Flood 2016 Journal 5
Flood 2016 Journal 5
In order to get a permit to start fixing the house the moisture levels need to be below 15 Richard is checking the moisture levels all over the house and shed everyday... We're getting good low readings in most areas. but especially the stubborn corners where you have multiple support, etc. are still too high.
I started Journal 5 yesterday then got sidetracked… Unfortunately our a/c shut down again yesterday. It seems like the drain for the a/c has problems. We and the a/c repairman have poured several gallons of bleach through the drain line. It goes down and it will seem like the a/c is okay but then it clogs up again. A friend told us the sensor wasn’t working but that isn’t the case else the a/c would not shut off when the pan fills up. Anyway, Richard and I emptied the pan last night. I am afraid of heights but I went up and down the ladder a few steps to save him having to carry the buckets of water down. I ramble… anyway… we think because the a/c went out and was off for several hours yesterday it allowed the moisture numbers to go up… and today we had 19 areas that were too high compared to 10 yesterday…
We found an old chair we had put up there a good many years ago… Its now a prized possession… *S* It is our only piece of regular furniture right now… I don’t exactly consider an air mattress real furniture… We want to wait to buy furniture till the house is redone. Right now it would just be something else to worry about moving out of the way when people are trying to put up sheetrock, lay floors, put in cabinets, etc.
So as I said… I got sidetracked yesterday by:
A young man with a plow thing I think its called on his tractor… and a claw too… because he pulled a lot of the trash we had left toward the tractor… then he gathered it all in a pile kind of in the middle of the ditch going toward the road… I was excited when I first saw him thinking he was moving it all to the roadside of the ditch… then I got worried the waste disposal people might not pick it up if it was partly in the ditch so I went out to talk to the young man… He told me he wasn’t exactly with the city… but that he had made a pile so he could come back and pick it all up… Oh my… I was/am so happy, excited, grateful…. I didn’t even ask him who he was with or why he was doing this for us… I just kept telling him thank you… I felt so good about the thought of getting that stuff gone from in front of our home I was motivated to pull up all the paneling and boards my grandson had laid down to make a path to the road to bring the sheetrock/carpeting/etc. out to the road on. I was even impressed a bit with myself. My back threw a few stabs at me but I was able to get it all and there was quite a bit.
Today around noon I ran to the Dollar Tree… I wanted to pick up some garlic/cayenne, etc… I don’t know why the people who cleared the kitchen threw my spices out… they were in cabinets well above the flood waters… They threw away my plastic food saver dishes and just a lot of stuff that I would not have thrown away. I hope I never have to do this again. I do have to say though that before I would let anyone touch my stuff if I had to do this I’d go from room to room pulling out what I thought I could use/save. In addition I’d never let anyone pull down trim and door frames and the like and throw it away… Except for the bottom few feet I do believe it could all have been stripped and reused. My soul is cheap folks… Too many years of having to watch money and honestly… I just don’t like wastefulness… I got something I want to add about that and the Shelter At Home program in a bit… but not today… I’m feeling happy and grateful and I want to hang on to that.
Anyway when I got back from the store the pile of stuff was gone. Oh my gosh. I feel so good about that mess being gone. I’m excited thinking of grass growing back and covering the bare earth where all that trash and the path they made with the paneling and boards to bring the stuff out to the road in the wheelbarrow. I’ve continued to feel so motivated I’ve been sweeping, washing linens, dishes and the like inside the house. I just wanted to share my joy at seeing some progress with everybody and I’m praying you’re all seeing some good things happen at your house too.
Replies
What a wonderful fellow...did you happen to get his name or any information about him??? I am assuming not or you would have included it. I have a memory, or sort of a memory, it's very foggy and I don't know where it's from. I would consider that very strange if not for my beliefs in Spirit...anyway, it's something like this...when something catastrophic happens the best of the people rise to the top. It's not that exactly, I don't have the words to explain it and I am sounding weirder and weirder so I'll move on. I wonder if he was real or an Angel???
My sister lived near the Alabama coast when Katrina hit and her next door neighbor was an elderly lady who lived alone and had no one to help her, so Lori, my sister, did what she could. The damage was nothing compared to what NOLA went through or what you are going through now, but still there was work to be done. After things were settled down the lady wanted to pay Lori for her help but of course she wasn't about to take her money. But she just really wanted to do something for Lori, even something small, so she asked her what her favorite desert was. Lori told her custard pie and she made her one. Lori said it was as good as our Grannie's custard pie which she didn't think was possible. Later they worked out a deal where Lori cut her grass every other week for a homemade pie, lol. I don't know why your story reminded me of that, but it's a sweet memory and a reminder that there is a lot of good in this world and maybe hard times bring it out more.
What a man! Thankfully it's been many years since we went thru a flood. But i I remember how i felt. It may have been "just stuff" but it was my stuff and all i had! Stay strong...i am praying and sending you strength. Hugs
I know the kindness of these people you will never forget. Hoping that with the end of each day you can feel and see some progress. I remember my feet and legs hurting by the end of the weekend because we were walking on the floor boards. I welcomed going back to work each Monday to walk in my carpeted class room.
Thinking of you with care and much understanding after having lived through our flood in 1997. I can still smell it and remember finding when I finally got to our basement a box filled with Christmas decorations and pulling out Santa Claus who had a GREEN beard because of the mold.
Prayerful hugs of care to stop when you need to each day and for the courage and strength it takes to rebuild.
XO Joanie