Is That Rain?
Monday, 27 November, 21:40
Is that rain making that light drip sound? There's nothing in the hourly forecast and the precipitation percentages are in single digi…
Now it's a heavy drip. But it's not quite the right sound for rain…
That's a constant stream. Is someone out playing with the hose connected to the one hydrant at street pressure (80PSI) and actually able to get that much water up that high?
The camera at that end of the house doesn't show any of the motion sensor lights on at that end of the hous…
Sniff? Sniff? That's some kind of fuel… Don't need the potential of getting sparks from anything electrical at this end of the house so down to the breaker panel and turn off the Main breaker. Better get the rechargeable head light so I'll have some light on the way back up. Got that light from the knob of the door to the basement stairs so I'll use it and not the light switch at the top of the stairs. I'm probably overdoing this but the smallest possible change in electrical usage is the safest way to approach power changes when there might be some flammable fuel on or near the house.
I'm down sixteen steps so left down the hall, then open that door and left again to the breaker panel. Be sure the door on the breaker panel is closed and latched (maybe a little more overdoing when the fuel scent is at the other end of the house but still keeping sparks enclosed) and pull the Main breaker handle down. That's it and we seem to be safely in the dark. Now to go outside and see what's on the house.
Smells like kerosene. Kerosene from the air? We're under a lightly used flight path from the nearest general aviation airport so did a jet that just took off from there dump some of its fuel over a residential area? I need to get a couple of serious rechargeable work lights setup so I can at least wash down the chimney caps and as much of the roof as the big lantern can see the glitter of fuel on. Better to have kerosene in metal gutters than on an asphalt shingle roof.
Well, I got one pass of washing that end of the house in about 3 minutes and then I grabbed the aircraft band radio and connected it to a 12 volt battery so I could listen for…
'Brown Field this is G37934. We had a flameout about a minute after reaching 3000 feet. We've dumped most of the fuel and need a place to set down without power. I see a stretch of maybe six lane road with almost no traffic. Going down faster now.' BEEP! "STALL" BEEP! "STALL" BEE…
THUMP!
That was a house-shaking event! Wonder how close that plane is? Maybe up on the cross-county connector or…
WHOOM!
That explosion sounds too close and too big for comfort. The low clouds are lit to the northwest so he could be on US278 where it was widened a few years back - that's the only six lane road that close. However, that's at least four miles away so the closest emergency services will be there before I could get there and that area needs fire control more than any first aid I might be able to do.
I'm hearing multiple sirens in the distance and close by so emergency services are on their way in force. Now to take care of my potential for a fire. Water from the hose back across the chimney caps and then the areas of the chimney I can reach from this side of the house, then a couple of passes from the ridge vents down to the rain gutters on this side and then around to the other side, stopping to wash the end of the house as I go around there.
In the house for some dry clothes and something warmer and better for using the pressure washer. Then I'll come back out and use one of the 12 volt pumps and a small showerhead to spray a soapy solution that should dilute the kerosene that's on the ground and the driveway and after all the kerosene-splattered area has had that treatment I'll think it safe to get the pressure washer out of the shed and put some detergent in the "additive" tank so I can also get the soapy water up on the top of the chimney cap and across the roof. At least the temperature is 47℉ so I won't have ice from the water I'm using and I have waterproof bib overalls and some knee high rubber boots just for using the pressure washer. This session includes the foam earplugs so I can wear the big face shield I use when using the angle grinder and I'll have a brimmed hat to keep any splashes off my head and a plastic raincoat with hood to cover my torso, head and neck. I have nitrile gloves under the insulated work gloves so my hands are also protected.
Tuesday, 28 November, 03:30
I'm done - both the cleaning work and my body. The neighbors who came out to complain about the noise finally noticed the scent of kerosene and my pressure washer is now rented for $100/hour for at least the next 12 hours and the "industrial clothes" for another $50/hour - all paid in cash and in advance. Not my prices - the folks just kept bidding the price up to be "first". I don't have that much gas for it but one of the guys said he'd siphon the gas from his boat for $10 a gallon and both 10 gallon tanks were emptied in a matter of minutes. Guess some folks can find any needed money when their houses, vehicles and lives depend on it.
I'm inside for a shower and washing my hair. Don't think I got much on me but old, fragile skin does not respond well to being covered with petroleum products. I'll have the better half check my back and the backs of my arms and legs that I can't see very well. Any place that's irritated will get a second soaping with some gentle soap and then another rinse and then patted dry and then some Eucerin lotion for the irritated areas.
I need to medicate with some of the ℞ pain med so I'll sleep in spite of how much my hands, back and legs hurt. Maybe sleep ten hours when I'm getting to bed at almost 5AM?
The plane crash? A meth head with a few hours of dual instruction rented and fueled the plane with a stolen credit card but his "few hours" had not covered handling a flameout. Death toll is one. Traffic toll is that the three inbound lanes of 278 are closed for a yet-to-be-determined length of time because the plane crashed on one of the bridges and the damage from the ensuing fire won't be fully assessed for a few days.
Did anyone have problems from the fuel dump? Yes. We're currently part of the 761 meters out on Feed 4 from the power co-op. Some guy's pickup was parked at the end of his driveway and under the distribution lines and for some unknowable reason he thought burning the kerosene was the easiest way to clean the bed of his truck. Cell phone video on YouTube showed flames from the many gallons of kero licking up the pole and at the 7400 volt distribution lines that run on that side of the road. Eventually, the pole next to his driveway burned in two and when it fell over all the wires gave way. Our Estimated Restoration Time is 9PM tomorrow. Our power co-op has multiple outages that add to about 3000 meters. I didn't check anything but their map and the number of meters and I didn't take time to check any of the other power providers.
Meanwhile, the pressure washer came back with a stack of envelopes stuffed with Thank You notes and mostly $20 bills. I'm tired and not very functional and I counted $2385. My better half is counting the money to see whether that's correct. I doubt that all the kero can be washed out of the "industrial clothes" and I noticed that the oil was low in the pressure washer - but I think I'll have enough cash to replace everything that needs replacing ;-)
She came up with $3250 so I think these old hands are just too stiff to be handling paper money at this hour. I walked her through getting the 1600 watt inverter generator in place, connected to the transfer switch and started so we have power for the fridge, freezer and furnace. The gen should make 6 to 8 hours at that load. Then we turned it off and locked the gen in the equipment shed and we powered up the minimum with the solar-charged backup battery bank - it's good for maybe 12 hours with the freezer off and the freezer is OK for 24 hours without power. I printed out the sheet on how to refuel, restart and reconnect the gen and it shows which gas can and where it is in the equipment shed - nice to be able to include pictures in your Word documents. The top sheet of that document has words and pictures on where the hand guns are located near the front and back doors, if needed, and reminders on how to reload them.
I think I'll also have the money to upgrade the solar backup system's battery bank to cover at least 36 hours without sun or generator - be nice to just flip a few breakers for the first day's power. (YAWN) I'll worry about anything else later.
Tuesday, 28 November, 17:50
I'm awake, but stiff and hurting. Maybe I slept too long in one position because the pain in my back and right leg won't allow sleeping on my right side for more than an hour or so? Out of my flannel "Joe Boxer" pajamas - anything that was warm was good because I was still cold when I went to bed with the electric blanket on. Into some warm sweats - the wall thermometer shows 71F but my body doesn't believe it. Need some mouthwash for the bad taste in my mouth - probably slept on my back and snored for a while for it to be this bad.
That's done and it does taste better. Needed the extended reach "grabber" to get my socks off the floor and my shoes over to a chair so I could sit to put the socks and shoes on. Yep, absolutely overdid it last night. However, the better half said that there was only a faint scent of kero when she went to the mailbox. That sounds like my work was worthwhile. Wonder who else got things cleaned up quickly?
"Jack! To the TV. You need to see this!"
Not sure how or why that pilot went the way he did - the paths of the fires (57 houses confirmed damaged or destroyed so far) look like multiple figure eights. It seems the only unburned section of that path is where the locals cleaned up using my pressure washer and protective gear. That looks like the guy up the road who always finds fault with things I do…
'The entire neighborhood owes their lives to Jack Wilson. I was ready to take a shotgun to him when he woke us up with that pressure washer last night but him being out there as old as he is and manning that pressure washer to get the kerosene off his roof and yard was real incentive for the rest of us to start hosing things down with water and then using the pressure washer in turn to clean things off. Jack, I'll never again find fault with anything you do. If you hadn't wakened us and told us how to clean things, we'd be part of those black tracks in the videos. Thank you many, many times - and the Rotties are now at the shelter.'
"Sarah, he's dead serious - he told Animal Control that no one could make him get rid of those dogs."
"No more dodging away from the fence so they don't hang their heads over and try to bite you?"
"That's what it sounds like. I don't plan to test that until I'm moving much faster."
"Speaking of moving things, there have been at least a dozen people who knocked on the door to thank you but said not to wake you and they'd just leave a token of their appreciation. Some of them I didn't know and they said things like 'I'm Joe Brown's dad.' or 'I'm Timmy Jackson's grandfather.' We have $450 in restaurant gift cards, $700 in grocery gift cards and $1300 in Amazon cards. What kind of wild spending spree do you want to have?"
"Replacing my 'industrial clothes' that I doubt we'd ever get clean is the first thing. When I feel like trying to start the pressure washer, I'll check the oil and then see if it's still working. If not, I'll be looking for a replacement. Make a list of what we need to add to the LTS foods and what we need to expand in the shelf stable foods. We can fill some holes. I'll also vote for going out for today's evening meal on someone else's dime. If it's IHOP, they can fix me a big breakfast."
"There is an IHOP card. Can you get your coat on or do you need help?"
"Give me 30 seconds and let's see if I can still do that."
"Well, almost 30 seconds but not bad after that many hours of pressure washing. Are you driving or am I?"
"You. I'm not yet moving fast enough to attempt driving. Give me until tomorrow before I try that. Is the inverter gen in the equipment shed?"
"Yes. It had cooled down, been refueled and the shed locked before I powered up the TV using its UPS. Let me back the SUV out so you can open the passenger door fully. I don't think you could manage to slide in with the door only partly open in the garage."
"Not today. I can wait for you to back out."
---
Monday, 27 November, 21:40
Is that rain making that light drip sound? There's nothing in the hourly forecast and the precipitation percentages are in single digi…
Now it's a heavy drip. But it's not quite the right sound for rain…
That's a constant stream. Is someone out playing with the hose connected to the one hydrant at street pressure (80PSI) and actually able to get that much water up that high?
The camera at that end of the house doesn't show any of the motion sensor lights on at that end of the hous…
Sniff? Sniff? That's some kind of fuel… Don't need the potential of getting sparks from anything electrical at this end of the house so down to the breaker panel and turn off the Main breaker. Better get the rechargeable head light so I'll have some light on the way back up. Got that light from the knob of the door to the basement stairs so I'll use it and not the light switch at the top of the stairs. I'm probably overdoing this but the smallest possible change in electrical usage is the safest way to approach power changes when there might be some flammable fuel on or near the house.
I'm down sixteen steps so left down the hall, then open that door and left again to the breaker panel. Be sure the door on the breaker panel is closed and latched (maybe a little more overdoing when the fuel scent is at the other end of the house but still keeping sparks enclosed) and pull the Main breaker handle down. That's it and we seem to be safely in the dark. Now to go outside and see what's on the house.
Smells like kerosene. Kerosene from the air? We're under a lightly used flight path from the nearest general aviation airport so did a jet that just took off from there dump some of its fuel over a residential area? I need to get a couple of serious rechargeable work lights setup so I can at least wash down the chimney caps and as much of the roof as the big lantern can see the glitter of fuel on. Better to have kerosene in metal gutters than on an asphalt shingle roof.
Well, I got one pass of washing that end of the house in about 3 minutes and then I grabbed the aircraft band radio and connected it to a 12 volt battery so I could listen for…
'Brown Field this is G37934. We had a flameout about a minute after reaching 3000 feet. We've dumped most of the fuel and need a place to set down without power. I see a stretch of maybe six lane road with almost no traffic. Going down faster now.' BEEP! "STALL" BEEP! "STALL" BEE…
THUMP!
That was a house-shaking event! Wonder how close that plane is? Maybe up on the cross-county connector or…
WHOOM!
That explosion sounds too close and too big for comfort. The low clouds are lit to the northwest so he could be on US278 where it was widened a few years back - that's the only six lane road that close. However, that's at least four miles away so the closest emergency services will be there before I could get there and that area needs fire control more than any first aid I might be able to do.
I'm hearing multiple sirens in the distance and close by so emergency services are on their way in force. Now to take care of my potential for a fire. Water from the hose back across the chimney caps and then the areas of the chimney I can reach from this side of the house, then a couple of passes from the ridge vents down to the rain gutters on this side and then around to the other side, stopping to wash the end of the house as I go around there.
In the house for some dry clothes and something warmer and better for using the pressure washer. Then I'll come back out and use one of the 12 volt pumps and a small showerhead to spray a soapy solution that should dilute the kerosene that's on the ground and the driveway and after all the kerosene-splattered area has had that treatment I'll think it safe to get the pressure washer out of the shed and put some detergent in the "additive" tank so I can also get the soapy water up on the top of the chimney cap and across the roof. At least the temperature is 47℉ so I won't have ice from the water I'm using and I have waterproof bib overalls and some knee high rubber boots just for using the pressure washer. This session includes the foam earplugs so I can wear the big face shield I use when using the angle grinder and I'll have a brimmed hat to keep any splashes off my head and a plastic raincoat with hood to cover my torso, head and neck. I have nitrile gloves under the insulated work gloves so my hands are also protected.
Tuesday, 28 November, 03:30
I'm done - both the cleaning work and my body. The neighbors who came out to complain about the noise finally noticed the scent of kerosene and my pressure washer is now rented for $100/hour for at least the next 12 hours and the "industrial clothes" for another $50/hour - all paid in cash and in advance. Not my prices - the folks just kept bidding the price up to be "first". I don't have that much gas for it but one of the guys said he'd siphon the gas from his boat for $10 a gallon and both 10 gallon tanks were emptied in a matter of minutes. Guess some folks can find any needed money when their houses, vehicles and lives depend on it.
I'm inside for a shower and washing my hair. Don't think I got much on me but old, fragile skin does not respond well to being covered with petroleum products. I'll have the better half check my back and the backs of my arms and legs that I can't see very well. Any place that's irritated will get a second soaping with some gentle soap and then another rinse and then patted dry and then some Eucerin lotion for the irritated areas.
I need to medicate with some of the ℞ pain med so I'll sleep in spite of how much my hands, back and legs hurt. Maybe sleep ten hours when I'm getting to bed at almost 5AM?
The plane crash? A meth head with a few hours of dual instruction rented and fueled the plane with a stolen credit card but his "few hours" had not covered handling a flameout. Death toll is one. Traffic toll is that the three inbound lanes of 278 are closed for a yet-to-be-determined length of time because the plane crashed on one of the bridges and the damage from the ensuing fire won't be fully assessed for a few days.
Did anyone have problems from the fuel dump? Yes. We're currently part of the 761 meters out on Feed 4 from the power co-op. Some guy's pickup was parked at the end of his driveway and under the distribution lines and for some unknowable reason he thought burning the kerosene was the easiest way to clean the bed of his truck. Cell phone video on YouTube showed flames from the many gallons of kero licking up the pole and at the 7400 volt distribution lines that run on that side of the road. Eventually, the pole next to his driveway burned in two and when it fell over all the wires gave way. Our Estimated Restoration Time is 9PM tomorrow. Our power co-op has multiple outages that add to about 3000 meters. I didn't check anything but their map and the number of meters and I didn't take time to check any of the other power providers.
Meanwhile, the pressure washer came back with a stack of envelopes stuffed with Thank You notes and mostly $20 bills. I'm tired and not very functional and I counted $2385. My better half is counting the money to see whether that's correct. I doubt that all the kero can be washed out of the "industrial clothes" and I noticed that the oil was low in the pressure washer - but I think I'll have enough cash to replace everything that needs replacing ;-)
She came up with $3250 so I think these old hands are just too stiff to be handling paper money at this hour. I walked her through getting the 1600 watt inverter generator in place, connected to the transfer switch and started so we have power for the fridge, freezer and furnace. The gen should make 6 to 8 hours at that load. Then we turned it off and locked the gen in the equipment shed and we powered up the minimum with the solar-charged backup battery bank - it's good for maybe 12 hours with the freezer off and the freezer is OK for 24 hours without power. I printed out the sheet on how to refuel, restart and reconnect the gen and it shows which gas can and where it is in the equipment shed - nice to be able to include pictures in your Word documents. The top sheet of that document has words and pictures on where the hand guns are located near the front and back doors, if needed, and reminders on how to reload them.
I think I'll also have the money to upgrade the solar backup system's battery bank to cover at least 36 hours without sun or generator - be nice to just flip a few breakers for the first day's power. (YAWN) I'll worry about anything else later.
Tuesday, 28 November, 17:50
I'm awake, but stiff and hurting. Maybe I slept too long in one position because the pain in my back and right leg won't allow sleeping on my right side for more than an hour or so? Out of my flannel "Joe Boxer" pajamas - anything that was warm was good because I was still cold when I went to bed with the electric blanket on. Into some warm sweats - the wall thermometer shows 71F but my body doesn't believe it. Need some mouthwash for the bad taste in my mouth - probably slept on my back and snored for a while for it to be this bad.
That's done and it does taste better. Needed the extended reach "grabber" to get my socks off the floor and my shoes over to a chair so I could sit to put the socks and shoes on. Yep, absolutely overdid it last night. However, the better half said that there was only a faint scent of kero when she went to the mailbox. That sounds like my work was worthwhile. Wonder who else got things cleaned up quickly?
"Jack! To the TV. You need to see this!"
Not sure how or why that pilot went the way he did - the paths of the fires (57 houses confirmed damaged or destroyed so far) look like multiple figure eights. It seems the only unburned section of that path is where the locals cleaned up using my pressure washer and protective gear. That looks like the guy up the road who always finds fault with things I do…
'The entire neighborhood owes their lives to Jack Wilson. I was ready to take a shotgun to him when he woke us up with that pressure washer last night but him being out there as old as he is and manning that pressure washer to get the kerosene off his roof and yard was real incentive for the rest of us to start hosing things down with water and then using the pressure washer in turn to clean things off. Jack, I'll never again find fault with anything you do. If you hadn't wakened us and told us how to clean things, we'd be part of those black tracks in the videos. Thank you many, many times - and the Rotties are now at the shelter.'
"Sarah, he's dead serious - he told Animal Control that no one could make him get rid of those dogs."
"No more dodging away from the fence so they don't hang their heads over and try to bite you?"
"That's what it sounds like. I don't plan to test that until I'm moving much faster."
"Speaking of moving things, there have been at least a dozen people who knocked on the door to thank you but said not to wake you and they'd just leave a token of their appreciation. Some of them I didn't know and they said things like 'I'm Joe Brown's dad.' or 'I'm Timmy Jackson's grandfather.' We have $450 in restaurant gift cards, $700 in grocery gift cards and $1300 in Amazon cards. What kind of wild spending spree do you want to have?"
"Replacing my 'industrial clothes' that I doubt we'd ever get clean is the first thing. When I feel like trying to start the pressure washer, I'll check the oil and then see if it's still working. If not, I'll be looking for a replacement. Make a list of what we need to add to the LTS foods and what we need to expand in the shelf stable foods. We can fill some holes. I'll also vote for going out for today's evening meal on someone else's dime. If it's IHOP, they can fix me a big breakfast."
"There is an IHOP card. Can you get your coat on or do you need help?"
"Give me 30 seconds and let's see if I can still do that."
"Well, almost 30 seconds but not bad after that many hours of pressure washing. Are you driving or am I?"
"You. I'm not yet moving fast enough to attempt driving. Give me until tomorrow before I try that. Is the inverter gen in the equipment shed?"
"Yes. It had cooled down, been refueled and the shed locked before I powered up the TV using its UPS. Let me back the SUV out so you can open the passenger door fully. I don't think you could manage to slide in with the door only partly open in the garage."
"Not today. I can wait for you to back out."
---
