Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 2 of 2 1 2
#95808 02/18/03 08:51 AM
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
True, Bingley, true.

- Pfranz

#95809 02/18/03 09:45 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
B
veteran
Offline
veteran
B
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
Well, it's now Tuesday 5:30 pm. Storm started Friday. First time I set foot out of the house was Monday 11:00 a.m., when it finally stopped snowing. 26 inches. My wife and I took 4 hours to shovel off the front steps and a path one shovel-width down the sidewalk to my car at the curb, a distance of about 25 feet. I also went 6 feet in either direction sideways (i.e., parallel with the house) so the dog would have a place to do his thing, as the snow was too deep for him to get through (and he's not a small dog). The last 4 hours of the precip consisted of icy rain which soaked into the snow and made it heavy as lead, so shovelling was really frightful for someone as out of shape as I am and with a very bad cold and having already had one heart attack and not intending to have another. I had to stop after about 5 minutes and take 10 minutes to catch my breath and after about a half hour had to rest for an hour. It went that way.
Last night (Monday) it snowed another 2 inches, just to put icing on the cake.
Today the cavalry arrived in the person of my son & daughter in law. While we watched their girls and I went to the supermarket (after they dug my car out) they did as much shovelling as my wife and I would have needed about a week to do. So we're now OK.
I went nowhere Sat. or Sun, not to church (don't imagine many people did). The governor of Md issued a proclamation (on what authority I have no idea) banning nonessential travel on any public roads. No one has anwered the phone at my place of employment yesterday or today.
You may have seen on network TV the collapsed roof of the B&O Railroad Museum. It's a round building built in 1887 surrounding a central cupola. The cupola survived, but the torus which surrounds it collapsed under the weight of the snow. The locomotives under it, some from the earliest days of railroading are said to be imperilled by the water and damaged by the structural parts falling on them. That's a real shame. The B&O is now gone, absorbed into CSX and there's no money for repairs unless the state picks it up. I doubt insurance will cover it.
Speaking of that, the snow on the roof of my house is forming an ice dam and about to tear the gutters and downspouts off as the stuff melts. In fact, nearly every house in the neighborhood has the same problem; saw one with the gutters half off on my way back from the supermarket. That happened about 10 years ago in a bad storm and anyone who might have been standing at our front door when it fell would have been killed. A large gutterfull of ice and slush weighs a ton. That's covered by homeowners insurance. Last time it cost the ins. co. over $3,000.00 not only for new gutters and downspouts and fascia but to replace 15 slates which it ripped off. Back then it cost $25 per slate; it's now up to $50+ per slate to fix a slate roof. Only good thing about slate roofs is they last a long time. Ours is the original roof. House was built in 1925.



#95810 02/19/03 04:36 AM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Storm didn't blow up quite as ferociously as first feared, so it spared us the 9 ft tides...crested at 8ft. Lots of major beach erosion and back-bay flooding, but not too much property damage, thankfully. However, there is now a problem with lots of roofs collapsing all over the region (South Jersey, Delaware, Eastern Pennsylvania)...apartment buildings, private homes, schools, restaurants, factories...a real mess...not many injuries, though, so that's good. problem is the snow compacted in the late sleet/rain mix into the heavy, thick type after first blowing in all fluffy and light...and with a amt of slush underneath. Then it all froze up again without melting much. So the weight is wreaking havoc with area buildings, as Boby mentioned. Guess I'll be doing some roof clearing tomorrow.


#95811 02/20/03 03:09 AM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
I learned something new today...shoveling 3 foot drifts of crusted, heavy snow off the roof is no fun, no fun at all.


#95812 02/21/03 03:29 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
W
wow Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Well, we got about 20-22 inches of snow but all light and fluffy. My "man" came and plowed ($25)and the boys next door took car of my car and the path to my door, and then shoveled paths for Pearl. ($15 - they are really good kids!) The last three days were at 40-45 fahrenheit and the roads are in good shape. The sun which shines on all parts of my roof have taken care of most of roof snow, although my neighbor was out with a roof rake on his garage as it gets no sun. Handy gadget that roof rake! Never seen one?
It's a square of poly-something about 18 wide by 10 inches deep attached to a long flexible rod that allows him to stand on the ground and reach waaaay up on on his three storey high roof. Works like a charm.
So all OK here. Sounds you folks further south got what we got in Blizzard of 1978!
Hang in there, Spring is just around the corner.


#95813 02/21/03 04:43 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Hang in there, Spring is just around the corner.

Yeah, and floods.

Although I am one of the champions [aka apologists], for trying to keep these fora to words and language (ha!) I must chime in and say that the only comfort this southerner can derive from so much snow is, as I understand it, our well won't go dry next August.


#95814 02/24/03 02:41 AM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
B
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
B
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
So all's well that ends well.

Bingley


Bingley
#95815 02/24/03 03:06 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
No, no--it's not all's well; she just said it's their well.


Page 2 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,580
Members9,187
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Karin, JeffMackwood, artguitar, Jim_W, Rdbuffalo
9,187 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 332 guests, and 0 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
wofahulicodoc 10,713
tsuwm 10,542
LukeJavan8 9,931
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5