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.

An embarassing confession

Pex piping extended to the washer. Note the new
stainless hoses. Classy. 

In our 29 years of marriage, there's something my wife Cindy and I have never done. Most couples do it at least once per week, some do it every day. That's right, I'm talking about laundry. Of course, we washed our clothes, but we have never owned a washer and dryer. Our previous home on Helen St had the hookups in the small kitchen which we never used. Instead, we went to a fairly nice laundromat, about a block away, for years. That changed with the purchase of our new home, which came with both a washer and dryer. However, inexplicably, the previous owner had cut the hoses to the washer, and removed the plumbing. So there sat a relatively new Maytag washer and dryer, dirty and unused. Now, I've mentioned before that my plumbing knowledge is on par with my knowledge of quantum mechanics. I do know which end of the wrench you hold onto, but I'm always concerned that any repair or installation I attempt will end in a dripping leak. Adding to the problem, was that the plumbing I needed to work on was Pex, with which I have zero tools to work. Stepping into the void was Uncle Ed, who not only has the tools, he has the experience in working with the stuff. So after a quick survey of parts needed, we were off to the store. After returning home, the installation went quickly. While the plastic doesn't look as nice and study as copper, the installation of the Pex is far easier, and the compression fittings work well. After Ed left, I took apart the dryer and venting pipes and cleaned out all the lint. We plugged both in, turned on the water, and TAA DAA! They worked perfectly. Cindy is beside herself with the convenience of going downstairs to do wash, not down the block.

Molding installation. 

There's been other significant accomplishments so far this month. I FINALLY finished the vestibule with the installation of the molding along the ceiling. My measurements and cutting of angles went very well using my little miter box. The difficulty came with getting to the corners above the closet, and nailing the stuff into our concrete walls. Oof. It looks pretty good. After a bit of touch up of the walls and cieling (after a couple of errant hammer swings) the little room is finally done.

New paint, numbers, and mailbox.

They had a big paint sale at Home Depot so at the last day of the sale Cindy and I selected a color for the outside trim work of the house. It looks to me like milk chocolate and goes nicely with the white stucco walls. One of the most visible parts of the house is the porch so I decided to start there and scraped and painted the columns and trim, as well as the railing and lattice on the stairs. I think it looks very nice. Since I had to remove the old, ratty mailbox to paint, I installed a new one that Cindy had liked at Kovarik's hardware. We had purchased new house numbers last fall so they went up as well. The house is really becoming ours now.

Other big news is that we ordered a screen door for the front of the house. It should add some much needed circulation to the downstairs, and allow me to remove the main door for some badly needed restoration. I'll hopefully have news on that project in the next blog.

Heat, Humidity and Holidays

It's been a quiet time on the home repair and maintenance front. My paid job, heat and holidays have interfered, but that's not a bad thing. My paid job as a meteorologist for the National Weather Service becomes busier and more chaotic in the summer as the weather literally heats up, and co workers head out on vacation. This leads to extended work days, overtime, and a crazy work schedule as I fill in for others. Frankly, it tires me out, especially since our office is open 24 hours a day and I may be called in at anytime.

After a cool Spring, summer has been hot so even when I have a day off, it kind of spoils my ambition to work outside in the heat and humidity. The grass is getting high but the weather and my job has kept me from it. It's not looking good for today either. However, to be honest, I have had opportunities, but have chosen to do other things. Last week, Cindy and I had ambitious plans to prep the den for renovation but when it got time to get at it, we decided the heat in the house was too much and we went to the movies. Today, a cooler day and perfect for cutting the grass after work, we plan to head down to The Dicks Sporting Goods Open and catch a little golf. I volunteered at the event for years when it was the B.C. Open, and after that we always for at least one day of golf into our schedule, but we have been in quite a while and I'm really looking forward to going.

The extent of  my fireworks.

We enjoyed a subdued 4th of July holiday. I was working graveyard shifts and the weather was warm and sticky. In the end, we had our Uncle Ed over for gourmet burgers and a picnic on the porch. Later in the evening we had planned to head out to watch the Highland Park fireworks, but ended up just sitting on the porch watching the show various neighbors put on. It's interesting to note that personal fireworks are completely illegal in New York, but there seems to be little regard for or enforcement of the law. The scanner was alive with calls for fireworks but apparently the police just ask people to stop as I did not hear of any arrests. The bangs and booms did seem to upset poor Katia as she ran around in a somewhat panicked  form looking for the source of the noise. Natasha meanwhile couldn't have cared less and snoozed though the evening, as usual.

We will not be getting this door. I
 liked the kick panel at the bottom.
Cindy wants full glass, She wins.

Speaking of Uncle Ed, I did manage to get some work in at his place and help him assemble and raise a gantry crane in his garage. It's a 1 ton crane and it was sure built like it could lift a ton as we put it together. In the end it took three of us to finally lift it into place. Luckily, Ed has a beer cooler nearby the work area. On the flip side, Ed has agreed to bring his tools and help me extend the Pex plumbing in the basement to our clothes washer. Our nearly 25 years of trips to the laundromat may soon be over!

The heat has demonstrated the need for a screened storm door on the front of the house to improve circulation. Ed has agreed to help with the installation but as usual, there are issues. Apparently, MOST doors are 36 or 30 inches. Ours is not. Ours is 34 5/8 inches. This takes you from buying a stock door to ordering a custom door at astronomical increases in prices. However, I'm not ready to give in. Home Depot sells 34 inch doors at stock price. Unfortunately, they say their 34 inch door will fit openings up to 34 3/8 inches. Can I adapt the door to fit my opening? I sure hope so and plan to try, even if it means adding a thin strip of molding to narrow the gap. This is where the addition of another mind will help. I'm pretty confident in our ability to solve this one. (gulp!).

The rain, the park, and other things

Splash block back in place.

We are in a light to moderate drought here in central New York this summer. Drought, of course, is relative and folks in California would likely laugh at our "dryness". In any case, a drought it is and in the middle of it, in typical New York fashion, we had flooding. In just a couple hours three to four inches of rain fell over the Binghamton area. Suddenly, the sun broke through but it was to late and the heavy rain led to flooding of underpasses, parking lots, and unfortunately, our basement. It was minor to be sure, less than an inch in the corner, but it was poorly timed, and poorly placed wetting some large and thick pieces of particle board I was saving for future projects, It was a quick clean up even with my mini shop vac but the damage was done, both physically and mentally as I will take partial blame. I had removed the gutter splash block to help the grass grow. This allowed the gushers coming out of the downspouts to run right down along the basement wall.

My yard, the fence, and the park beyond.

As I have mentioned many times, we have a large lot which is bordered on the north by a small city park. Between the park and our yard is a 3 foot chain link fence that is rather beat up, but serves the purpose of marking the border along with a row of trees. A couple months ago, the new Binghamton Parks Commissioner saw me in the yard and stopped in to chat. He has begun an initiative to remove the fences around the city parks and wanted to know if I objected. Well, yes. What's to keep kids from playing to discover my large side yard and thinking it's part of the park? In any case we had a nice conversation but I was left with the feeling that even though he had asked, the fence was coming down, So, after some thought I decided to call the mayor's office to voice my opinion (I've met the mayor, he seems like a nice guy) and was firmly blocked from any access by an assistant. I also shot the mayor a message on Twitter to no effect. If anyone has an inside line to the mayor, please let me know. I'd really hate to lose that fence.

Weeds gone, marble in.

I was pretty embarrassed by my whining about the motion light in my previous blog and practically the next day I had the new LED lighting installed. For now I have it set for a low light, all night illumination that becomes full brightness when it senses movement.

The weed problem around the back corner and back of the house had bugged me to no end so I ripped up all the weeds, put down some weed blocker plastic and covered with marble chips that simply caught my eye at home Depot.

Stump removal by a free professional.

A couple days ago a friendly neighbor dropped by to follow through on a promise to remove the stumps that were leftover from our bush removal last fall. Jim showed up with a chainsaw and all the safety equipment to remove the stumps. Things were going well until he discovered that some bees had built a hive in the stump. He asked if we had some spray and despite knowing that somewhere we have it, I couldn't lay my hands on any bee spray. No problem Jim ran down the street to his place and came back to end the threat and finished removing the stumps.

Stumps are gone, grass is still patchy. 

 I'm still cutting the lawn with my old and tiny push mower. Prices are starting to drop on riding tractors so while I get exercise I'm potentially saving money. Also, there is still the Fall equipment auction to look forward to and perhaps get a bargain. In the meantime, I'll continue to push and extol the virtues of lawn mowing and the exercise that comes with it to my lovely wife
and perhaps she'll join me in this fun task. .

So, did anyone pick up on the references to a certain cheesy 60's bubblegum pop song in this blog? If so, please  list any references you found in the comments section below. Thanks for reading.

Things I would have thought would have been fixed by now

We are now entering the second half of our first year at the house and I'm finding myself a bit surprised at what's done, and what is not. Why should I be surprised, right? I am the "lead contractor" in the project so I should be where I want to be. Well, uh, I underestimated somethings, overestimated others. And as I said here, there has been some time issues.

The broken garage door back in November.
It still looks this way. 

My biggest disappointment is the lack of progress on the garage door, which remains permanently open. The biggest obstacle is the lack of a clear path mainly due to being overwhelmed by opinions on what can/should be done. To recap, the door is broken, and likely not salvageable, I've been told by several that repairing a garage door is no place for an amateur to tread so I've called in some friends and that's where the opinions start. The issue is with the attic access which sits in the middle of  ceiling causing the installation of an opener difficult. An opener is probably needed since the door is so massive but the practical, cheapskate side of me figured that Cindy could open a lightweight aluminum door herself. If I mention that I get a weird look from people, although Cindy, being the good sport that she is trusts my judgement on that. I was just recently advised that you CAN install an offset garage door opener so I guess the next step is to call in a reputable garage door company and get an estimate. Yikes!

Little things keep getting delayed too. I purchased new LED security lighting to replace the old incandescent motion detector flood lights on the garage (see picture above, in the upper left). The old lights seem to come on randomly, day and night with motion only occasionally being the cause. It's a simple job but I tend to work on things like this when I'm home alone and I have no one available to help me turn the proper breaker off in the basement. Of course, nothing in our electrical box is labeled and I'm way too lazy to throw a switch, climb the stairs and look to see if the lights have gone off. I realize this is an extremely poor excuse, even more so now that I've written it, but at the moment I always manage to find something else to do.

I would have thought I would have the kitchen painted by now. I repaired the huge holes in  one wall and painted the ceiling back before the appliances showed up, but have made no further progress. Part of it was I got discouraged when we had a bathroom leak that damaged the ceiling and decided to hold off until I was sure I had fixed the leak. Well, after caulking everything in sight apparently I have fixed it but I have since moved on. Cindy has given me a pass on that and prefers I work on the den next.

A recent Sunday morning.

One thing we have managed to do is enjoy our porch. Like the fireplace we enjoyed last winter, the porch was a big selling point for the house. If it were up to Cindy, we would eat our dinner out there every evening. I prefer the mornings, with a cool breeze and a much quieter neighborhood, often just the birds keeping us company. Very relaxing.

Time 2 (to) (too)

Sometimes, time works to your advantage. Other times, not so much. In owning a home, time can be an advantage in that over time, you build equity and worth, through decreasing principal and increasing value (you hope). Of course, time works against you as well as paint peels, furnaces break down and grass grows. Time also takes us on, and takes it's toll. I've had a bum knee since Junior High School and it has been biding it's time deciding that a good time to flair up would be as we move and begin to work on our new home. The good news is that time has not affected my head or my heart and I still believe I can do anything I need, bum knee and all.

Geno and I enjoying dinner at Oaks Inn. 

Time however, has cost us, taking First Father In Law and #1 house painter Geno. Cindy's dad waged and epic struggle against the rare disease that infected him, steadily improving, defying the odds and those who said he would not improve. Sadly, he could not fight time and his age caught up to him. A secondary infection overwhelmed him and he could not fight on. His desire to help and gentle honor came from another era, a rare commodity today. I should never grumble about work after watching him climb ladders, carry branches and haul equipment well into his 80s without complaint. He was a good man and will be missed by many.

All set up for the baby shower.

Time has become a rarity and precious commodity. While the care for and tragic passing of Geno has taken time from us (especially Cindy), joyous family events have also pushed the house to the back burner. A baby shower brought my side of the family together at my volunteer fire house last weekend. Niece Susan and her husband Colt are having their first baby soon and a wonderful celebration of this event was hosted by my sister Karen. It was great seeing friends and family come together. I enjoyed myself thoroughly cooking spiedies and sausages at the grill. Next up at the end of the month is a wedding outside of Syracuse as Cindy's cousin gets married. Then, another big wedding in Montana over Labor Day. As time passes, it brings us both joy and sorrow.

Using my pick mattock to remove roots and stumps.

There has been some time to work on the house. Latest accomplishment was to finish removing the old bushes from the north lawn, and to remove some of the stumps and roots in front of the porch. I'm happy to say the grass is growing nicely there and will need to be mowed soon, so all final obstructions must go. A spell of dry weather has made outdoor work easier, but necessitated the purchase of a sprinkler for my newly seeded areas.

It will be interesting to see what summer brings. I look forward to the simple pleasure of getting dirty and sweating outdoors. There's plenty of painting and minor repairs, and we still need to clean the windows after the power washing spattered them. At the end of the day we love sitting on the porch with a cool drink watching day turn to night. Time slows.

Time

I've been surprised how easy it has been for me to write this blog. Once I get started on a topic, the ideas and words just kind of flow and I'm done before I know it. This blog entry, about the passage of time, has been different as I don't know quite where to start. It would be easy, you would think, when writing about time, that you would start at the beginning. But which beginning? I suppose I'll go back to my beginning.

Right from my beginning, I've been fascinated by maps and weather. I still pour over maps, especially road maps, and could probably talk you to, or at least get you near any location in the U.S. by listing the routes you would need to arrive. As for weather, I had all kinds of weather books and pamphlets growing up. I was particularly fascinated by a weather almanac insert that was included in a Sunday issue of the NY Daily News around 1970. It had New York City weather stories, pictures and statistics for over a hundred years. For one Christmas, I got an anemometer and wind vane which my dad and I installed on the roof. I was clearly desperate for information and weather forecasts in those days, were hard to come by. The newspaper has stale information, collected the day before and published overnight. There was no weather radio, no Weather Channel, and weather was a few minutes at the end of the evening news. There was one way to talk to a live weather expert and to get the latest forecast: RAymond 9-1597. The number of the Weather Bureau at the airport. I got to be friends with the (usually) friendly men that answered the phone.

Move forward in time to 1986. After graduating from SUNY Oswego with a bachelors degree in Meteorology I'm selling appliances at Kmart in Binghamton. A year earlier I had applied for a Meteorologist Intern position at Kennedy airport in NYC and was not selected. The phone rang at Kmart and my understandably excited father told me that I had gotten a call from the servicing personnel office and had been offered the same job, but at LaGuardia airport. So began my weather career.

A couple years later, the LaGuardia office was closed and I was given the opportunity to go to the office in Binghamton, which allowed me to work with some of the same men I had spoken to on the phone all those years ago. Time passes...

National Weather Service Binghamton

It's 2016 and I've been at this for 30 years. I'm now the old man who answers the phone. Incredibly, the number has not changed, we just don't use the RAymond and it's 729-1597, and we answer it 24 hours a day. The phone though, doesn't ring all that much. The weather nerds of today have the internet, Facebook, and Twitter along with 24 hour coverage on The Weather Channel (now owned by IBM - more irony).

The future of the National Weather Service is murky. Another push is on in Congress to privatize much of what we do, and modeling is getting to the point that forecasts are being pushed from computer to the public untouched by human hands. My future is more clear. As of today I am eligible for full retirement and could leave my job at any time. I plan to hang around for a bit longer as I still love my job and the people I work with, but I'm thinking my time here is probably short.

Oh yeah,  the house. A couple quick updates. I have finished painting the vestibule and installed a new light fixture that Cindy and I picked out. I need to install the molding and will finally be done. The grass I planted in front of the porch is coming in pretty nicely with favorable weather and generous watering. Cindy has announced that the next room project should be the den. The room has no wallpaper so I'm happy to comply.