Woohoo! Storm!

[paghat]

60 mile an hour winds! I was just out in the rain getting BLASTED, most invigorating. Now watching more comfortably from window as our trees bend & twist about. A piece of deck roof stripping just blew off. An unlockable gate got damaged from blowing open & shut, I just moved some rocks in front of it so it won't keep smashing into itself. Have a friend up for the week from his manse among the giant redwoods, checking out houses here, as he can sell his for a million & get just as good here for a quarter-million. Planning to move the whole family up here, claims he'll be hiring me as landscaper (since I don't have the room to collect beech trees, he said I should collect beeches for him -- well, that's acceptable to me!), so even more reason to hope seeing the Northwest at its nastiest doesn't change his mind.

-paghat the ratgirl

[Valkyrie]

Haha! I love this weather. I was out on my balcony before sun-up doing some watering (the rain doesn't reach most of my pots) and filling bird feeders, finished up a few daily domestic drudge chores and started on my Christmas sewing. I've had to stop a lot to watch out the window as the rain pelts, leaves blow by, trees dance. Jumped when a branch from a big fir tree (aka widow makers) came down and crashed across a cedar fence. The birds don't seem daunted by all this today. The feeders are busy and it's fun to watch them bucking the head winds for a perch. The hummers seem to be the only ones not making an effort in the high winds, except to zero in on target of the swinging Humzinger. The balcony floor has a lovely sprinkling of petals from my sweet autumn clematis and scented geraniums.

Time to toss another log on the fire, Val

[Lee]

hi paghat.. you sure paint a vivid picture! :) like to have some of that rain but not that much wid.. ours is only gusting to about 25 mph today and yesterday but no sign of rain. you will surely make him a fine landscaper. best regards.. lee h

[Jim W]

Woohoo..

Almost makes me wanna move out and join ya!

We don't get much 'proper' weather here in London.. Could do with a good storm haven't had one in ages!

// Jim

[Frank Logullo]

Isabel gave me 3 days without electricity and no water since I have a well. You're welcome to visit next time ;) Frank

[Janet Baraclough]

The message from [e-mail] (Jim W) contains these words:

You don't get much proper anything in London, but you don't have to go as far as the PNW to find some Jim. Real life in the UK begins just north of Carlisle.

Janet

[Dwight Sipler]

A medium generator will run a well pump. However there may be cheaper alternatives, depending on your well.

Many modern wells have water within 10-20 feet of the surface. Even if you have to drill down 200' or more, that's to get a good flow rate, not to hit water. If the water is that close to the surface, it can be pulled up by a hand pump.

I bought a hand pump last year at my local Ace hardware store. They called it a pitcher pump, but it's basically a piston in a cylinder, operated by a hand lever. A couple of flap valves allow it to pull water up and pump it out. The flap valves leak, so it needs to be primed after

10-15 minutes of inactivity (this allows it to be located outdoors -- it drains so it won't freeze). This could be mitigated by placing a good ball valve in the suction line.

Obviously, if your well doesn't fit the above profile, this is not the way to go, but if it does, my total cost was about $60 including plumbing fittings.

This system gets you water in buckets, not a pressurized water system like you're used to, but at least it's water.

It doesn not solve your electricity problem.

[Jessi]

Got 60 mph winds in my corner of the Northwest and it took out power on the east side of town. My boss who owns an ISP was running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to save his servers, his generator failed.

My herculean fiance hurt his hand moving a tree that fell in the driveway. Half of a small maple broke and struck the northside of my house. Thankfully no damage was done there. Come morning, the yard was a complete disaster. A fallen alder lays 12 feet from the house, a smashed picnic table and a work bench beneath it. I am very lucky. That alder could have done in my kitchen windows and the siding.

It looks like we'll have more winds for a while, but not as bad as yesterday!

[Jim W]

Oh we do,.. proper traffic jams, proper (well as proper as it gets here in the UK) healthcare, and properly ripped off!-)

And a lot of the time the weather is to our advantage!-) // Jim

[Frogleg]

I had municipal water, but supposed to boil for 5 days (I mean for 5 minutes during a 5-day period of uncertain safety of supply), and no electricity for 9-1/2 days. This city of 140,000 people estimated there was 1 million cubic yards of debris to be collected and disposed of.

[lvhippy]

How did Broomfield lose power?

[Frogleg]

Say, what? I quoted a poster who said his/her power was out for 3 days owing to hurricane Isabel. Where's Broomfield?