I can't just look up the part numbers, so I do my best to select from the generic washers and seals and go from there. I bought some new seals and new beveled washers, and reused some of the metal washers.

The seats fit fine, and I put new screws in to hold them because the old ones were rusted badly. I had to drill larger holes in the beveled washers to make them fit round the stem.

I also greased up the threads on the stem to stop the squeak. If I could only do the same with the bird.

So for about $10 and an hour of work I fixed an annoying drip & a horrible noise. I banged up the faucet a little by using slip-joint pliers on the brass packing nuts, but hey - we're gonna replace it all some day anyway.

Finn's Birthday

Closet Door

I am about 3/4 done with the baseboard and shoe, there is the ceiling to be framed in bed moulding, the octagonal window and two doors need casing. Then the two doors need refinishing. But it's a long way from two weeks ago. (see https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3oh4f2LQ2bOk9BL_o6N4KrvTf-d27lNhinfSLSyNC1OsYLrrv-YAv5j6UJ0UVS9gx3vioROn4yOtlpDtUxiMIUi5OTTA-C4hgoxoxOrk8B2mEhXxKZwoSmYk8JV3Okcuw4iRj8dslk4O/s1600-h/finn's+bedroom+floor+001.jpg), for example).

I had to modify the closet door. I made the rough opening just a tad too small or got the wrong size door - take your pick. I trimmed 1 3/8 inches from the height and 5/8 from the width, then re-drilled the pivot holes to make them deeper, and last painted the sawn edges to match.

Closet & Trim In Finn's Room

This is what the hallway looks like as I work in Finn's room.

Closet rough opening is trimmed and ready for a door. (I know some things are uneven in that room, but doesn't the door look like something out of an Escher drawing? It's not that bad in reality, honest... the jambs are plumb and right with the header...maybe it's the paint lines...but the white trim looks like an uppercase pi walking toward the camera. )


Lola was hanging out in the bathroom while I worked, muttering things.

Skydiving

For our birthdays, Cara and I got our first jumps from Jennifer. Here are some pictures from that adventure.

On a sunny Sunday, November 30th we got to Skydive the Ranch in Gardiner, NY (a bit south of New Paltz). After about 30-45 minutes of training, we were suited up and ready to go. That's Cara behind me, also in yellow.
We sit on long benches in the plane with our instructors behind us. That's Cara to my right.
Cara jumped first. In a tandem jump you are strapped to the chest of your instructor. The person just below Cara and her instructor is a cameraman.
Then I went.

Part of our present was the accompanying pictures and videos, taken (for me) by a woman with a video camera and a digital still camera on her helmet. The instructors were all very friendly and made sure we faced the camera for the minute of freefall that we had.
You can't hear a damn thing so everything is coordinated with hand signals. You are told when to put your arms out, when to reach back and find the ripcord so you know where it is when it comes time to pull it, then put your arms back out again, then you signal off to the photographer that you are going to pull the cord. I was too busy waving to the camera and John, the instructor, could not get me to finally pull the ripcord, so he did. I just felt a sudden deceleration and then we started floating. You can see this in the video below that he gives up trying to move my arms.
The diver with the camera landed first and got us as we landed. I landed on my butt and not 30 seconds later, Cara came in on her feet. Her instructor was nicknamed "Batman".


Of course I'd do it again, and I will this spring. Chris wants to go, and so does Ken. Cara is rounding up some friends, too. Wanna join us?

Here are the videos.