Question Annual "State of the Elrod" Address to a Joint Session of Whateley

Hmm... what you probably need is to do a short character-assassination story, just as therapy. Get everybody who has been annoying you lately and feature them as the villains. Then have your heroes curb-stomp them. Don't overthink it, don't care about quality dialogue or plot holes, or how come Conan, Harry Potter, Captain Kirk and Bugs Bunny are in the same story; do it as a stream-of-consciousness thing, as a sort of primal scream. MAYBE show it to your close family and friends, who would recognize the annoyances and get a chuckle out of it, but don't bother with rewrites or posting it.

(I found over the years that I don't have to actually POST an answer to some forum troll who's annoying me to feel better; just putting the words on the screen is enough. Maybe because it forces me to figure out exactly what is annoying me.)

Elrod I am also in Houston, just the Northwest Side, near The Woodlands.

I am a Tech Geek that has a hard time throwing parts away, I know I Horde Tech saying it still works I will find a use.
So if you have any computer needs, like parts let me know I may have a slightly used part or one still new in the box I never got around too using before moving on to a higher end model.
Let me know. if I can help you out especially with desktop parts.

somewhere in there I bet elrod has a car or two

link shows the video of tens of thousands of flood damaged cars in storage at Texas speedway!

blackflag.jalopnik.com/the-historic-texa...rowing-fl-1819835469


of if you want to shop some for fun??
www.copart.com/

from Hyundai to Ferrari!

I have a ton of IT equipment in my house that survived well - my portable drives, backup drive, routers, switches, PCs (yes, I save them SECOND - after critical documents). With the walls open, I'm finishing pulling a wired cat6 network, primarily because I get tons of channel interference from my many neighbors. (I used a channel scanning app to find what's in use, and every channel is overlapped by someone else's wifi.) Throughput on wifi sucks at times, so having a wired backup is a) better for security, and b) faster infrastructure. Over the years, I've put probably half a MILE of wire in my house - with the walls open, it was an opportunity to finish the network. Spilled over onto a second 24-port patch panel, if that tells you anything.

Yes, I lost 2 cars that didn't know how to swim. They drowned. Mine and my daughter's. Two in the garage - wife's and son's - got lifted by my floor jack up onto blocks and ramps and jackstands and other improvised items - and they didn't get wet. We had 7" in the house - which was about 11" in the garage, and about 14" in the driveway - enough to make my cars flood inside.

Now living in 2 bedrooms, a large family room/playroom, and a full bath upstairs. Meanwhile, the ground floor is a shambles - but we have a microwave on a temp table, a toaster oven, the stove, and a sink. Everything else is gone. And we still have more to organize before the crew gets here to replace the drywall and insulation. So I got done in time with my network mods. Need to put in one wire so we can put an undercabinet LED strip by where a 'bills desk' is going in a corner of the kitchen. (We're taking the opportunity of the rebuild to simplify several things taht weren't optimal when it was built. And that should decrease cost.) Lost 3 sofas, 1 wing chair (we evacuated a bunch of stuff upstairs), 3 beds, an entertainment center, an antique upright piano, two curio cabinets, kitchen and dining tables (I made the dining table - solid cherry, expanding, seats up to 12 - Queen Anne style legs) plus chairs. A computer desk with hutch. And on and on and on.

At least our mortgage company said we were in a flood zone (had never flooded before, even in 1979, which was bad), so we had to have flood insurance. Over 80% of the people who flooded don't have insurance. But it's been 8 weeks, and it seems like a non-ending saga. I finally had an emotional event yesterday, which helped to vent a bunch.

Today has been busy - but not in a story-writing productive way.
In the last week, I've wired probably another 15 LAN drops in the house. I've modified a couple of outlets (dual-gang, dual outlets as opposed to the one that was there). That involved crawling around in the fiberglass insulation and dust of the attic, drilling a lot of holes, and running a fish tape down to pull the wires up. Worst bit - the longest pull I did, the wire got a kink, and it's now useless. So I have to do it all over again.

And I've cleaned and boxed and moved. About 15 boxes of stuff getting moved, shelves assembled in the garage to hold stuff out of the way. All my guns and ammo - upstairs, out of the way. My boxes and boxes of freeze-dried emergency food - upstairs, out of the way. Lots of boxes - upstairs, out of the way. Legs and knees are shot. Shoulder is shot. Arms itch from fiberglass.

Despite excruciatingly painful shoulder, we moved 3 sofas, a computer desk and hutch (oak), an entertainment center and side curio cabinets, and 2 wing chairs. Most of that went out by the curb - I expect someone will come by; in the next day or so and haul it off. The bases sat in putrid water, so they're moldy, warping, and the plywood and joints are coming apart. But someone will make use of it - some bleach, shoot some gorilla glue into the joints, and then paint the whole thing (because the wood is badly stained), and it'll serve someone for a long time. But that meant we had to haul it out of the house.

Actually have 3 stories in work, but not enough time to work on them. One MAU tale. It's gonna be a long, multi-part adventure in an unlikely setting. Shine, 'Nuff said. And a non -Whateley piece I can't get out of my brain as a rebuttal to a story I recently read that had an ending that was SOOOO WRONG - IMHO. And it's stuck there - desperately needing a rebuttal. So I work on stories when I can, and work on the house the rest of my free time.

well, the cabling has turned out to be a bitch of a job. The plenum cable I got didn't unspool right from the box, which led to kinks in a couple of cables. Cables that had to run above the second story addition because I couldn't get anything under the floor of the second floor bedrooms. Crawling up and down in attics and dust and fiberglass is no fun - and then after running a cable and punching it down, you plug in the tester and 2 or 3 pairs are short or open. AAARGHH! And it' not obvious where the problem is, so I can't salvage wire for shorter upstairs runs without a shit-gob of testing and a lot of luck. Doulble AARGHH!

I'm about 4 for 6 with this cable. But the last one I did, though no good, is a place-holder with a box in the wall, so I can pull a replacement cable easily after sheetrock is done. I'll still have to go up and over, but .... no fun. One more item ticked off the gargantuan "to do" list...

elrodw wrote: well, the cabling has turned out to be a bitch of a job. The plenum cable I got didn't unspool right from the box, which led to kinks in a couple of cables. Cables that had to run above the second story addition because I couldn't get anything under the floor of the second floor bedrooms. Crawling up and down in attics and dust and fiberglass is no fun - and then after running a cable and punching it down, you plug in the tester and 2 or 3 pairs are short or open. AAARGHH! And it' not obvious where the problem is, so I can't salvage wire for shorter upstairs runs without a shit-gob of testing and a lot of luck. Doulble AARGHH!

I'm about 4 for 6 with this cable. But the last one I did, though no good, is a place-holder with a box in the wall, so I can pull a replacement cable easily after sheetrock is done. I'll still have to go up and over, but .... no fun. One more item ticked off the gargantuan "to do" list...

Take it from a guy who had pulled 1000's of miles of cat 5 and 6 wire.
I never pull from the box, I get a approximate length, then spool it out slowly and then either coil it for later or lay it out in zig zags in the starting room to pull in with my helpers.We never pull from coils , always rune the wire out by hand before the pull via unrolling it.
We buy the expensive stuff and on long runs I never trust that box to work right!
One thing that does help is ganging runs together, but in your case that might not work...not enough wire to matter.

before we did the remodel to add the upstairs (the house was built with the idea of adding a second story, so that saved a ton of prep-work and time), I ran cable, leaving it in the walls except for the handful of runs I terminated and patched into my switch. Then when the 2nd floor was framed, I put in a bunch of cable. Of course, what I planned then vs. the reality of life today (and the effects of the Hurricane Harvey remodel) means that some old runs were inadequate or placed wrong, or I had one drop where we needed 2 (pc AND networked printer, or networked drive). So, major rework to cable plant - and major expansion.

The first time I ran cable, I had a 1000' box of plenum cable that was on a great roll-out system; I got zero kinks, and it pulled easily. This time, not so much. But it's almost done. Everything on the first floor is done, so I'm ready for drywall and insulation.

As to LAN party, um, not unless a) everyone wants to drive to Texas, b) nobody minds my house looking like a construction zone, c) I find time among all the hurricane clean-up, and d) I'm not zoned out on pain meds from overdoing it with the hurricane cleanup.

What's wrong with Doom?

I have an updated open sourced doom engine that has most of the modern stuff in it, and I own the WADs to all the original DOOM games, so I still play it occasionally.

I have the same for Quake as well

Transport Tycoon is always a hoot (corporate sabotage of trains via sacrificial buses!), and OpenTTD makes it easy to play nowadays. Not to mention some of the slightly newer staples, such as Starcraft, Diablo 2, Warcraft 3 and the plethora of Source mods.

Ah, LAN parties... I remember doing those back in the Nineties.

The earlier ones involved assembling temporary networks with 10base2 coax cable, which always had connection issues... not to mention the buggy DOS-based networking DOOM used. Not to mention that, even if some of us had laptop computers (really expensive back then), they were woefully inadequate for gaming. So, a LAN party involved lots of heavy lifting, meaning mid-to-large computer towers and (especially) boat-anchor-heavy CRT monitors. We started gathering around 14:00 on a Saturday, and by 22:00 we might have half of the computers talking to each other.

Networking evolved quickly, both on the hardware (twisted-pair 10baseT) and software, but eventually we gave up on all the work and started gathering in a LAN House, where we just rented by the hour computers already set up with all the networkiing and the latest games -- not to mention that those usually had larger screens than we had at home, and better video cards than half of the gang had.

I was always terrible at games requiring quick reactions, so I never bothered to play to win... I went just to have fun, usually by doing kamikaze attacks in Quake. We played a lot of Starcraft too, but I was no better at that, and RTS aren't nearly as fun to do kamikaze attacks as FPS deathmatches with infinite respawns.

I had my first network in '92 at home, back when most people had A computer and I really liked Windows For Workgroups. (I can feel the MS hate coming, but Win3.11 was solid, robust and stable, all I ask from an OS.) By the mid-ninties I spent many a weekend with marathon sessions of CivNET back in the day. For the historically challenged that would be Sid Meyer's Civilization version 1 with a networking add on.

You are not running Plenum Wire I pray?
It is way to expensive to run if you do not have the building code requirement. All it is is a coating that puts off non-toxic smoke when it burns. And unless your home has an open air return a waist of money, I hope you used PVC.

I used to run Coax when i was in high school, it was before the self contained cable spool in a box became popular.
The boxes are easier to move but I always had an easier time running cable from wooden spools on our home made spool caddies. Then I started seeing the Dollies with built in spool caddies that you could run several pulls at a time.

I was going to suggest putting in flex conduit to J-boxes to really future proof it. Always easier to pull wire though conduit than trying to use a push rod to get it through insulation.

3 months.

3 months, and no repairs. 3 months of tear out, throw out, ache from shoulder pain, tear out more, throw out more. 3 months of living out of boxes, not being able to find anything, not having even a good cooking knife because we have no idea where the hell they are. 3 months of feeling more and more like this hell is going to be the new normal. 3 months of birthdays and holidays that feel blah and like there's no reason to celebrate. Christmas is coming, and frankly, at this point, I don't give two shits, because of what living like this is. Progress toward rebuild? ZERO.

3 months of living upstairs, sleeping on a very bad bed. counting the 2 months post-surgery, pre-Harvey, it's been 5 months since I've had 2 consecutive good nights' sleep. I'm tired, I'm losing my patience, I can find no motivation to write, or frankly, to do anything. We have no target date from the builder on when we get our turn for the rebuild. We have no idea what the insurance is going to do, and what kind of battles I'm going to have with them.

I really don't like to vent like this, but I'm almost at my limit for existing in this awful shitty state of being. I want normal. I'm tempted to tell our contractor to fuck himself, using my vacation time, and doing it myself. At least to a couple of rooms to get even a tiny bit more livability in our kitchen. Except that I can't because of my shoulder. And my wife would skin me if I tried.

I want normal again. Not winning a lottery, not a fancy trip, not a Lambo. Just to have the house normal. And it seems like that's too much to ask.

rant over. we now return you to your regularly scheduled Whateley discussions.

I hope you get good news tonight, tomorrow, as soon as possible.

Iwasforger03 wrote: I hope you get good news tonight, tomorrow, as soon as possible.

Seconded.

If you think of anything that will let us help, I think we'd be glad to. I could lend money to a Gofundme to help you get a jumpstart on house fixing perhaps? I don't know if we have enough people for that though.

El, would going to a hotel or whatever over Xmas help? At least it would be a rest for you and you wouldn't have to do stuff.

Kristin Darken wrote: As I understand it from folks out here who lost homes to fires, the problem is less about money and more about there simply not being people to do the work.

After Wilma hit south Florida, the roofing companies' backlog was measured in months. Construction contractors not only need the manpower to physically handle the tear-down and repair or rebuild, but their supply chains often have limited surge capacity, and local permitting offices are rarely in place to make the process easy for homeowners, small businesses, and contractors.

That's one of the number of reasons that after Irma tore a chunk of roofing off I took the first reasonable offer on my house.

null0trooper wrote: After Wilma hit south Florida, the roofing companies' backlog was measured in months. Construction contractors not only need the manpower to physically handle the tear-down and repair or rebuild, but their supply chains often have limited surge capacity, and local permitting offices are rarely in place to make the process easy for homeowners, small businesses, and contractors.

That's one of the number of reasons that after Irma tore a chunk of roofing off I took the first reasonable offer on my house.

Okay maybe this is the wrong place to ask such a question, but why is it that municipalities don't lay on some sort of expedited permitting when a disaster strikes? Seriously what sort of mentality says, 'we can do things normally' after a disaster, and from all my experience with permits normally seems to be almost a deliberate slow walk by the bureaucrats involved.... End rant. Now I'll go back to lurking.

shudders I'm still slightly claustrophobic from running cables under a couple of houses back in the late 1980's

The type of job where you tie a rope to your feet so someone can drag you out afterwards.

When Ike hit in 2008 all those years ago it took us almost a full year till we were able to repair our house after Hurricane Ike hit Houston. We lost the walkway to our garage along with a big chunk of the side. We had a Tree fall on the house there. we lost water from our well to our house, and the electrical from our house to the well. We had to do a patch job to get it back up. then we were just trying to find a contractor to do the structural and roof repair work. It took a full year and then some, just to get that work done. It is going to be a long game run here for you. Too few to do the work and so much o be done. Just watch out for those out of down scum bags that are here to rip people off and run with the money. they show up in every disaster area every time there is a event. They are the vultures there to pick at the corpse that is so many peoples lines and homes.

Anne wrote: Okay maybe this is the wrong place to ask such a question, but why is it that municipalities don't lay on some sort of expedited permitting when a disaster strikes? Seriously what sort of mentality says, 'we can do things normally' after a disaster, and from all my experience with permits normally seems to be almost a deliberate slow walk by the bureaucrats involved.... End rant. Now I'll go back to lurking.

When the earthquakes hit Canterbury, repairs were expedited, the rebuild was scheduled to be swift. Most of the early houses repaired were done in a manner so sloppy that just a few years later the repairs needed to be redone entirely. Not to mention at least one building that was built on a planned roadway, so it needed to be torn down about 90% through construction...

While the wait is definitely the worst part, and you can want things to be done faster, you really don't want to rush this sort of thing. Not to the point where things are a mess years later.


As for Elrod? I second the other suggestions. If at all possible try to get out of the house for a while, even if it's just to sleep elsewhere.

Ametros wrote:

Anne wrote: Okay maybe this is the wrong place to ask such a question, but why is it that municipalities don't lay on some sort of expedited permitting when a disaster strikes? Seriously what sort of mentality says, 'we can do things normally' after a disaster, and from all my experience with permits normally seems to be almost a deliberate slow walk by the bureaucrats involved.... End rant. Now I'll go back to lurking.

When the earthquakes hit Canterbury, repairs were expedited, the rebuild was scheduled to be swift. Most of the early houses repaired were done in a manner so sloppy that just a few years later the repairs needed to be redone entirely. Not to mention at least one building that was built on a planned roadway, so it needed to be torn down about 90% through construction...

While the wait is definitely the worst part, and you can want things to be done faster, you really don't want to rush this sort of thing. Not to the point where things are a mess years later.


As for Elrod? I second the other suggestions. If at all possible try to get out of the house for a while, even if it's just to sleep elsewhere.

Thirded or fourthed.

Take a couple of days to sleep elsewhere. Somewhere you can actually sleep.

Long-term sleep deprivation can cause all kinds of problems with your head.

---

As for the original question, Whether or not a town has some sort of contingency plan in place, will depend upon how likely the problem is to happen.

One island in Scotland, has fairly comprehensive plans for dealing with storm damage and flood damage. I think that they've been dusted off for this weekend's storms.

However, when the water table dropped, due to lack of rain in the summer, and they had to deal with drought conditions, they were amazed...

Yes, they have the plans in place now, but it was not a situation that they would ever expect to have to deal with.

Mister D wrote:

Ametros wrote:

Anne wrote: Okay maybe this is the wrong place to ask such a question, but why is it that municipalities don't lay on some sort of expedited permitting when a disaster strikes? Seriously what sort of mentality says, 'we can do things normally' after a disaster, and from all my experience with permits normally seems to be almost a deliberate slow walk by the bureaucrats involved.... End rant. Now I'll go back to lurking.

When the earthquakes hit Canterbury, repairs were expedited, the rebuild was scheduled to be swift. Most of the early houses repaired were done in a manner so sloppy that just a few years later the repairs needed to be redone entirely. Not to mention at least one building that was built on a planned roadway, so it needed to be torn down about 90% through construction...

While the wait is definitely the worst part, and you can want things to be done faster, you really don't want to rush this sort of thing. Not to the point where things are a mess years later.


As for Elrod? I second the other suggestions. If at all possible try to get out of the house for a while, even if it's just to sleep elsewhere.

Thirded or fourthed.

As for the original question, Whether or not a town has some sort of contingency plan in place, will depend upon how likely the problem is to happen.

One island in Scotland, has fairly comprehensive plans for dealing with storm damage and flood damage. I think that they've been dusted off for this weekend's storms.

However, when the water table dropped, due to lack of rain in the summer, and they had to deal with drought conditions, they were amazed...

Yes, they have the plans in place now, but it was not a situation that they would ever expect to have to deal with.

You have to remember that this was an 800-year flood event. We got over 50" of rain in 2 days. There was no way to predict that. The storm stopped its inward progress, then backed up toward the coast and moved very slowly along the coast and then back inland. So having flood plans is one thing; dealing with an 800-year event is another.

Yeah, some building permit requirements get waived, but it depends on the extent of damage. For us - drywall and insulation and flooring? No biggie. Someone who has to jack up their house by several feet? Yeah, engineering plans and approvals are a big deal,

I hope something helped though. We patiently (I think?) await good news and our prayers, hopes, and spells are with you. If we can do anything else, let us know. I think most of the forum would be glad to do what we can.

elrodw wrote:

Mister D wrote:

Ametros wrote:

Anne wrote: Okay maybe this is the wrong place to ask such a question, but why is it that municipalities don't lay on some sort of expedited permitting when a disaster strikes? Seriously what sort of mentality says, 'we can do things normally' after a disaster, and from all my experience with permits normally seems to be almost a deliberate slow walk by the bureaucrats involved.... End rant. Now I'll go back to lurking.

When the earthquakes hit Canterbury, repairs were expedited, the rebuild was scheduled to be swift. Most of the early houses repaired were done in a manner so sloppy that just a few years later the repairs needed to be redone entirely. Not to mention at least one building that was built on a planned roadway, so it needed to be torn down about 90% through construction...

While the wait is definitely the worst part, and you can want things to be done faster, you really don't want to rush this sort of thing. Not to the point where things are a mess years later.


As for Elrod? I second the other suggestions. If at all possible try to get out of the house for a while, even if it's just to sleep elsewhere.

Thirded or fourthed.

As for the original question, Whether or not a town has some sort of contingency plan in place, will depend upon how likely the problem is to happen.

One island in Scotland, has fairly comprehensive plans for dealing with storm damage and flood damage. I think that they've been dusted off for this weekend's storms.

However, when the water table dropped, due to lack of rain in the summer, and they had to deal with drought conditions, they were amazed...

Yes, they have the plans in place now, but it was not a situation that they would ever expect to have to deal with.

You have to remember that this was an 800-year flood event. We got over 50" of rain in 2 days. There was no way to predict that. The storm stopped its inward progress, then backed up toward the coast and moved very slowly along the coast and then back inland. So having flood plans is one thing; dealing with an 800-year event is another.

Yeah, some building permit requirements get waived, but it depends on the extent of damage. For us - drywall and insulation and flooring? No biggie. Someone who has to jack up their house by several feet? Yeah, engineering plans and approvals are a big deal,

Yea and construction man-power, and supplies will get stretched thin for a long time. When Hurricane Ike came through and hit Houston in 2008, it took us over a year to get the repairs done. We had the clean-up done in a week, but the repairs took a over a year. the back-log on contractors was insane. Also you have to watch out for all those out of town repair people who show up like vultures to make a quick profit and then bail out of town.

Okay, update time.

Went out this morning and got some lumber and also some drywall. Been waiting too long.
We got insulation and drywall in 2 rooms, which should help cut down my dust/mold exposure and help my cough and other symptoms.

My boys came down to help - they were useful, but learning, and I probably could have done better myself, but they're eager to learn, so next time, they'll be better.

It feels like PROGRESS, which we haven't felt much of in the last 4 months. Bare sheetrock is a world of improvement over studs. We also ripped out part of a wall I'm going to expand / open. Its a bearing wall - but if one cabinet wasn't there, I'd schedule doing that with sons. I know how to do that - which took a bit to explain to wife. It'll really open up the floorplan.

Needless to say, I didn't get much writing done, but last night, I did more Shine 2 part 2. So that's progress all around. I'm extremely tired and sore, but very content.

That's about par for mass media -- once the emergency has passed, they move on to the next Big Thing. Even if the so-called Big Thing is an alleged celebrity saying something stupid. And they say teenagers have no attention span to speak of...

Well, unless you're in NY. Which seems to be the only city most of the media have ever heard of...

Sir Lee wrote: That's about par for mass media -- once the emergency has passed, they move on to the next Big Thing. Even if the so-called Big Thing is an alleged celebrity saying something stupid. And they say teenagers have no attention span to speak of...

This is why a certain wag calls them the drive by media. They really don't care about the blood on the streets so to speak except as it has the ability to attract eyes to their product. Nothing particularly right or wrong about that, just something that we all ought to be aware of, that is for the most part everything they feed us is designed to maximize their profits and not necessarily to inform us at all!

Since it's that time of year - the annual "State of the Union Comedy Hour", I thought I'd do an update on our situation.

House repair - still waiting for contractor. LOTS of people are waiting for drywall contractors (reputable ones). It's been 5 months - 5 long, frustrating, depressing months. We've gotten a few things done, but it's like being on an extended camping trip in your own home. Most of our goods are in boxes piled in the garage, so we're living minimalist. No oven, so food selection is limited. Dishes put away, so it's paper plates. We should be getting the drywall soon - once that's done, we should move fairly quickly. I hope.

Personally, my back is giving agonizing pain from what we've had to DIY around here - which is really pushing it health-wise for me. Shoulder - I hope I haven't re-torn the rotator cuff. I hope. Between back, bad knees, and rotator cuff, I can't do a lot. Otherwise, I'd have done the drywall myself. Between the weather changes and dust and allergies, I just started my 5th course of antibiotics for sinus and other assorted upper respiratory crud.

At least work is boring. So I have time to try to maintain sanity. Oh, to have built the house 1 foot higher.....

Less. 7-8 inches. That cost us 2 cars and all the flood damage to the house.

Too bad there's no karst around. Just dig french drains until you hit the karst.



Just the occasional sinkhole formation to worry about.

Katssun wrote: Too bad there's no karst around. Just dig french drains until you hit the karst.

That works as long as the potentiometric surface of the water table remains below grade. Otherwise the water flows the other way without needing to turn on a pump. It's not entirely comforting to see water bubbling up from a storm drain.

Katssun wrote: Just the occasional sinkhole formation to worry about.

That depends. In some areas the dissolution caverns that would become sinkholes don't develop and the water table doesn't drop enough for older caverns that formed during a lower sea stand to collapse.

Hang in there! I wish we could do more to help. For now, I hope piece of mind and comfort return soon.

Monday and today (Feb 28), we had a crew in here installing sheetrock, and tomorrow morning early, the crew doing taping and floating will be here.

We have WALLS! (and there was much rejoicing!)

Now if only I hadn't slipped taking a long step down off my ladder (LAN work) and hyper-extended my knee. The bad one. So there's a bit of pain, but a lot of happiness about getting walls.

I'm so cheerful right now that I'm almost ready to call EE and figure out something collaborative!

The fact that Elrod is all happy and non-angsty makes it obvious that this is a fake post...

Astrodragon wrote: The fact that Elrod is all happy and non-angsty makes it obvious that this is a fake post...

Well there also was pain with the happiness, so I’m willing to concede it might be a real post.

Hey, happiness is happiness. I was bummed because I thought that I'd lost the thumb drive with all my writing projects on it. Then finally, I found it (where is was supposed to be, of course ) and now I'm happy, because I don't have to re-write 45 pages of my latest project. Or 8+ other projects. Hey, happiness is happiness.

And, and YES, I'm creating a backup copy, even as I type.

Glad to hear things are progressing ^^ Congrats on the walls being done, that's a real step forward! You're getting closer and closer.

You can do it!

Great to hear Elrod... and good to hear you found your flashdrive Bek.

Next step is to install the giant hydraulic jacks to lift the entire house the next time it floods.

As sure as you did that one of two things would occur: First your neighbors would complain. Second, they would be rusted or seized in some way as to not work when you needed them!

Wow, that's a huge step forward! I have friends in Houston and it's sad just how much work there is still to be done while the news cycle presses on. Even the electricity crisis in PR is not enough to get mention. I think I saw something last week when the power finally went back on for a neighborhood.

Hang in there. Looking forward to your post that 'normal' has returned.

Valentine wrote: Next step is to install the giant hydraulic jacks to lift the entire house the next time it floods.

like Professor Fates Car?

----but never push the button MAX!

Anne wrote: Second, they would be rusted or seized in some way as to not work when you needed them!

When you rely on a system to save your ass in an emergency, SOP is to test it during non-emergencies with enough frequency that you can catch any problems as they develop and correct them before they have a chance to bite you.

Kettlekorn wrote:

Anne wrote: Second, they would be rusted or seized in some way as to not work when you needed them!

When you rely on a system to save your ass in an emergency, SOP is to test it during non-emergencies with enough frequency that you can catch any problems as they develop and correct them before they have a chance to bite you.

Yes, but if you have managed to install the emergency system, the neighbors will complain if you test it.. Either that or it will rely on power which the emergency has caused to be cut off!
Oh no, I'm not a pessimist!

So... what if you attached big pontoons on every side of the house so that when it floods again it will just lift up with the water like Noah's Ark or a really, really big bass boat?

Yes, hydraulics require power to run the pump, but this can be provided by a good old fashioned gas or diesel engine. Or propane. Or human muscle, if you're not in a hurry. And yes, there will be noise while testing the system that might annoy your neighbors a little, but so what? Do they call the police on you every time you mow the lawn? Don't test it in the middle of the night like a jackass, and the neighbors will be fine.

The real issues are money and building codes.

Kettlekorn wrote:
The real issues are money and building codes.

Building codes are easy---simple don't tell them!


I saw this done in Pasadena more than once, one home owner wanted the lot the home sat on not the house. He could not move it because It was old /special and in the movie Chinatown.
A rather nice Spanish mission style, that is redone right would be very cool

but he could not get permits to move the house to save it and wanted the lot cleared for his idea of a home

so he called in a set of bulldozers at 4am and flattened it! and paid the fine of few paltry ten k$$$$

then sadly built a home that looks like IKEA vomited it up on the spot!

the city lost a gem because they could not yield a little

lighttech wrote:

Kettlekorn wrote:
The real issues are money and building codes.

Building codes are easy---simple don't tell them!

Actually, in most of the Houston-Galveston metro area, building permits are being waived, which leads to one drawback on available labor- people are doing things like putting in support beams to open walls into a more open floor plan, etc. If the home was damaged, no engineering or permitting required. Interior renovations are hot right now. Hell, we opened up some walls, too. The long pole is drywall. With the flooding, unlike other hurricanes, all of the affected structures need drywall. In Hurricane Ike, there was a bigger variety of damage, which lessened the reliance on drywall contractors.

The other thing I put in while the walls were open is LAN cabling. Yes, I know - everyone does WIFI these days. But when you get interference from all neighbors and can't get a clean channel set, your throughput goes to hell. Plus there's the issue of security. On that - let's just say I've been in more than enough less-than-public security briefings at work that I very strongly prefer to avoid wifi whenever possible.

I can't disagree with you. Much harder to hack a wired connection than a broadcast one! Good to hear that your life is getting better!

Kristin Darken wrote: F wi-fi. It's great for public settings/use... but no one should be using wi-fi at home, except to keep their phones synched to home systems (ie using wi fi to avoid bandwidth heavy updates and maint on phones when at home).

Well, it's so handy here with the kids and their devices.
Besides, anyone close enough to try and hack the wifi's (We have 2) will have the dogs barking at them. #CountryLife

Speaking as someone who supports a number of small businesses...

WiFi is neat, but it should be only a complement to a robust cabled network. Simply stated, cable is faster and gives more stable connections. The connection speed your WiFi hardware is allegedly capable of only happens in ideal conditions -- you might find those conditions in the middle of the Rub Al Khali, with a single access point and a single computer/phone, located about 1m from each other with nothing between them and the antennas perfectly oriented. Otherwise, some signal degradation is unavoidable. And don't get me started on people who accidentally turn off the WiFi on their notebooks...

OTOH, it's fairly easy to get gigabit speeds over cable with generic hardware...

Also, if you happen to own a so-called "smart" TV... you should pull the necessary cable to it. Two reasons for it:

1) Despite having the room for humongous antennas, in my experience the Wi-Fi cards in TVs are crap -- they can't hold a connection in places where even $50 no-brand phones have no problem connecting to the Internet. Yes, even big-name brand TVs.

2) Typing a WiFi password with a TV remote control is an exercise in masochism. And you really don't want to have to fiddle with it at the time of the big game, the big date or anything else time-sensitive.

If you are going to use some sort of WiFi-only device such as ChromeCast to connect your TV to the Internet, use that Ethernet cable to place an additional WiFi access point reasonably close to the TV. There are plenty of tutorials on the Web on how to turn an old/cheap router into an access point (but, briefly, you have to change its IP so it won't conflict with the main router, turn off the DHCP server and use only the LAN ports)

(This rant is not directed at Elrod, who I'm sure knows the above perfectly well. But it might be useful for someone...)

There IS some joy in Mudville today!

And it has NOTHING AT ALL to do with that grown man swinging a club playing what is essentially a kids' game of 9 against 1 and then switching sides.

I WROTE some stuff tonight! YES, actual WRITING!!
(and there was much rejoicing. Yay)

Now it's up to you to guess who that might be. It could be any of the following: Charge, Kayda, Danny, Shine, Laura (Gen 2), Knockoff. Elle. Or collab with EE.

elrodw wrote: Now it's up to you to guess who that might be. It could be any of the following: Charge, Kayda, Danny, Shine, Laura (Gen 2), Knockoff. Elle. Or collab with EE.

So, something completely new then?

elrodw wrote: There IS some joy in Mudville today!

And it has NOTHING AT ALL to do with that grown man swinging a club playing what is essentially a kids' game of 9 against 1 and then switching sides.

I WROTE some stuff tonight! YES, actual WRITING!!
(and there was much rejoicing. Yay)

Now it's up to you to guess who that might be. It could be any of the following: Charge, Kayda, Danny, Shine, Laura (Gen 2), Knockoff. Elle. Or collab with EE.

Laura is babysitting age regressed Charge, Kayda, Danny, 'Shine, Knockoff, Elle, Cody, Lanie, and Ribbon & Roulette.

So it's everything.

Valentine wrote: Laura is babysitting age regressed Charge, Kayda, Danny, 'Shine, Knockoff, Elle, Cody, Lanie, and Ribbon & Roulette.

So it's everything.

Luckily, Bobby Earl's been making that corn likker since he was knee-high to a grasshopper. 'Cause Laura's going to need a drink after that gig.

elrodw wrote: Now it's up to you to guess who that might be.

Hurray!

What, no chance for "Bobby Earl goes to Bikini Beach?"

My vote is for the story where Danny figures out how to become not furry Danica, starts getting (more) attention from every side of Poe's gender lines, and Kayda becomes irrationally envious.

It's now been 7 month. I have drywall, but we stalled again. So I have living conditions that are highly stressful. I haven't been able to bake a loaf of bread or a cake or a pan of caramel rolls or even a meatloaf for 7 months. Had holidays and birthdays that don't feel at all like celebrating. I'm trying hard to not sink into depression.

Come to LA see Disneyland and you can barrow my kitchen all week!

Should I visit and bring an easy-bake oven and cook cupcakes?

I was thinking a Chuck Wagon would be nice, but then where would we put the horses. Or should I not ask?

Oh you misunderstood the question. I didn't say we was going to feed the horses. Just where would we store them.

Of course I'm kidding. I'd never suggest that. And a lot of the new age chuck wagons are modified vans with freezers and those fancy styled grills and stoves.

elrodw wrote: . I haven't been able to bake a loaf of bread or a cake or a pan of caramel rolls or even a meatloaf for 7 months. Had holidays and birthdays that don't feel at all like celebrating. I'm trying hard to not sink into depression.

That feeling I know, kinda.

Finally got our oven fixed today, after it blew an element about 5 months ago.

Gave up on the electrician. Went and got the part from them, where it had been sitting on their shelf for 4 weeks, after having sat with a plumber for 2 weeks, and installed it myself.
That was the thermostat, which we discovered was blown after they installed the element that had sat in their shelf for 6 weeks, which had also spent 2 weeks at the plumbers.
The joys of the country.

Regardless of everything El, we all love you here, and if Danny and Kayda need to background for a while, we all understand perfectly. It's more important that you get your head right, and your life right. Things will eventually get better. If they don't, we as your fans and friends, will have to Kick life's ass until it surrenders and gives you some breaks.

elrodw wrote: It's now been 7 month. I have drywall, but we stalled again. So I have living conditions that are highly stressful. I haven't been able to bake a loaf of bread or a cake or a pan of caramel rolls or even a meatloaf for 7 months. Had holidays and birthdays that don't feel at all like celebrating. I'm trying hard to not sink into depression.

Miserey Loves company. I my elf have been mostly bedridden up for a month not left the house but to go to the doctor. Never get stress fractures in you feet!!!! I will crawl somewhere to meet you in the Houston area, just to give you some company. Maybe raid a Lowes or Home Depot along the way to bring some appliances but I will need bubble gum, shoe string, bandaids and a get away driver...

Status update time:
we have most of our doors and trim installed; the order made a few mistakes, so closet doors aren't installed in 2 rooms, and the door for our pantry was wrong. Trim is missing where it will butt up against the cabinets, so that still remains.
We got all the replacement appliances - last bit came in today, so the cabinetmakers know how bit of openings to leave for them. This morning, we reviewed the cabinets and such with them this morning. They play on starting to build cabinets on Thursday or Friday.
That's the good. The bad? Another upper respiratory infection (5) due to ongoing inflammation from the dust and mold and crud. It leaves me totally fatigued. Work is going - I hope I can get moved to another group, because the one I'm in has left me basically in limbo - which is quite unfulfilling.

It seems like forever, but it's another small step. What's hard is that for 10 months (from shoulder surgery 2 months prior to flood), I haven't been able to bake or cook - or even get a knife without digging through 5 or 6 boxes. All my hobbies are boxed up in the garage, so there's little I can do for relaxation or fun. I'm tired of this; I want my life back. It's a common feeling. The news has forgotten about us, but life is far from back to normal.

That's what's up.

Never give up, Never surrender!



Hang in there, bro!

Ok...did Elrod's house get destroyed??? By what, and when???

Yeah. It got flooded last year by this asshole supervillain named Harvey .

Kettlekorn wrote: Yeah. It got flooded last year by this asshole supervillain named Harvey .

Damn rabbits.

Stuff is happening. Good stuff. Cabinets start going in on Monday. Progress is still slow overall, but it's going to look a lot more like progress in a few days.

On the other front, the one most fans here care about, I finally got things moving again, and got another submission to my editor and to the cabal for review. So soon, there might be something from me in the queue.

Feels good to be at a point where writing is happening again.

elrodw wrote: Feels good to be at a point where writing is happening again.

Always a positive sign when a person regains the willpower and energy to return to their hobbies after a period of crisis. It's comforting when you can finally say, "Yep, I don't need to expend all my energy in worry and just keeping myself and others sane."

Us ungrateful little gits are just happy to hear news that you're getting there.

elrodw wrote: Stuff is happening. Good stuff. Cabinets start going in on Monday. Progress is still slow overall, but it's going to look a lot more like progress in a few days.

On the other front, the one most fans here care about, I finally got things moving again, and got another submission to my editor and to the cabal for review. So soon, there might be something from me in the queue.

Feels good to be at a point where writing is happening again.

I can somewhat understand, where I work is undergoing renovations. They were supposed to start in early January and be done by mid may. The Sloth Construction Company is a bit behind, no doubt due to the Snail Delivery Company providing materials from Tortoise Building Supplies Inc. They haven't even started on the Reception Desk and offices yet.

I have cabinets. Okay they're not complete painted cabinets yet, but all the carcases are in the kitchen, and the custom built-ins start tomorrow morning.

I'm happy.

*cheers!*

In a few days, it will be 10 months since we got flooded. It'll be 12 months since I had shoulder surgery and was essentially laid up. The mold and construction dust has done a huge number on my respiratory system; I now know what it feels like to have an asthma attack. It's quite trying emotionally and mentally. I'm at the point that I'm struggling to find something to motivate me to write. I know the stories are inside; the problem is getting them to come out, and in a way that's meaningful and entertaining to the Whateley fans. (Don't think I accomplished that with that last one.)

To put the whole thing in perspective, Harvey caused as many damaged homes needing repair as the total of all new home construction for the last 25 years combined. We just happen to be some of the unlucky ones who get to go through the reconstruction process - with way too few contractors in the area. Some less fortunate people will be rebuilding 3 or 4 years from now - or longer.

I'm hoping that at some point I'll feel motivated again (not just for writing, but everything). Alas, for now, I'm struggling. Sorry I disappointed with the last one.

Do not feel that you disappointed, each story told comes from where you are at mentally - emotionally, even physically.
You might not be creatively where you think you should be, but there was a story that needed to come out.
Maybe the conniving women Shine is contending with reflects the struggle with insurance or contractors your living with, at any rate - your working thru your pain, and writing is very much therapeutic.
So write: if you share it with us, that is up to you, if it’s terrible it’s part of the rot that has to be cleared away, if its terrific then you’ve found solid ground to build upon.
I was taught that if you get thrown from a horse get back on, you may have aches but you’ll not let fear or doubt overtake you ... maybe you’ll tell even greater tales in the days to come.
Be well, and take care.

Ten months. Ten months since the flood, 12 months since shoulder surgery that had me laid up for 2 months before the flood. So effectively, I've had no hobbies to destress in just over a year. Is that bad?
1) At work, my project is stalled completely, and has been for over a year. Sitting in an office doing nothing is a welcome break for about a week. After that, it gets very stressful. People don't want me on their projects because I have a habit of identifying faults and issues, and I have a near 100% record of being right. So I'm in a gilded cage. Depressing and stressful

2) My kids are teenagers and young adults (early 20's). They don't need Dad. They'd rather not be around Dad. Not their fault; it's genetically programmed into kids and doesn 't wear off until late 20's (if ever). Depressing.

3) Wife. As if - that's in name only. Post-menopausal, has ZERO interest in anything physical - which has gotten okay since I'm 58 and things don't work anymore. She's more married to her job than to me. I'm not kidding. Our interactions are curt, short, and infrequent, and it's not for lack of trying on my part. She's a roommate. I receive no affection from her. Depressing.

4) Whateley. In the past I don't now how long there have been no requests for any of my characters. Elle - nada. Kayda - zero. Danny - zip. Knockoff - zilch. One request had a laundry list of characters - and the very last one was Laura - probably an afterthought. It doesn't feel like anything I write has made a difference, and with no new requests, it's very difficult to motivate my muse. And that is depressing.

5) I'd love to make a star quilt for my bed (note - it's MY bed and HER bed, in separate rooms. But there's no room for sewing, and the supplies are all unavailable. Which sucks. Just like I can't bake (which is extremely relaxing) or reload (same thing) or woodwork because the garage is full of boxes of stuff blocking everything or having everything needed. No creative outlet but Whateley, and that's not working. Depressing.

There are days that I wonder why I even bother getting up in the morning. There are days I wonder why I even TRY to write some Whateley. There are days I wonder why I don't get a tiny efficiency apartment for myself and just move out and quit pretending I have a wife who cares. There are days when I wonder if I have any fucks left to give.

Being a refugee in my own home for 10 months is extremely stressful and depressing. And there's no end in sight.

Just had to vent. If you don't see me on the forums, now you know why.

Hang in there, my brother. Call me if you need to!

While I've never cared much for Kayda, I am definitely interested in seeing more of your other characters. We've really only had the intro stories for Knockoff and Elle, so more of them in particular would be nice, but I've also been enjoying the Shine and Danny stories. A story following Julie would be interesting too.

But if writing just isn't doing it for you right now, maybe consider gaming. Factorio and Kerbal Space Program are really fucking good. They're games for engineers, with a focus on building things.

Elrod, just a thought that might make things a bit more bearable...
It's highly likely that the reason you haven't seen requests for more stories is because people are aware you are going through a difficult time and don't want to pile more pressure on you.
I certainly would like to see more of them, but I don't feel I have any right of pressuring you to write if you don't feel like it. If you must know, the one I most would like to see is also the one we have hardly seen in campus -- Elle. Knockoff coming in second, largely for the same reason -- I want to see what sort of role they are going to play in the campus drama at large.
Do I want more Kayda, Danny and Laura? Hell yeah. It's just that they have already gone past the initial hump of "let's find who these characters are", so it feels a tad less urgent.
By the same token, there are a number of characters from other authors who I would like to see more of, but I don't think making a pest of myself asking for them would be a good idea. I mean, I want more Lily POV stories -- but E.E. does not feel like writing them, so it's useless and counterproductive to bug him about it. I want to see Nacht's Spring Break, but bugging Bek about it won't make her more willing to write it. Particularly since I know a number of writers left Whateley precisely due to readers behaving like entitled brats.
We do love your stories. We are just trying to be polite and let you write them at your own pace.

(I might have a small request from you in the not-so-distant future, though... not writing per se, but I have a couple stories in your private universes which are approaching full outlines and halfway scripts, and when they are "complete enough" I will submit to you for the required tearing apart and yelling at me that no way they fit your vision for those universes, and what I have to fix before even thinking of bringing up the subject again.)

Sir Lee wrote: Elrod, just a thought that might make things a bit more bearable...
It's highly likely that the reason you haven't seen requests for more stories is because people are aware you are going through a difficult time and don't want to pile more pressure on you.
I certainly would like to see more of them, but I don't feel I have any right of pressuring you to write if you don't feel like it. If you must know, the one I most would like to see is also the one we have hardly seen in campus -- Elle. Knockoff coming in second, largely for the same reason -- I want to see what sort of role they are going to play in the campus drama at large.
Do I want more Kayda, Danny and Laura? Hell yeah. It's just that they have already gone past the initial hump of "let's find who these characters are", so it feels a tad less urgent.
By the same token, there are a number of characters from other authors who I would like to see more of, but I don't think making a pest of myself asking for them would be a good idea. I mean, I want more Lily POV stories -- but E.E. does not feel like writing them, so it's useless and counterproductive to bug him about it. I want to see Nacht's Spring Break, but bugging Bek about it won't make her more willing to write it. Particularly since I know a number of writers left Whateley precisely due to readers behaving like entitled brats.
We do love your stories. We are just trying to be polite and let you write them at your own pace.

Seconding this. Very hard. Don't let yourself break down, Elrod. People here care about you, so take all the time you need to get better.

Sir Lee is right, elrod. I would love to see more of Elle, Kayda, Danny, and Knockoff, but know the difficult time you are having due to the house and shoulder surgery and still recovering and didn't wish to put more pressure on you. I love your stories and characters and wish to see more of them, but I also know that your personal health and well-being should come first before any requests.

I would also love to see a proper ending to Shine 2, as it is like a soap opera but enjoyable to read. We love seeing what is happening with Shine, it is just those two gold diggers we can't stand. You've made two characters we love to hate with how they are manipulating Shine, the mark of a great author.

Elrod,
I'm going to add my voice to those begging you to continue at whatever pace you find most comfortable. If you have the time and inclination, I'd like your personal feedback on Kelly. I know I do poorly at drawing my stories to a conclusion, so hints as to how to get that accomplished would be much appreciated. However, in all of this, your health, (both physical and mental) comes far ahead of my desires.
Tori

It's not that we don't love your stories and characters, in fact a lot of us do. I know I love Kayda and Danny... but with Kayda, she's so central in 2 Gens, that she's become a little over-saturated. Her appearances in Haunting of Jennifer Kelly, her own stories, Lainie's, The Witch's, Danny's, appearing in the blizzard arc, it's just a LOT of her. So much of Whateley has become pivotal around her, Lainie, Wyatt, Tansy. Maybe we need more inclusion of other characters into the big Bastard plot?

OK, add me to the list of people that more Elrod stories. More Kayda, more Danny (who was his first), more Elle (either at Whateley or in Europe), more Knockoff, more 'Shine, even more Sioux Falls League, more Charge, more of everything.

I can only speak for myself, but I haven't been asking for stories from you, because of all the construction and other crap you are going through. I didn't want to add more stress to your life.

If you want more stress:

Write faster!!!

elrodw wrote: Ten months. Ten months since the flood, 12 months since shoulder surgery that had me laid up for 2 months before the flood. So effectively, I've had no hobbies to destress in just over a year. Is that bad?

Yes. But I test out as an INTP with ADHD, so abandoned projects are a way of life.

elrodw wrote: 4) Whateley. In the past I don't now how long there have been no requests for any of my characters. Elle - nada. Kayda - zero. Danny - zip. Knockoff - zilch. One request had a laundry list of characters - and the very last one was Laura - probably an afterthought. It doesn't feel like anything I write has made a difference, and with no new requests, it's very difficult to motivate my muse. And that is depressing.

One of the reasons there hasn't been many requests for your characters is that you've said you have plans and ideas for most of them. Joggling an author's elbow doesn't always help that process. Aside from your own plans, Kayda is tied strongly to the canon storyline. That case is somewhat true for Danny as well. Laura's at a cliffhanger in the Codys story while Gen2 is still building out.

That said, as a person who writes indy fiction many of my ideas that could be turned into requests come out as "Wouldn't it be interesting if Canon Char A and Orig Char B were involved in Situation C?" It's easier on everyone's nerves to watch what's in the pipeline as it comes out. Maybe "bet" on what's been set up in recent releases, but that's about it.


As to making a difference, what sort of difference do you want to make?

As a constant consumer of your writing. I can't say it any better than everyone else has. But I am going to add my 2 cents to the top of the change pile. Step 1 : Focus on yourself. Your fans will be here when your ready to return.
Step 2 : Focus on yourself....Srsly! And Step 3. Bathe in the joy you bring to all of us fans and readers who you have touched over the years! We love you!

Get well soon!

What's to be said except that I'm in agreement with all the support? I try not to wish for specific POVs often, as I understand that many authors here have busy lives, or Muses that get fixated elsewhere. It's not for apathy that I've been quiet - quite the opposite. I didn't want to pressure you about writing. I felt that you would write as you were physically and emotionally able.

But since you're asking? YES, I'd like to see more of your work. Characters? Whatever you have to present to us, but you know I'm excited to see more of Elle in particular.

Agree with everything said so far. I think the community at large knows not to beg for stories about specific characters. That's exactly what drove some of the others away, temporarily or permanently. Even more so when we've been told you are having some personal issues. It's because we care.

As for some specifics? I would love more Knockoff. Some times she feels like a background character, when she has so much potential to grow. I want to know how she's treated at school, what issues she has leaving the school because she looks so much like her mother. And so on. I don't want her to be a side character.

More Date Night! The three biggest bigots turning a new leaf, Nitro even experiencing being ostracized. There's a new batch of bigots, the Capes are taking a very aggressive stance, so it would be interesting to see where these six take things with all this going on. Do Whitman girls take it as a good sign? Do Twain boys take it as a bad sign (i.e. more pretties taking away their chances with any girl)?

Kayda and Danny of course. Which of course also means more Shine.

We want the whole tapestry. You've shown us the loom but also how much more you have to weave.

To add insult to injury, last night a storm cell knocked out power in lots of little clusters all over town. That happened about 7 pm. Power was finally restored at 4:27 am. Did I mention that due to severe heat stress years ago, I can't handle heat very well? With all the heat soakback from an oven of an attic, it got hot in the house pretty quickly.

Backup plan was to use a window AC unit running off my small generator. Fail. Generator engine had a major failure. Oil/gas mixture spewing from the carb. So that small engine is likely shot. Long, sleepless night. Time spent in car running AC to stay cool.

Some days .....

elrodw wrote: To add insult to injury, last night a storm cell knocked out power in lots of little clusters all over town.

Er, yeah. I was looking up precipitation numbers earlier and saw that the coastal areas were getting hit with 3"-5" of rain + street flooding from a tropical disturbance heading inland. Your situation came to mind.

elrodw wrote: To add insult to injury, last night a storm cell knocked out power in lots of little clusters all over town. That happened about 7 pm. Power was finally restored at 4:27 am. Did I mention that due to severe heat stress years ago, I can't handle heat very well? With all the heat soakback from an oven of an attic, it got hot in the house pretty quickly.

Backup plan was to use a window AC unit running off my small generator. Fail. Generator engine had a major failure. Oil/gas mixture spewing from the carb. So that small engine is likely shot. Long, sleepless night. Time spent in car running AC to stay cool.

Some days .....

as an electrician that runs gennys all the time large and small

this is a deal at 250$ if yours bought it? I'd jump on this one before its gone!

www.walmart.com/ip/Sportsman-Gasoline-40...llinktype=10&veh=aff

Each morning when i wake up, i think "I'm alive!"

I had brain surgery over 6 years ago, and i'm alive.

the latest cartoon from here, http://freefall.purrsia.com/ sums things up perfectly,



Elrodw: it may be a PITA right now, but you are in a situation where you can change things.

You are not dead, so you can still make a difference in your life, and in other people's lives.

Only the dead have no options.

Frustrating day regarding work. Wife seems more married to work than to me. Found out it'll be at least 2 more months to get all the various trades scheduled to get the house repairs completed. Migraine headaches the last 2 mornings.

And then my daughter surprised me with a gift bag of chocolates and a hand-written 'thank you' note just because she wanted to tell me how much she appreciated everything I've tried to do for her for the last 17 years. So now I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes because it was so wonderful to read what she wrote.

Turns out to be a not-so-bad week after all.

Aaawwwww. How sweet of her.

You are valued, after all. Might not always feel that way, but you are.

Migraines are hellish. I used to have them quite often. It helps if you can figure out some of your triggers. In my case, carbon monoxide + stress (i.e., getting stuck in traffic) was a surefire recipe, to the point that I could watch for the early signs and medicate proactively.

But... the weird thing is, after I got diagnosed with hypertension and started taking medication to control blood pressure, they practically disappeared. I still have headaches now and then, but of a more manageable level, not the please-tell-that-ant-it's-stepping-too-loud level I used to have. "Wait," you will say, "that's not weird at all. Migraines are related to blood pressure in the brain, that's why caffeine helps, since it is a vasoconstrictor and reduces blood flow to the brain." No, the weird part is that I had migraines since my teens, I have had my blood pressure taken at reasonable intervals, and it only started showing up abnormal values in my late thirties. During all those migraine-suffering years I did not, technically, have high blood pressure. But it seems that somehow I was hitting peaks of high BP during my migraine episodes, and it no longer happens.

I'm not saying that's your case (If memory serves well, you are a couple years older than me, so it's very unlikely that at our age bracket you have an undiagnosed case of hypertension), but still, checking your blood pressure when an episode is hitting might yield some useful information for your doctor.

Chocolate makes everything better

Bek D Corbin wrote: Chocolate makes everything better

Confirmed. Chocolate and coffee together are even more of a wonderful thing.

null0trooper wrote:

Bek D Corbin wrote: Chocolate makes everything better

Confirmed. Chocolate and coffee together are even more of a wonderful thing.

The chocolate was nothing. I read the card again tonight, and brought tears to my eyes all over again - tears of joy and gratitude that my daughter has grown into a fine young lady.

Family is a wonderful thing when they are good to you...
Treasure them!

I'm just catching up now after a long trip and upon entering the forum I usually go to Quad first and if you have an update it's my first click.

Wow. I am so deeply sorry to read your news yet I am grateful that you shared. I have not read the 3 pages worth of follow up comments but I have no doubt you are receiving genuine support and love, not just knee-jerk responses. Really, we care and we are here.

I cannot comment on the other issues other than delving into my own parental and marital struggles.

Re: Whateley, WHEN HAVE I NEVER WANTED MORE OF YOUR CHARACTERS?!?!?!? I'm so sorry for not vocalizing it!!!

Elle - yes please!.

Kayda & Danny - yes, I am always eager to see Kayda & Danny turn the page and move on in their struggles. Their stories are infused with emotion and I have shed more than one tear as I follow their plight.

Knockoff - yes! I loved the origin story and I have been eagerly anticipating the story's continuation.

Laura - one of my favorite of the fall 2016 Poe freshmen. Her presence in the Cody home and work with the twins has been a wonderful deepening of the universe.

Charge - Adalie's 180 from obnoxious French rich girl to a character with depth took a great deal of skill and I have really enjoyed her story.

Shine - this character is bringing us back to some familiar teen tropes with a Beverly Hillbillies twist and I love it.

Also, WWA, Date Night, Penance Factor, All the King's Horses, and more. Some real gems. Not to forget the MAU, Bikini Beach, and your other works. I've been a huge fan for decades.

Please forgive this somewhat manic post. I wish there was more I could do to help. I do not live near Houston and I cannot offer counseling but you have my support and I am grateful for YOUR presence in this community.

Thank you for all you do.

Thought I'd give a status update.

We have MOST of the cabinets in. I say most because there's a few 'punch list' items to do, but the good news is the kitchen and bathrooms are essentially complete. They put a plywood layer atop the base cabinets to support the countertops - we have crude countertops now until we get the more permanent ones. A long time ago, I hooked up the kitchen sink, so we have a barely functional kitchen. Once the cabinets get painted, we can move in a LOT of our kitchen into the cabinets and drawers, and I can install the microwave and oven! Getting the oven back will be HUGE for my morale - I haven't baked anything for over a year. And I should be able to install the dishwasher.

What's left? The painters started Friday with prep work - hopefully they'll be done this coming week. Then we have countertops, flooring, and major plumbing in bathrooms (backer board, tubs, tile, etc.) A tiny bit of finish carpentry - assuming I don't do it myself.

It's happening at a military pace - hurry up and wait! Seriously. We get a burst of work done, then have to wait weeks for the next sub to be available. If one runs long (which they have), it throws the whole schedule off, and given the hundreds of thousands of houses needing repair, they'll work another house, which means we're back in line again. Frustrating, but a fact of life.

In 23 days, it will be one year since the flood started. One whole year. It's really, really depressing to go through, and tough, but maybe, just maybe, it's starting to feel like the end is somewhere in sight. Maybe.

And my other half is making me take a few days off to visit my brother, my sister, and my very good friend (and co-conspirator) EE in Atlanta. Perhaps EE and I will come up with more plots? I'm taking my two younger ones (21 and 18) - they love their aunt, and it'll be perhaps the last trip I can take with them.

Glad to hear all that Elrod... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything keeps going smoothly for you.

I've gotta ask, because I have a few friends in Houston, are you going to move to a house outside the flood plain? It's been proven that the floodplain rules are broken with climate change. This article from the other day shows just how bleak the future is for Houston:

"...county and city governments often lack the authority — such as land-use rules — to effectively prevent flooding. But part of the problem is self-inflicted. Houston’s City Council members failed to prevent development in the 100-year floodplain following Harvey, and they barely passed even a basic regulation adding new requirements when building in the 500-year floodplain."

www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editori...-Harvey-13093059.php

In the end I would hate to see you go thru this again. I cannot imagine how awful it must be and how I would be able to endure it.

Hmmn, perhaps the most surprising thing in this thread is that nine months into it, no one has suggested switching from a joint session to a hookah, a bong, or a vaporizer.


Or maybe just some brownies. No, perhaps not:


I admire the restraint of everyone else, but I couldn't hold that joke back any longer.

Schol-R-LEA wrote: Hmmn, perhaps the most surprising thing in this thread is that nine months into it, no one has suggested switching from a joint session to a hookah, a bong, or a vaporizer.


I admire the restraint of everyone else, but I couldn't hold that joke back any longer.

instantrimshot.com/

The paint crew is here today, and we found one little problem. Seems that in extending the bookcase in the family room (equiv to a wall cabinet), the carpenters used a different wood species. So it won't stain worth a damn, so it's paint time. Which means I have to empty those shelves up above. I'll do that tonight - but it's just another of those 'gotcha' moments.

Because the upstairs was a later addition, it has its own AC unit, which is great. Plastic sheet to (mostly) isolate the upstairs, nice and comfy, and downstairs the fumes from the primer are ... well, let's just say that the painters are probably a little (a lot?) loopy right now. Me and my dogs are camped out, I have a drink - double-shot of amaretto, double-shot of ouzo on the rocks - and we're comfy. When the painters get done for the day, I'll open up tons of windows downstairs and turn the fans on high to vent it.

Because everything is masked off, it'll be takeout food tonight.

elrodw wrote: The paint crew is here today, and we found one little problem. Seems that in extending the bookcase in the family room (equiv to a wall cabinet), the carpenters used a different wood species. So it won't stain worth a damn, so it's paint time.

That's what you get for not using the cheap stuff!

elrodw wrote: Because the upstairs was a later addition, it has its own AC unit, which is great. Plastic sheet to (mostly) isolate the upstairs, nice and comfy, and downstairs the fumes from the primer are ... well, let's just say that the painters are probably a little (a lot?) loopy right now.

The canisters for organic solvents are really good. Nothing quite like taking a gas mask off and realizing you'd briefly forgotten just how many pine trees there are in North Carolina.

So true. Tree sperm every where in NC. It's not quite as bad here in in SC.

Status update: We're getting the interior painted now. The big plus is that the kitchen is now painted, and the cabinets are dry enough that we're starting to move things in. I installed the microwave yesterday, and today after work will be the dishwasher and the oven. We're far from 'doggy safe' still, so we alternate at home teleworking and physically in the office. Daughter started college, so she's out of the house - our options for getting out are reduced until we get back to 'doggy safe'. Still, it's nice to get the last one off. Now to get them off the payroll completely ....

The urge to write is still strong, but it's hard to get moving. I DID help EE resolve a few issues with a story, so I know my muse isn't totally dead. My biggest challenge is to get writing enough to finish off Shine 2 part 3, then I have to decide which story to try to start next. Got a lot in the hopper - Shine 3, Knockoff, some A&A, Kayda 11, Danny, Elle, gen 2 Laura .... You get the picture. Too much to play with when the muse is semi-comatose (still).

But things are getting better. Very slowly, but they're getting better.

Once you indulge her, your muse is going to be the best and worst thing in your life...

Not enough time, not enough sleep.

We can see you're looking forward to it, and that's what makes us happy for you!

I would wager that it involves baking -- Elrod complained a while ago that it has been a year or thereabouts since he last was able to do any baking.

Setback on the oven. Potentially a big setback, mostly having to do with building codes and the wiring for the 240V oven. (And yes, I know that Europeans and a lot of the rest of the world runs on 240V, while we run on 120 for most of our wiring.)

New oven is wired as per NEW building codes. The house is wired as per old building codes - it's missing the 240V neutral but has a ground wire. It's not clear in any documentation how to wire for this old house wiring. It becomes a matter of electrical safety, which translates to fire safety. Worst case - I have to have a new wire run from the breaker box to the oven. THAT would be very expensive and would also rip the hell out of our newly-painted ceiling, as the kitchen is between the oven and the breaker box and there is no way around that. 2nd floor means no attic access to run a wire. Otherwise, it would be trivial. And while I can wire 120V all day (in fact, I made LOTS of modifications while the walls were open) and well know the building code for 120V, when it comes to high-current 240V, I really prefer an expert. I don't want to start a fire or fry the electronics in the oven because it's mis-wired.

Two steps forward, one step back.
On the plus side, the cabinets are done, the dishwasher is installed and functional, so we're starting to wash the construction dust off everything and move everything back into the kitchen and pantry. One dishwasher load at a time. But I still can't bake.

And yes, the first major cooked item would have been something baked. Probably a dessert.

Your wiring is weird...!!

There seems to be a fair amount of stuff on it on the interwebs, it seems like you only need the neutral wire to get 120v.
Like I said, weird.

Astrodragon wrote: Your wiring is weird...!!

There seems to be a fair amount of stuff on it on the interwebs, it seems like you only need the neutral wire to get 120v.
Like I said, weird.

Correct. Neutral is the center tap of the 2.4KV to 240V transformer from the distribution line in the neighborhood. So we get 2 120V circuits out of the arrangement, although the two are out of phase by 180 degrees. Heavy appliances run on 240V - range, electric dryer, AC, shop tools like welders and such - while everything else is 120V.

If the appliance is balanced, it's true that we could get by without the neutral. However, I can't guarantee that's how the appliance is internally wired.

The US system probably went to 120V because it was observed that if, for example, you dropped your hair dryer in the tub with you, 120V would make you slightly less dead than 240V, and was thus safer.

nah, 240v is fine, we used to check for live by touching it (granted, with the back of the hand)

Now 440v I treat with respect.

Actually the US went with 120V because, well, the electric grid is older (remember, the "current wars" between Edison and Wesinghouse/Tesla took place in the US), and at the time they figured 100V or thereabouts was as high as it was safe to use in homes. When Europe started to electrify, they looked at the American experience, figured out that actually, it wasn't that hard to double that voltage and still be reasonably safe, and it reduced losses quite a bit (meaning that they could use thinner, cheaper wires to do the same job), so they went with 240V.

Also, yes, most places the neutral is the center-tap of a 240V (or thereabouts) transformer, giving you two 120V circuits 180° out of phase. But not everywhere.

Some places (like, say, my parents' home -- they live in a farm) offer three-phase AC, and in that setup, you usually have an "Y" configuration, with three "live" wires at the end of each arm of the "Y" (conventionally labeled as "U,V and W") and the neutral in the middle. Connect the neutral to one live, you (typically) get a 127V line -- there are three of those, each one 120° offset from the others. Connect two of the "live" ones together, you get 220V. Or, for your heavy-duty applications, you connect to all three ends. Yeah, I know it seems odd that you add 127+127 and you get 220, but that's three-phase for you -- it's not arithmetic addition, it's a vector addition.

During one brown-out that took place in the area where our workshop was based, we saw that all of the other buildings around us went dark at the same time as they were all connected to the same phase, but there was one set of plug sockets that were still operational, as they were connected to a different phase of the electricity.

We still don't know who the idiot was that wired up the mains supply like that.

When we expanded by renting the unit next door, we also found that it was wired for three-phase, which meant that we could use a whole 'nother range of toys...

A step forward is a step forward. Glad to hear at more good news (c:

elrodw wrote: New oven is wired as per NEW building codes. The house is wired as per old building codes - it's missing the 240V neutral but has a ground wire.

My house in N. Miami was built in 1949, but the oven circuit was still 240V. Steel conduit and outlet boxes for a common ground. One pair of wires for "hot" vs. "neutral". That can't be assumed afterward, because later isolated repairs/replacements might assume the "neutral" wire is "ground" while others paid attention and there goes that isolation (It doesn't take much in the way of stray current to fry some lighting configurations)

On the other hand, the fuse box was located in the kitchen/bathroom "wet wall", over the stove, below the shower head (there was a 1" air gap between the copper water pipes and the steel box.)

elrodw wrote: It's not clear in any documentation how to wire for this old house wiring. It becomes a matter of electrical safety, which translates to fire safety. Worst case - I have to have a new wire run from the breaker box to the oven. THAT would be very expensive and would also rip the hell out of our newly-painted ceiling, as the kitchen is between the oven and the breaker box and there is no way around that.

Why is your oven in a different room from the kitchen? Otherwise, you could run surface-mounted conduit to extend the oven circuit IF the wire gage for the entire run is adequate for the total distance and amperage.

When my kitchen was rewired to provide the required GFCI outlets, surface-mount is what I opted for instead of ripping into walls to hide it. There was also the benefit that an insulation short won't be building up heat in the only wood-framed wall in the house.

elrodw wrote: 2nd floor means no attic access to run a wire. Otherwise, it would be trivial. And while I can wire 120V all day (in fact, I made LOTS of modifications while the walls were open) and well know the building code for 120V, when it comes to high-current 240V, I really prefer an expert. I don't want to start a fire or fry the electronics in the oven because it's mis-wired.

Can't help you there. My tankless water heater had to have it's own circuit, from the breaker box and two new 40A breakers for that circuit. There are times even this INTP reads the installation directions!

null0trooper wrote: Why is your oven in a different room from the kitchen? Otherwise, you could run surface-mounted conduit to extend the oven circuit IF the wire gage for the entire run is adequate for the total distance and amperage.

As I understand it, El's kitchen is in the center of an extension and the oven wall is not exterior. Behind it is a mud room, then his garage, and on the OUTSIDE wall of the garage, furthest from the oven is the breaker box. Being an engineer, he wants a tidy, out sight, 'engineered' solution.

What we have talked about is running conduit through his cabinets and the pantry to get to an outside wall, then around the house to the breaker box, which is probably the least disruptive to all that pretty new work, but it's not ideal and he's trying to find another way to do it.

If it can't vaporize a screwdriver, the voltage/amperage isn't high enough!

Since you seem to be having an issue with the 220 outlet. Whats the chances of switching over to a Gas stove instead? Running a gas line isn't that expensive depending on your routing/location etc. CSST Ymmv depending on local codes.

I don't know much about running electric, but I wouldn't want to be the one who had to run the gas line under an existing structure. Nope, not in Texas. Not in Redding Ca either!

Anne wrote: I don't know much about running electric, but I wouldn't want to be the one who had to run the gas line under an existing structure. Nope, not in Texas. Not in Redding Ca either!

Elrod's in Houston, and given the multiple mentions of a second floor, he's not living in a mobile home.

IIRC, gas is preferred for baking, though a convection oven may be nearly as good. It wouldn't need to be just for the oven, because gas-powered on-demand water heaters are pretty rugged.

Actually Anne. Depending on where his gas lines are. There's a good chance he might not have to go under the house for a new line. CSST lines are rated for attic/wall installation. So if any kind of gas appliance/heater etc is near it wouldn't be too difficult to T off of that line and run a new line to the stove. Making sure proper shutoffs are installed ofc.

Going under the house is a HUGE problem and expense. Slab-on-grade construction, with lots of bell-bottom piers to compensate for soil. We'd have to break through the slab. Not high on my list.

I strongly prefer gas for stovetop - the control is finer and nearly instantaneous change in temp, and electric for baking, because the temperature control in a closed oven is far better than with gas.

But I got my oven today! YAY! Now I have to decide what to bake first!

elrodw wrote: Now I have to decide what to bake first!

Just ask yourself, what would Amy bake, and bake some devisor brownies

Yay! An Elrod with a working stove is a happy Elrod.
Still angsty, but happy...

elrodw wrote: Going under the house is a HUGE problem and expense. Slab-on-grade construction, with lots of bell-bottom piers to compensate for soil. We'd have to break through the slab. Not high on my list.

Going by this description, I'm guessing that unless gas was present when the house was originally built that you have no intention of adding it now! Because if you can't generally go under the floor (or through the attic {precluded by second floor}) that would make gas at least as much of a problem as your electric, especially if it was a 'remodel' add, by which I mean that you had to do a new run from outside the house in essence.

I strongly prefer gas for stovetop - the control is finer and nearly instantaneous change in temp, and electric for baking, because the temperature control in a closed oven is far better than with gas.

But I got my oven today! YAY! Now I have to decide what to bake first!

What to bake? Lots and lots of pies?

I was going to bet a tray of brownies on brownies, but that would just be redundant.

Chokecherry pie!

Okay, time for an update.
I have secured a rotational assignment away from the den of inanity that was my old division. Nice thing - there are 5 people in the new division that I know well or have worked with. And I got 3 other interviews that have a promotion; 2 were no-go (as usual) - the interview process was a required formality even though they knew they wanted to promote someone from within. So they had to advertise and interview. On the plus side, the feedback from my interviews was very heartening - I pretty much nailed them. One is outstanding, and there is one more position I've been called to interview for.

So - work is looking way up. When I bumped into a friend yesterday, he said "you look happy." I guess it showed, and I had to agree that I was genuinely happy instead of merely not miserable.

On the home front, we have a nearly-functional kitchen - there is a problem with one electrical circuit that powers the in-island cooktop, so still no cooktop. But - I've baked a kirschtorte using a Genoise sponge base, lots of cherries, and kirsch, and a very creamy frosting. Then I baked some dessert bars. Three times. And a pomegranate sponge cake with an even more decadent frosting. And I've made paprika chicken over wild rice and a few other dishes - I'm learning to be creative with a single induction countertop unit.

With the daughter at college, we're adjusting to empty-nest. Wife is working harder (and longer) to compensate, and some days I get pinned to the house because contractors are here. That kinda sucks, and I often wonder where I rate on the priority scale. I have read a lot on the subject; and it's not unusual. Just more to adjust to.

So all in all, things aren't going badly. And I felt motivated to work on part 3 of Shine 2 and some Laura for Gen 2. Should get something in to the queue soon, and with the house getting done, I'm slowly gaining more time to write.

elrodw wrote: But - I've baked a kirschtorte using a Genoise sponge base, lots of cherries, and kirsch, and a very creamy frosting.

MMMMMMM!

I will slave and clean your whole house for a pomegranate sponge cake. Please I needs it.

::drops everything to run to the WA recipes in search of "ElrodW kirschtorte":: - no dice. Would you mind sharing the recipe?

I'm so glad to hear things are looking up. Still sorry to hear about the cold situation with your wife. I've been going through similar things and while it comes and goes, we are both aware and working on it. I hope yours improves soon.

REALLY eager to read more Shine & Laura! I could see your hands at work in "all hallows ball". Great writing by you and EE!

marie7342231 wrote: ::drops everything to run to the WA recipes in search of "ElrodW kirschtorte":: - no dice. Would you mind sharing the recipe?

MMMMMMM!

Boredom has me going through Big Closet re-reading different "universes", I'm on the Twisted Universe right now, and Ironically I now want a sequel to Twisted: the Milky Way.

Time for a little update.

We got the plumbing mostly done, so now it's up to tilers, and then flooring.

And ... (drum roll please)

I GOT MY COOKTOP BACK!



I've been grinning for 2 days like ... well, you can imagine what like. I'm still almost giddy - it's nice to cook on a real cooktop instead of a small portable single-burner counter-top induction burner.

It's so GREAT!

Party at Elrod's, he's cooking.

That's great.

Time for another update. Lots has been happening.
First, we're down to final plumbing and flooring.
Which BETTER be done by December 10 for one very, very important reason. I won't be able to climb up and down the stairs after December 10. My knee is too far gone, the docs said there's nothing more they can do to preserve mobility and limit pain, so I'm getting a knee replacement. Surgery is December 10.

The kirschtorte recipe I found at a site called Natasha's Kitchen ( www.natashaskitchen.com ). It's one of her listed recipes, based on a Genoise spongecake. If you've never baked a spongecake before, she's got a good video tutorial. Just follow the directions. Really, I mean follow them. Don't 'improvise' - with spongecake, that way leads to perdition. She has about 15 different recipes ;using the spongecake base, including the chocolate cherry cake. under the pull-down menu, there's recipes, then desserts, then cakes. The black forest cherry cake is listed there, and on that page, you should find a link to her "sponge cake" page, which has good directions to follow.

Damm. Good luck with the surgery Elrod!

elrodw wrote: Which BETTER be done by December 10 for one very, very important reason. I won't be able to climb up and down the stairs after December 10. My knee is too far gone, the docs said there's nothing more they can do to preserve mobility and limit pain, so I'm getting a knee replacement. Surgery is December 10.

Hopefully speaking, it should all go well.

Elrod......we can rebuild make him faster, better to write more!

6 billion dollars!

We can rebuild him...