Well, so how did it go for you?
At least here at the digs and most of the surrounding environs I think
Sandy was kind. Don’t believe we got the
predicted 60 mph gusts, although we did get fairly steady winds I think in the
mid thirties, with some higher gusts. I think she (he?) took out revenge further north.
Did you see some of the horror shots that were floating around on
FaceBook of damage up in New Jersey and New York? Amazing.. Those poor people..
Anyway, living “on the water” with quite a nice view does come with
a price (besides the inflated initial cost!).
How high will the surge be? Is
there enough rip rap to protect the shore this time? Will it erode the cliff? What about that pool that is feet from the
precipice? Fortunately the winds
shifted so that most of the higher winds were pushing water AWAY from the shore
so surge wasn’t an issue here.
This year we had a new challenge. We are replacing the aging and cracking pool
deck surrounding the gray lagoon. All the way to the ground, break
up the old one and pour the new one. The
current state is that we are waiting for the new cement to be poured.. Forms in place, then came the specter of
Sandy.. so we awaited the pending storm like this:
With the forms in place it provides for a nice captive
place for water to gather. Early Monday
morning, I awoke before dawn to the
unmistakable humming of the sump pump in the basement. It pretty much goes on only when things are bad. And it began to cycle.. a not good sign when much more precip is
predicted and the prospect of no power to said pump of the sump. Besides doing the pool deck we are also redoing the patio just outside the
lower level door, and I observed with much consternation it was almost brim full, trapped
water with nowhere to go except down the foundation and into the pump. So I don my waterproofs, and go outside. Of course I didn’t take time to document
anything in progress but here is the result of my labors after draining the thing.
The tools included that squeegee to get as much off the area as
possible, a shovel used to create a hastily dug “ditch” for drainage (the hell
with the lawn at this point)
And the little pump I used to drain the remaining puddles. I used that pump off and on through the day as
water continued to accumulate. I knew it
worked because the sump pump didn’t go on again. Engineering conquers all!. I also used the little pump to drain some water
from the gray lagoon (it isn’t closed yet, another story) so that rain water
wouldn’t overflow it.
At some point, you’ve done what you can do, survival (bottles)
plan in place, candles assembled, flashlights gathered, ice hoarded for the
survival effort, and you just sit back and wait. At about 5:30 the expected power outage came,
everything got quiet (so that you could hear the generators kick in at the
neighbors), and dark. It is funny how
dependant you get on power driven things..
No computer/internet, no TV, no lights, no heat, no refrigeration, no
hot showers, etc. In desperation, you
are forced to actually talk to each other, or perhaps read a book by flash or
candle light. Just think, people used to
live this way all the time! And it’s the
little things that surprise you. At one
point I went to get something from the garage and instinctively hit the light
switch. Oh, yeah. Let’s look in the fridge and see if there are
limes… oh yeah, hurry up! Since we have
a gas cooktop, MFO managed to put together a rather nice plate of spaghetti and
we dined by candlelight. Hey, Monday
night football is on…. Oh yeah.
We awoke this morning still with no power… what time is it? Oh yeah..
We eventually gathered ourselves and decided to do a neighborhood tour
and get a coffee. We’ll just get in the
car and I punched the garage opener.. Oh
yeah. We were pleased to see relatively
little damage in the ‘hood, and were even happier to see a bunch of power
trucks and men at the intersection of Millstone and 235. We went into the mercifully open Coffee Quarter, ordered a
HOT latte and cup of tea (MFO) and an egg, ham, and cheese sandwich on a
croissant. We were chatting with the
barista and mentioned we lived in Esperanza Farms with no power when from
behind me came a “It’s BACK!”. Some other
residents of the Farms were there for a similar mission as ours, but a daughter
called to inform them power was back. We
also saw some other friends who live near us and they also confirmed. Love those linesmen....
So, we enjoyed our sandwiches and headed back to the digs to see us welcomed by the
porch lights I had turned “on” for just such an indication. Went inside and happily began the ritual of
setting the digital clocks, turning on the fans, retune the thermostats, reboot the computer
(holding breath all the way) and start to get back to “normal”. Soon the boats that had evacuated the piers
along us began to reappear. And life goes
on. You can sort of “make do” and “camp
out” with candles and such for a while, but conveniences are nice.. i have to admit that night we didn’t
DFD
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