The Holidays

Cindy and I had a very nice Christmas at our new home. The holiday came up quickly for me, mainly because I was in Georgia over Thanksgiving and got behind on the preparations for Christmas but as usual things seemed to work out. Christmas Eve was over at Aunt Susie's for the traditional Holy Supper featuring potatoes several different ways, noodles several different ways, beans several different ways, cabbage several different ways, and mushroom soup. It's a Russian Orthodox strict fast meal with really nothing but starches and vodka. It inevitably leaves me with indigestion and a buzz. It is a good time although the crowd for the meal continues to shrink. This year it was just my aunt Sue, cousin Bobby, Cindy and me. Still, we had a very nice time and it's a very pleasant tradition despite the heartburn.

Santa did arrive at our new place

Christmas morning was just Cindy and I with the cats. It was a chilly morning so I started a nice fire and we spent a leisurely morning opening presents and eating Christmas cookies (indigestion, round 2). That evening, we headed over to sister Karen and brother Randy's home for dinner with a big chunk of the family on the Morford side. It was a very nice night in their beautiful home. We got to meet our great-nephew Magnus for the first time. He's a well behaved and happy child who is fortunate to have such loving and doting parents.The next couple days were spent leisurely opening a few presents and watching movies; really the first time in years we've just relaxed at home.

We had enough snow to run the snow blower in the middle of the month. I was way out of practice not having operated the thing in two years and I made some pretty crooked paths up and down the driveway. I need to adjust the little skid plates on the sides of the blower to better clean the surface but in general it worked well. The weather remained cold with a bit of new snow here and there so we ended up with a white Christmas, although it did turn mild near the end of the month.

Santa knew what I needed as an amateur home restorer and many of my presents were tools or tool related. I got a new cordless drill and impact driver set. While my old Craftsman drill works just fine (I got it as a kid) it is a pain looking for places to plug in and dragging extension cords everywhere. To go with it, I got a new drill bit set. My old drill bits were as as old as the drill itself and basically had no ability to put a hole in anything they were so dull. I got a nice new socket and ratchet set, the kind where the sockets work with both English and Metric bolts. Santa also brought me a 17 foot folding ladder, one of those that locks into several different positions and can be used as scaffolding or a step ladder. It holds 300 pounds so I'll be fine as long as a I stop eating Christmas cookies and potatoes.

While not a Christmas gift I did notice a good sale at Harbor Freight and went out and bought myself an electric chainsaw. I know enough about and had enough experiences with chain saws to have a healthy respect for them and think I can trim trees and cut firewood without dropping a branch on my head or cutting my arm off. We'll see. Chainsaws are an extremely useful but dangerous tool that require a lot of maintenance and care. I've hesitated to own one for those reasons, but really needed it for tree trimming and work on the firewood.

Home Depot continues to call for me to pick up our windows. I hope to do that over the next couple days and should find some time to install them. That will actually give me a project to write about in an upcoming blog.

Travel

Do I travel a lot? I'm not sure. It seems so sometimes. Travel for me seems to come in bursts. I've recently had two long trips, to Arizona and to Georgia, both for work and the two couldn't have been more different. I do not mean the destination, which of course, are very different, I mean the trip itself. The Arizona trip was troublesome, with several frustrating events, while the trip to Georgia went smoothly, and reinforced some lessons I've learned on previous trips.

My only picture in Phoenix. This was a stop I needed to
make to get my weather equipment. It wasn't there. 

My ultimate destination. Fire camp in northern Arizona.

On the Arizona trip, I was booked on two different airlines by the government travel agency, a big mistake, and was booked through Newark Liberty Airport, another mistake. The trip to Newark from Binghamton is no longer available, and I will not miss it. The Newark Airport is confusing, period. I've been through most of the large airports in the country, and I'm not stupid, but I absolutely could not figure out how to get to my next gate. I finally asked a pilot (because there was no one from the airport around to help) standing in line for coffee, who seemed annoyed but was helpful, The gate search was complicated by the fact that I was changing airlines and required leaving the secure area and re-entering through a security check point. Not intuitive at all. Adding to my frustration was a lousy breakfast sandwich from a "deli", which was amazing since I consider the NYC metro area to have the best food in the nation. Upon arriving in Phoenix, I waited almost 45 minutes for my bags to arrive. Yes, I check luggage. A necessity when you are planning a 2 week dispatch that requires special equipment. I was concerned that my bags would be lost, a not uncommon occurrence when switching airlines mid tip. Without my equipment, I'm pretty much useless. Also, since I'm not staying in a nearby by hotel, but expected at a wilderness location hundreds of miles away that afternoon, they must be with me and not shipped later by the airline. After finally getting my bags, I went on a tour of the enormous Phoenix Sky Harbor Aiport. Lugging my stuff through elevators and trains to the car rental center I arrived at the counter. Here, I waited for an hour and a half for the rental car company to sort through computer issues and get me and about 40 other people, their cars. The frustration on this trip was compounded when I went to the nearby weather office to retrieve my weather equipment that I had shipped ahead, only to find out that through a series of miscommunications and errors, my instruments would not be available until Monday, two days later. Ironically, once I finally arrived in fire camp, I found quickly that the situation was winding down and I would be sent home in just a few days.

Me an a couple other IMETS at the command post.

My trip to Georgia was the polar opposite, and couldn't have gone smoother. I was leery of traveling through the Philadelphia Airport, given it's reputation, but the transfer between gates went smoothly, and my luggage made the connection. Upon arrival at the massive Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, I retrieved my bags almost immediately, and once again traveled through requisite train system to the rental car center. Upon arriving I was told by the friendly clerk that since I was a preferred member, I was to proceed directly to the garage and pick out my car. At the garage, another friendly clerk told me to pick any car I wanted out of the four long rows of vehicles. An immeasurably better experience than with the other company in Phoenix. I was on my way in no time and heading to the command post at the fire.

A lesson learned is certainly to join the free "club" of whatever rental car company you may be using. Being able to skip the interminable wait at the counter is a huge advantage, and I'll never do it again if I can avoid it, even if it costs me a few bucks. I have the good luck to often be selected for TSA Precheck, which puts in a much shorter line at the screening checkpoint, and allows you the luxury of leaving your shoes on, and your laptop in the bag. Much faster. If I traveled often, and was not selected like I am, (probably since they can see I'm on government travel from my ticket) I would look into applying online for a permanent precheck clearance.

Decorated tree and fire on a cold day.

On the home improvement front, progress has been nil. Upon returning from Georgia, we immediately picked out and cut down our Christmas tree and brought it in the house, The next couple days were spent decorating the tree and putting up the outdoor Christmas lights, which include a beautiful artificial garland around the picture window on the porch. I did spend more time working on the leak around the tub and made a significant improvement, although I bit more work is likely needed. We did hear from Home Depot and our windows are in. Need to get them home and find some time to install them and improve the insulation through the old windows.

It's been over a year since I started this blog and am pleased with the growth and audience. I've got several faithful readers in Germany and Russia, as well as other parts of Europe. Of course, I appreciate the support and kind words from friends and relatives. I hope to keep you interested through 2017. Happy Holidays!

Off to a fire

You may have heard that there's been a drought across the southeast, extreme by any measure, and the inevitable result is wildfires. As a part of my job, I am an Incident Meteorologist (IMET) available to be sent to these fires to provide weather for planning and the safety of personnel on the fire. So, I was called to the Rock Mountain Fire in extreme northeast Georgia around the middle of November, and now at the beginning of December I'm finally getting ready to head home.

A "portable" weather station set up
for the fire.

The fire started small, as they all do, but quickly spread in the extreme drought, burning freshly fallen oak leaves and small brush through the hardwood forest. It quickly became larger that the local authorities could handle so state and national resources were called in. A fellow IMET, who was being  released from another nearby fire was diverted to this one. After two weeks of service we normally "time out' and as he did I was called to relieve him.

As a part of my IMET job, I go out to survey the perimeter of the fire, and even took a helicopter flight to see the fire from above. This help familiarize me with the fire and the terrain, which in turn assists me in forecasting wind, temperature and humidity, critical element in fire behavior and growth.

My days are long. Generally wake up around 5 AM to get to my desk at 530 AM. I check current weather and any updates I may need to make to my forecast that I wrote the night  before. Then I'm off to brief fire staff and firefighters on what to expect out of the weather for the day. After that, it's numerous meetings, briefings and monitoring the weather through the day. Most days end around  9 pm. The good news is that this is the first fire where I've actually been given a motel room. Most fires I bring a tent and sleep on the ground each night. Also, I've been able to eat in local restaurants and have a real roof over my head.

My view of the morning briefing.

So, the work is tiring but very satisfying. It really feels like you are helping a community and providing vital information. It's nerve wracking too. A mistake can endanger lives, and the firefighters and managers are quick to tell you when you're wrong.

The small town we are in is about the friendliest place I've ever seen. The local townsfolk are truly gracious and appreciative of the hundreds of us that have invaded their town and took over their church. They cooked us all Thanksgiving dinner, and it's damn near impossible to buy a cup of coffee anywhere in town.

Helicopter selfie, My monstrous head is exaggerated  by the
big white helmet. Really.

All in all though I'm ready to get home. I missed Thanksgiving dinner with the family and miss my lovely bride. I missed a big snowstorm too, and a big thanks goes out to friends who pitched in and helped Cindy shovel. I owe you one.  I'm looking forward to getting home and putting up the Christmas tree and decorating the house. More than anything, I'm looking forward to getting a fire going in the fireplace and watching a few Christmas movies from the couch with Cindy.

On the home front, I order six windows from Home Depot before I left and hope they'll soon be in. I'd hate to have to install them in the dead of winter, but don't want to delay too long since I'm counting on them to lower my heating bill. Otherwise I need to button up some of the drafts in the basement and better secure our home for the winter.







More time, more joy, and more sorrow

Back in June, I wrote this blog about time upon the passing of my father in law. It has become one of my most popular posts, with many gracious compliments from family and friends. I often think about the post, and Geno, with fondness. Well, time continues to pass of course, but has once again brought both joy and sorrow. In one week, time brought our family two births, a wedding, and unfortunately, another passing. In sadness we were told that our cousin Lisa had passed after a long illness. Lisa was smart, funny, kind, and a mentor for Cindy as they were growing up. We hadn't seen her in years but like other distant family members, she and her family were often in our thoughts.

Nativity of our Lord Church

In joy, we celebrated the marriage of our niece at a beautiful church in Scranton. The reception was at a Masonic Temple built in the early 1900's by the same architect that built Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The wonderful reception in the beautiful and historic hall was highlight for the year so far. I was also impressed at how much improved downtown Scranton is. The immediate area around The Hilton was very nice, with restaurants and nightclubs, with shopping for Cindy and trains for me. While Cindy was getting her hair done, an historic steam engine passed by me behind the old Lackawanna Station. Quite a thrill.

Reception in the Grand Ballrom, Masonic Temple, Scranton.

We were thrilled by two births. First, cousins Dan and Emily had their first child arrive. Elliot arrived in New York City to loving parents. Our next joyful arrival was with niece and nephew. Sara and Stephen who brought beautiful little Nora into the world. We and they are thrilled. Only a few days before the birth, we celebrated with Stephen, Sara, and family Stephen's graduation from the FDNY academy as valedictorian. Steve, a man of few words, gave a six minute address to his classmates, their families, and assorted dignitaries. Well done probie!

Prepping the window for paint.

With all the events, work on the house has been slow, but hasn't stopped. On the general maintenance front, the great leaf attack has begun. I spent most of one day raking and bagging leaves in the north lawn, accumulating 17 bags for the city's mulching truck. Since then, more leaves have fallen so I feel certain another 17 bags will be filled, at least, before we're done. Over on the projects list, I have finished scraping, repairing, caulking, and painting all of the windows and frames on the first floor. This is in preparation for installation of custom storm windows, I have measured each of the six windows three times to be sure I'm ordering the correct sizes. Eventually, we may get replacement windows, but in the meantime these will improve the look of the house, and greatly increase the heat efficiency of the windows. Only a few of the old storm windows remained and they did little to keep the cold out of the house.

It's been cold enough at night to enjoy a few fires in the fireplace. It really does a nice job warming our living room while we watch television, and of course it looks great. On the down side, it does make the other rooms feel cool, and perhaps truly cool them, as the draft from the fire draws the cooler air in from outside, It doesn't matter though. We love it, And we have plenty of fuel for the winter.

One year of ownership

Wow has time flown by. The 29th marks the anniversary of us closing on our home. I can hardly believe it. We've done so much, yet there is so much to do. The house looks much better than it did here, and certainly our main living areas are just the way we want them. Still, at some point we face a major renovation of the kitchen and upstairs bathroom, and the guest bedroom and den both need a makeover. Then there's the sun rooms are the 1st and 2nd floor. Yikes! Now I'm getting nervous all over again.

Halloween, last year, right after the bushes were cut down.

We love our home though. The stress of the last few years living at Helen St with the psychotic pseudo-landlord was really taking it's toll on us. I no longer worry about what obscene, rambling, nonsensical note may be taped to our door, or when the rent would be randomly raised. Now, just Cindy, Katia and Natasha wait for me. We enjoyed our new place almost immediately, greeting trick-or-treaters from our porch just days after signing. Our Christmas tree was up before we moved in. After we moved, the resolute sturdiness and overwhelming quiet of our well built home was an immediate comfort. The Christmas holidays came and went with joy and peace.

Last year's lonely Christmas tree. 

Winter and early Spring brought trials and tribulations, to be sure, but we were happy. Later in the Spring brought the illness and tragic loss of First Father In Law Geno, a staggering blow. His gentle leadership and advice have been missed. That, and joyous family events,  limited our time for renovations and repairs well into the summer. I just wish I had gotten more work done outside. I'm pleased with the porch and trim work along the south side of the house, I wish I had gotten to the north side windows, painting and repairing the trim work, and replacing the windows. Perhaps if we have one more warm spell during my days off, I can still get to that.

Bread and Cinnamon buns from 2014 

So we head into the holiday period better equipped to handle it. Cindy and I have already discussed our baking schedule and I really look forward to our first batch of Christmas bread and cinnamon buns in our new home, The Christmas music and Bloody Mary's will be flowing. With more time to think and plan, I hope to step up our game for the lights and decorating this year. I want to get my train out, and get more of the Snow Village buildings out.

Last winter was so mild, I shoveled once (barely) and never used to snow blower. Even if we have a normal winter this year, I'm sure the maintenance of our long driveway, and even long sidewalk will be interesting. If we have a snowier winter, it could easily become a real challenge. I am committed to keeping the sidewalk as clear as possible as we have several walkers around the area with the park next door, and with college and high school students in the neighborhood. Plus, with the B&B across the street, we need to make a good impression for visitors.

So what will year two bring in our new home? Other than the weather, I refuse to predict. What is certain is that there will be more good memories, more unexpected challenges, and, of course, more blogs.

Firewood and 7 years of bad luck

A full cord of wood is dumped in our yard

Last winter, which was quite mild, we really enjoyed our fireplace and ended up going through almost 2 face cords of wood. We moved in late enough last year so that were too late in the season for most wood sellers but I did find a place up off Robinson Hill Rd in Johnson City that had wood for sale, but you had to pick it up. So twice last I borrowed First Brother In Law Randy's pickup truck and loaded, then unloaded wood. This year, although I waited a bit too long again, I contacted the logger and tree remover that lives across the street from my dad and he managed to scrape together a full cord, which is about 3 times as much wood as a face cord. With what we had leftover from last year, I'm hoping it will be enough to get us through the season.

Cindy helping. Her back is still sore. SORRY HONEY!

The finished stack. Mind the glass please. 

The fire wood was dumped in the backyard and once again Cindy was a good sport and helped me move and stack the wood in the garage. I considered purchasing a steel cart to transport the wood, but in the end the distance of about 15 feet didn't make it worth loading the cart, then unloading to stack. So, Cindy and I hand carried every piece into the garage where I stacked. I first pulled last years wood out to stack the new logs on the bottom. Then, it was just a matter of staying at thejob. After about three hours we were done. I had thought that we would  have to stack some outdoors in the alleyway, but I managed to get it all in the garage, although I'm not real happy about how high it is, or that I blocked the lower part of the window. Going to have to be real careful not to knock wood into the glass.

Firewood warms you at least twice, When you burn it, of course, but also when you move it, stack it. or split it. While I wouldn't mind getting my lumberjack on and going after some of this with a wedge and maul, the logs are pretty much in perfect size to burn. We are actually looking forward to some cold and snowy days,

A large mirror after being
hit with a hammer. Several
times.

Speaking of glass, the previous owner of our home really liked mirrors. In fact, there were four large, plate glass style mirrors in the house, the biggest mounted over the fireplace. Other mirrors included one in the basement, another mounted in the bathroom, and one in the upstairs hallway. The mirror in the hallway remains there, the other three were moved to the garage where they were taking up too much room. The only way to get rid of them is to break them (Yikes!), put them in boxes, and bring them to the landfill. So, I first laid down a canvas drop cloth, then a plastic drop cloth, then the mirror, I made sure my glasses were on, put on an old pair of heavy fire gloves, and smacked the mirror with a ball peen hammer. Nothing. I hit it harder. Still nothing. I then closed my eyes tight and smacked it really hard. Smash. I was impressed how hard I had to hit it. Several more smacks and the mirror was in manageable pieces and I loaded them into a box. I did this for two more mirrors and ended up with a remarkably heavy load of broken glass, and hopefully not 21 years of bad luck. Actually, each one of them already had a small crack or break so I'm banking on that releasing me from being the original breaker, and not the bearer of the curse.

That's it for this time around. Coming up in future blogs will be additional tub leak battles, making the newly painted porch less slippery, and trying to get some new storm windows before the cold weather really hits.

Bonus Blog

There was some unfinished business in the last blog, and I've had some "feedback" about that and people are really looking for my winter forecast. Ok, well, I'll get to that in a minute. Let me bore you with some house stuff first.

A full cord now sits on my back lawn. 

We got our firewood delivery yesterday after I tracked down the number of the guy I talked to last year. I was kind of late in the season but he managed to scrape together a full cord of seasoned hardwood for me, ready to burn this year. I hope to fit much of it in the garage, with the rest along the side of the house in the alley between the pantry and the sun room. That'll be this weekend's job. Anyway, we really love our fireplace, as inefficient and old fashioned as it is. It does really seem to warm up the room when we use it, and it is nice to stand in front of to warm up. More than anything though, it's great to look at and brings warmth to the room in appearance alone. Household felines Natasha and Katia really don't seem to notice the fire, which surprises me. They seem neither attracted or afraid of it. Cindy loves the fire and, well, you know, happy wife, happy life. This alone makes the work and $200 worth it.

I'm going to grade my efforts to stop leaks in the bathroom at a C-. The most important leak has apparently stopped now, although it has stopped before and began again, so currently we do not have water leaking into the kitchen during showers. That's good. However, the hot water handle began leaking again only a couple days after repacking the fitting, so I need to pull that off and repack it again, hopefully with more success. The cold water handle is not leaking...so far.

Winter. What to expect? As usual it's a complex forecast. The three things to consider are persistence, in other words the weather we are currently having my well just continue, the state of  ENSO, commonly known as El Nino, and the NAO, the North Atlantic Oscillation. There are other considerations but these are the big three. As for persistence, we have been in a warm and dry pattern for some time now, although recently there have been, some cold outbreaks. This fits well into the ENSO, which is currently neutral, but may be heading into a La Nina pattern, the opposite of El Nino. Both persistence and the ENSO are actually poor indicators for predicting our winter, but they are the easiest to forecast. With persistence, you're just kind of hoping that the car keeps going straight, with nothing to influence our weather to change, Using it alone would give us a very dry, and relatively warm winter with few snow storms. Add a developing La Nina to the mix and you kind of re-enforce this thinking, although La Nina especially is easily overcome by other factors, especially here in the northeast U.S. The 800 pound gorilla in the room is the NAO, which is what really drives our winter, but it's really unclear what drives the NAO. The NAO is essentially the pattern of upper troughs or ridges over the northern hemisphere, particularly the North Atlantic. When the NAO is negative, we tend to get cold and snowy winters in the northeast U.S. and in Europe. The opposite is true when the NAO is positive. So what will it be? Well that is THE question. Forecasting it beyond 14 days or so is difficult. Nevertheless, I forge ahead with my forecast. I believe we will have a relative dry winter with slightly above normal temperatures, I believe there will be significant lake effect snows this year, mainly north of Syracuse, and in the Buffalo area. Here in the Binghamton area, I do believe that the NAO will go negative at times, and give us the chance for a couple big storms, mainly after January 1, but with numerous small snow events throughout the winter. At least two significant warm ups or thaws seem likely, limiting the amount of ice on ponds and rivers.

So there it is. No guarantees, no warranty. Please accept this forecast "as is". And please, hold your applause until May. June at the latest.

Painting the porch and small engine maintenance

Wild Mustang. The new paint is the lighter color. 

One of the last things to do to the porch was to paint the floor. Once again we struggled with the color and purchased three different samples before settling on our color, called Wild Mustang. Then it was a matter of scraping  and prep work. First, we had to remove all the furniture and clean the picture window and screen door. That was followed by a scrubbing of the walls and floor and complete wash down. All this left the floor of the porch quite wet and naturally it took a good day for it to dry out enough for painting. Before painting I scraped the loose paint off, mainly near the front where it got more sun and rain. As I started, the trim work was tedious and took the most time but rolling the rest of the porch was quite easy, and pleasant since you can pretty much stand there and apply the paint, rather than bending over, or stretching to reach a high point. It really looked good after one coat but decided for durability I decided to do a second. The wood was so dried out the first coat took most of a gallon, so I was off to Home Depot for a second. It was worth it and the porch looks great. I have a few other minor jobs left but the porch is finally done!

Cushion malfunction. This was AFTER I cleaned up.

After a successful and uneventful porch painting, things got a bit sillier and stupid, at least on my part. First, the cushion covers for the porch furniture needed to be washed. So, we needed to unzip the covers and remove the padding. Cindy unzipped one and found that the paper covering the interior padding had deteriorated. So, rather than making a mess in the basement, we decided to remove the cushions outdoors. That was fine, until a rogue wind gust came up and blew my little pile of papers all over the driveway, and neighbor's yard. So, I ended up bending over picking lots of little pieces of paper, all over the place.

It's mocking me. 

Next comedy session came as I decided to try and start my snowblower. I had started it once last October after bringing it over from our old house, but then it sat all winter and summer without running. I couldn't remember if I had stored it properly, which I do by mainly just adding fuel stabilizer. I think the problem began as I was concerned that it would not start and it became a self fulfilling prophesy. I got the keys, unlocked the chain, and pushed the machine to the front of the garage, and checked the fuel. I primed it, set the choke and throttle, and pulled the start cord. Nothing. Not a surprise. Pulled again. Nothing. Ok, not a big surprise, it sat there for quite some time. I went and got the cord, and plugged in the electric start and pushed the start button. It cranked and cranked. Nothing. Ok, now I'm concerned. It has always started. After several more unsuccessful attempts, I got my tools. I pulled the spark plug. It looked fine and there was fuel in the carburetor. I put it all back together, tightened everything down and tried again. Nothing. This went on for some time, with me giving the little electric motor a chance to cool off, but just cranking and cranking it, mainly because my limited knowledge of engines prohibited me from doing anything else. Well, I was making enough noise that one of my neighbors, a retired mechanic and small engine expert arrived to find out "who was cranking the hell out of some small engine". He offered to help and asked me to pull the plug then checked to see if it was getting any spark. I did and it wasn't. He said, well it could be the magneto, or as he looked at the engine, that you didn't put the key in. DOH! The solution, as he sagely nodded with a small smile, "was in your pocket the entire time". Oof. I truly am a moron. I really wonder how long I would have cranked that thing without noticing that I hadn't put in the key. Realizing he was working with a complete idiot, he gave the poor snowblower a quick inspection and offered some other tips, including some gear oil for the driveshaft. I actually knew the tires needed air but don't have a pump so he offered help with both so I pushed it three houses down to his garage and he took care of it for me. He recommended that I fix some of the surface rust inside the machine to keep the snow from sticking. He also suggested adjusting the little skid plates on the front of the cowling to protect the bottom of the machine from wear. I did both the rust and adjustment after I got it home and I should be good to go for the winter, assuming it snows.

Which brings up my last blog. I promised a winter prediction, among other things this time around. Well, this blog has gone on too long so you're going to have to wait for that, along with the fascinating story of firewood and leaky plumbing. I bet you can't wait!

Stone, plumbing, and Arizona

I had every intention to write at least one more blog in September, and thought my life was going to get more simple, but it was just the opposite. The good news is that all the things that complicated my life were good things, well, except for the plumbing.

Randy, in the alley with his pavers. Sounds like a
murder accusation from the board game Clue. 

To start off, first brother in law and #1 realtor Randy showed up with some large slate pavers and helped me make the dirt "alley" between the pantry and the sun room more useful. To explain, the back porch of the house was enclosed and a bathroom installed at some time many years in the past. This left a 4 1/2' wide dirt floored leaf collector between it and the sun room. It's covered by large overhangs from both the second floor to the north and the pantry to the south so it is bone dry and shaded such that no grass or even weeds grow. We wanted to use for storage, at least, but were still working on how we would like to cover the dirt. Then Randy stepped up to the plate with enormous slate pavers he had salvaged from an old house years ago. The stone almost fit perfectly side by side. but did not. We ended putting them sideways leaving about an 8 inch gap which I need to somehow fix. Still, the space is immediately usable allowing me to store both grills, recycling bins and garbage can. Very nice.

Ugly pale pink tub with caulk removed at seam with wall.

Plumbing continues to be an issue. For some reason, when I shower, occasionally water leaks into the kitchen below. It never happens when Cindy showers. The joke is that when I step into the tub the flooring is crying from strain of holding the extra weight, but seriously folks, take my wife, please! But really, a viable theory is that the extra weight is causing a separation in the caulking so I removed and re-caulked the tub, which didn't help. I then got a plastic, pre-caulked seal that presses into place along the seam of the tub and the showers surround. That didn't work. SO, next step will simply be to caulk everything like crazy (it worked before), and perhaps lose some weight (HA HA!).

Stuck knob removal tool. You can also see the plastic seal in
place around the tub. 

Another on going issue has been the leaky faucets. All three tub controls (hot, cold, and shower control) leaked water around the handle when turned on. I've been delaying the repair since they don't drip when off but it is a waster of water, and there's the off chance that the leaky faucet is partially responsible for the leak into the kitchen, so I forged ahead, First thing was that the knobs would not come off, I'm guessing that the faucets have not been touched since the Truman administration and despite pulling and even banging with a hammer, they didn't budge. So, off to the trusty hardware store for a specialty tool that removes stuck faucet handles, which worked perfectly. After that, the stems came out rather easily and I was back to the hardware store for advice on gaskets and repacking the seals. That seemed to work and there has not been a leak around the handles or in the kitchen since so fingers are crossed.

The only picture I took in Phoenix., captured while waiting
to enter Fort Knox aka WFO Phoenix. 

A a part of my job I am a member of the IMET program (Incident Meteorologist) and I occasionally get sent to fires, usually out west. I got the call a couple weeks ago to go to Arizona and a fire near Payson in the Tonto National Forest. The flight out was miserable despite getting an "economy plus" seat for my $1000 one way ticket. Then, at the airport in Phoenix, things got worse. It took them almost an hour to get our bags off the plane (I don't travel light, with camping equipment and enough clothes for a 2 week dispatch), followed by a 2 hour wait at the Budget rental car counter. Then, I was off to the Phoenix weather office to pick up my weather and computer equipment that I had overnight shipped. Well, due to an office move, there was confusion as to the shipping address and my equipment had not arrived.  At this point I just threw my hands in the air and headed out on the 2 hour drive to the fire.

Fire camp. Note the complete lack of smoke.

If you've ever driven out west you know how rapidly things can change. The area around Phoenix is desert with the huge Saguaro cactus. As I headed north, the cactus finally petered out and gradually various species of pine appeared. By the time I reached Payson and the area of the fire, it was heavily forested and much different from the desert further south. Unfortunately, when I reached fire camp, things were winding down, and with rain forecast for the week, they decided they wouldn't need me. So, after only a few days, I was wedged into another cattle car...err...airplane and shipped back home. Despite the short time the trip was great experience and I got to see another part of this amazing country of ours. I am very lucky to be a part of one of the premier programs in the NWS

Selfie after just a few days in
camp. You should see me
after two weeks. 

On the next blog...we've finally picked a color for the porch floor but will the weather cooperate?, chimney inspection, firewood delivery, and probably more about that damn leaky tub. Oh, and maybe a winter weather prediction. Warm? Cold? Snowy? Your guess is NOT as good as mine. ;) 

Montana and home

Red Lodge, Montana

Me, at the pass.

At the end of my last blog, I mentioned that we would be heading to Montana for a wedding. Well we did and it was a wonderful trip and great experience. We were flying from small airport to small airport so there were three hops, but the flight to Billings was uneventful. When we landed, it was over a hundred degrees, but the temperatures were to change significantly, as they tend to do in the mountains. We stayed in Red Lodge, a nice little town at the foot of the Beartooth Mountains.  We spent a couple days exploring the town and the area before the Sunday wedding. On our first full day, we drove up to the pass on the Beartooth Highway and continued on to the northeast gate of Yellowstone park. It was only in the 50s at the pass, elevation near 11,000' but since I'm pretty much fed up with the heat
I thought it felt great, even with the wind. Cindy of course was freezing, but she did come prepared with a sweatshirt.

A moose visits the wedding

Unfortunately the weather slowly went downhill over the weekend with the day of the wedding, Sunday, being downright miserable. Even in town it was in the 40s with a steady rain. Snow was expected up in the mountains. Still, the wedding and reception were beautiful, with tents set up and heaters deployed. Plus, the beautiful mountain home they rented provided heat and shelter for those who needed it. One uninvited but welcome guest was a moose that wandered down the road near the reception. He created quite a stir and luckily was in a good mood. Despite all, Lea and Darren make a lovely couple and provided an opportunity for everyone to get together and visit a beautiful corner of the country.

Repaired and painted basement window. Please
ignore the over slop on the window.

A before picture of one of the windows.

Work on the home has been slow with all the traveling. I did manage to begin repairing and painting some of the aged and peeling window frames and sills, especially along the south side of the house where the sun has really beat up the old paint. I've been most worried about those south facing frames as I did not want them to go through another winter is such bad shape, The repairs include lots of scraping and brushing followed by liberal amounts of wood filler. So far, I haven't found any damage that requires replacement of the wood. A stumbling block is the second floor window, which is too high for my extension ladder. I'll need to beg, borrow, or steal something bigger to get that job done.

We had a nice gathering of the family a couple nights ago, the first real party we've had at the house. It was nice to get out the outside chairs and tables, and cook spiedies from Sharkey's for the group. It was a pleasantly cool evening as we sat outside (at least for me) with a touch of fall in the air. Reminds me that my time for outdoor work is coming to an end, and that indoor projects will dominate my time, and there are plenty of them. Just ask Cindy. ;)

We're going to need a bigger backhoe...

It started so innocently, with a tiny backhoe

Uh oh. Words you never want to hear. Luckily, it wasn't on my dime. It all started last year (read this blog) when our sewer backed up. Read the details if you like but what is germane to this blog is that I was advised to call the city and tell them to check the main sewer in the street. They came, and did, but I never heard anything from them. Suddenly this summer, I see the water, sewer and gas lines marked on the street in front of the house. Every now and then I would see a city worker but none ever seemed to know what was going on. Well one day I saw a contractor out there and he informed me that they were replacing my sewer line, Later that day, a small backhoe and a few traffic cones arrived. They assured me it was a quick job and that they would be done in a couple hours. Well, the next day tiny backhoe made short work of he job, but the problem wasn't in my line, Mr.Rooter was right, it was indeed the main. Time to call in the big guns.

This shit just got serious.

Arriving later that day was a monster shovel and a medium front end loader/backhoe combination. As they excavated the line they found nothing. No sewage, just an empty line. Uh oh. After removing a section of the main they found the problem. A massive root plug. With some help from the backhoe, they attached a chain pulled out the root plug. Great, except that one of the poor workers was still down in the hole and hundreds of gallons of backed up sewage roared out of the line. He scrambled up the ladder just in time. I'm not sure what they pay him, but I AM sure it's not enough. In any event, after the sewage wave subsided they patched the line and filled up the hole. Ironically, the plug was upstream from us so we wouldn't have had a problem, but very soon many of our neighbors would have a rather messy problem in their basement. When they found this out, complaints about the noise, dust, and dug up street ended.

Dad awaits lunch and a cold Yuengling. Not in that order.

In other news, we have been traveling a bit since I'm off work, (as is Cindy) and we decided to head to the Jersey shore with my dad. Specifically we went to Wildwood Crest, but dad and I spent most afternoons down in Cape May at The Lobster House, specifically The Schooner American enjoying lunch, cold beer, and a parade of yachts, fishing boats and personal watercraft. I cannot recommend a better place to have lunch and unwind. Up next, Montana and a wedding in the mountains.

Screen door

Crack team of installers.

Work and social/family commitments have slowed progress on house projects this month but we did manage to find a morning to install our screen door in the front. It was clear from the door frame that a screen door of some type had been there before, probably and old fashioned type with a wooden frame. It might have been nice to restore the old door had it still been there, but only the old hinges remained. Anyway, like just about any project, there were obstacles to overcome. First, was the size of the door frame. Apparently, standard door frame size is either 32 or 36 inches by 80 inches. One thing I have learned is that our house is anything but standard and the door frame at our house is a lovely 34 and 5/8 inches. Of course, places will sell you a door of any size, custom made if need be, you just have to pay a considerable up charge for the privilege. However, I found one place that would sell a 34 inch width door at the price of a standard door, and that would be Home Depot. Now, sharp eyed readers will note that I mentioned the width of the door was 34 and 5/8 inches. The "standard" 34 inch door will accommodate a door frame opening up to 34 and 3/8 inches. DOH!

The finished job. Well...almost. 

Stepping up to the plate was Uncle Ed and his Yankee workshop in Apalachin. He had a piece of oak that he perfectly milled to 80 x 1 x 1/2 inches that filled the gap. He brought that oak furring strip pre-drilled and ready to mount. After that, it was a fairly simple job to mount the door in the frame and add the hardware.

The height of the door was about 81 inches, which was really perfect since I needed to add a threshold anyway. I ended up choosing an aluminum threshold and used a hacksaw to size it to the door frame. I then adjusted the rubber brush on the bottom of the door to close the gap.

The door is really nice and more practical that an old fashioned wooded screen door. The biggest advantage is the roll down screen that eliminates the need to store the screen for the winter. As you slide the upper glass down, the screen rolls down from the top. This will be convenient in the shoulder seasons when you want to get some air in the house on unseasonably warm days, or let the sun in but not the cold. I had wanted the door with a kick panel on the bottom but Cindy preferred the full glass door and, well, you can see who won the argument.

The Woods Inn. The weather was better than
 the picture shows,.

Natasha and Katia, our resident cats, also prefer the full glass model as they can lay on the rug, basking in the sun and see out the door. The kick panel would have blocked their view.

I mentioned commitments and I should mention that we had a great time over the weekend at the wedding of the son of our friends Joe and Angela. The ceremony took place in Old Forge NY at the The Woods Inn. The inn was a classic turn of the century hotel on a beautiful lake in the Adirondacks. We had quite an adventure the morning of the wedding when the hotel where we and much of the wedding guests and party were staying lost water. I was willing to go ahead and throw on my clothes and "forge" ahead (this is the mountains for crying out loud) but Cindy calmly and patiently explained (kidding - ha ha) how she needed a shower before the wedding. She actually considered jumping into the lake at one point but just in the nick of time the water came back on and we literally walked in for the "I do's" of the ceremony. Most importantly, we were there, well showered, for the reception.

My  spooky, deluxe suite.

A work commitment was our annual weather support for the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen. I spent two days sitting in the Emergency Operations Center waiting to give weather support for fire and law enforcement should things go bad. Luckily things stayed quiet through the race. Of interest however, is the the New York State Fire Academy where support personnel stay during the event. There may not be a spookier place to sleep anywhere and while nothing went bump in the night, walking around the place is unnerving. The faux marble floor hallways echo your footstep in the 5 story brick edifice. At the end of some of the halls are memorials to dead firefighters and rescued children including silent statues. Past students and officers stare at you from framed black and white pictures. If a couple of red haired little girls in pink dresses ever stepped out from around a corner I'd be out of there faster than a lightning bolt.

Lawnmowers are for short people

My el cheapo lawnmower.

I'm around 6'3", almost 6'4". Not a giant, but taller than most. I would imagine most people would see that being taller is an advantage, and it is usually, but not always. I'm not tall enough to worry about hitting my head on things (usually) and our new home has nice high ceilings, although there is that low part on the stairs (ouch!). Still, there are times that being tall is a real pain, and one of those times is when I'm forced to use "standard" sized equipment. What I mean is that most things can be fitted for size. Clothes, hats, car seats can all be purchased or adjusted to fit. Other things, like tables, chairs, and lawnmowers are pretty much used as is. Cindy and I bake bread (perhaps a future blog) and the job of kneading falls on me. I enjoy it, other than my back aches by the time I'm done because our kitchen table is too low and I have to bend over to work.  Other "too short" facilities and tools for tall people include most sinks, water fountains (I still use them, do you?), snow shovels, and, most importantly, airplane seats.

The north "forty" after a back breaker.

My silly cheap lawn mower is too short for me. I actually love the thing. I bought it for around $150 at Lowes ages ago and it just goes. I've never sharpened the blades, tuned it up, or even changed the oil. I have cleaned and replaced the air filter a couple times, and I check to be sure it HAS oil. Other than that I prime it three times and pull the cord once and off I go. Problem is, it is too short. As I walk back and forth for an hour or so, I'm bent over to reach the handle. My poor back aches. I have to stop a few times to stretch out and walk around to release the knot in my back. I have looked at push mowers double or triple the cost and they do not seem to be any better. If I do end up buying a riding mower, it will mostly be because my back cannot take it any longer.

A definite improvement.

We got a nice gift from Karen and Randy (Realtors Extraordinaire and Best Sister and Brother). Randy surreptitiously measured our fireplace and custom cut some birch logs for us. He carefully washed and dried them to Cindy's standard and approval. They fit perfectly look beautiful.

Of course, right after I wrote my last blog we got a real soaker and and the grass grew like crazy (prompting this post). While there was some relief, the drought continues and the forecast for the next week or so is more dry weather.

In other home improvement news, the ordered screen door has arrived and sits in the garage, hopefully installment will be this week. I installed a dimmer switch for our porch lights so we could sit out there and have them on without feeling like we are on a stage. The dimmer also allows us to have low level welcoming/security lighting for the front of our home. Otherwise progress on projects will be slow for the rest of the month. I'm currently on a 13 day work stretch and we have two weddings and a short vacation at the shore before the end of the month. All that fun and relaxing will be exhausting.

Dry, Drier, Driest

The golden brown over western NY
Indicates a "Severe Drought"

I've been forecaster for central New York for almost 30 years and like fashion, I've seen the weather go in cycles. We'll have periods of wet, dry, cold, warm, snowy, and snowless that will last years, sometimes nearly a decade. The 90's were warm and dry in the summer, but produced some record snow for the winters. The 2000's turned wet, with record breaking floods and billions in damage, but the winters were rather snowless. Of course, there are shorter term periods within these that bucked the trend, but in general there seems to be a cycle of sorts. This year, we are having a very dry summer, in fact a drought, and farmers and owners of shallow wells are very concerned. Some local municipalities are issuing stern warnings about the water supply. The City of Binghamton, which gets it's water from the Susquehanna river, has stated they have no current problems. Who knows, perhaps we are entering a period of warm, dry summers and snowy winters.

The question I always get asked, is if the dry weather is related to climate change. Well, no. Climate change (which I will not get into on this blog) is a large "background' decades long trend upon which our short tern weather is painted. In other words, warm, dry, cold, wet are all short term, normal weather variations that have been, and will continue to be, going on for millions of years despite whatever background temperature change is.

Tree down up at the corner of Park & Grand

Locally, the dry weather has affected my work around the house. I gave up cutting the grass the other day because I could not tell where I had cut, and where I had not. The grass has pretty much gone dormant, and even the weeds have slowed down. I've also given up watering the grass after noting that it was not helping, and also noting that I had doubled my water bill. Yikes! Of course, there has been some rain. A recent storm brought down trees and caused a blackout on the street, but not for us. Our next door neighbor lost power for 3 1/2 hours as did most of the street, but we didn't. Weird thing is our service lines come from the same pole.

The heat caused us to purchased a window air conditioner for the bedroom. I had hoped that the solid masonry construction of the home, along with the ceiling fan, would get us through the hottest weather, but it was just too warm at night, We now are slumbering in a cool albeit noisy cave each night. It's amazing how much noisier air conditioners are once you get them home and it's 3 AM. Thing was as quiet as a church mouse in Sam's Club.

Branches ready for pickup. Note the pitiful excuse
of a "lawn" in the foreground.

Back at work on the graveyard shift this past week severely limited my repairs and improvements. I did manage to trim some more trees along the fence line by the park. Again I did this with my hand saw as my purchase of a chain saw has been stymied by indecision. It was exhausting work in the heat and barring emergencies, I think I'm done trimming for the year, or until I get a chain saw.

Sloppy yet effective repair of Katia's destruction. 

Katia, our rambunctious cat/dog who follows us around the house on all projects and tasks decided to climb the dryer vent which I had carefully cleaned and pieced back together. I used some duct tape to temporarily hold it in place but the heat of the vent actually makes this a poor choice. I should get some aluminum tape soon and do a proper repair job and permanently cat proof the vent.

This week, screen door arrives and we figure out how to get it to work in an irregular size opening. I see head scratching, swear words, and Yuengling in my future.