Crying towel: Allergic reaction, freeze busted 5 pipes, gas leak last night, storm warning!!!

[Omaha Steve]

A week ago tonight at dinner time I realized I have having a reaction to an antibiotic. Because the wind chill was over 30 below I decided not to go to emergency. It was a close call.

Had Marta taken me in, we would not have been here when the water fall in the lower floors started showing up. It missed by inches taking out the new furnace by shorting the power in. Didn't hurt the hot water heater. Just missed the hub for the furnace, heat & carbon monoxide detectors, the cable phone modem, and the home security panel. Water went down the back of our 200 amp power panel but didn't get in it.

We are insured. Dry wall and tile removed, fans and dehumidifiers done Thursday.

Ran a new three inch heating duct into the dead space between the interior walls where the pipes are. We will be installing wifi-thermometers/moisture detectors with set points to warn long before 32 degrees.

The plumber got 1/3 of the house water Monday.

The entire house water is working as of late yesterday afternoon. He had to wait on the moisture mitigation. He found what caused the freeze. Temp repair coming on Monday thanks to the holiday. Even though our contractor (supplied by insurance) could have been forced to do it ASAP, we decided against it. All the guys were great to us this week and have kids.

We had a hot and cold water break where the pipes went through a stud. The last leak was the hardest. Had to pull a corner stool. He was working between a tile shower he didn't want to touch, an interior fireplace flue across from that, built in bookcase on the far side. He has a bad back and replaced hip. He managed to just reach the last one. He was twisted like a pretzel. Had just enough room to cut the pipe thanks to the space behind the flue, hold the torch and solder while I stood behind him with our fire extinguisher.

As he was at the door to leave I was in the laundry room and started to hear running water. PANIC. Then I realized the humidifier had just kicked in and it was going down the drain.

Then last night about 10:30 I smelled gas when I walked by the furnace. I asked Marta to confirm it. She did. Dialed the 800 emergency smell gas number. We were told get out of the house. We sat in Marta's car with the dogs. A neighbor came over to offer shelter in his place. Because of our dogs we turned him down.

Since the streets were bad, it took awhile for the gas man to get here. He confirmed a small leak in a union installed back in August. The gas man is not allowed to repair inside a home. Once he confirmed our repair guy was on the way, he turned off the gas line and left.

Our contractor that was here to put in the new duct Thursday (and furnace/AC in August) sent a repairman. Streets were still (still are) bad. It was an unusual leak for new equipment. Turn the gas on and check the furnace. He left around 1:15. No charge.

Dense fog advisory (till 1 PM) and bad streets today. Storm & flood warnings for tomorrow with 60 MPH winds.

Bird photos from last Christmas Eve snow storm below weather report.

Merry Christmas

Steve & Marta

Powerful Christmas Day storm could bring record rainfall to Midlands; OPPD crews are on alert

By Jay Withrow and Nancy Gaarder / World-Herald staff writers Updated 7 hrs ago

A record amount of atmospheric moisture is forecast to flow into the region Sunday, as a powerful Christmas Day storm bullies its way across the country.

Blizzard conditions are forecast in northern states, notably in much of the Dakotas, while the rest of the central U.S. is likely to experience severe storms with damaging winds, flooding rain and possibly some hail. A few isolated tornadoes, particularly in eastern Kansas, can’t be ruled out, forecasters said.

AccuWeather, The World-Herald’s weather consultant, warned that the weather could delay flights in and out of some airports Sunday and Monday. Travelers are advised to monitor their flights and, if driving, weather forecasts.

Becky Kern, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said forecasters are concerned about damaging winds and flooding in the Midlands.


FULL story: http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/powerful-christmas-day-storm-could-bring-record-rainfall-to-midlands/article_f546b9e2-c8f8-11e6-8095-fb6a35e18da2.html

[JudyM]

1. Whew. Hoping your next week gives you some well-deserved R&R!

Best wishes for some end-of-year holiday-ish joy.

[Liberal_in_LA]

11. "Whew" is right!

[NYFlip]

2. Happy Holiday

Wishing you a Happy New Year. May all this be hind you for the holidays and 2017

[Sherman A1]

3. Sorry to hear of the chain of events

for you. Thankfully beyond property damage and that certainly was significant, no harm was done to people or pets.

Next week will be better and hopefully 2017 will provide for brighter days.

[Vinca]

4. Good lord - if you didn't have bad luck you wouldn't have any luck at all.

Nice birds, though. I installed a new bird feeder yesterday and so far have only had chickadees visiting. There are lots of junkos, but they seem to only eat seeds off the ground. Do you happen to know if they'll perch on a feeder?

[moonscape]

10. Juncos will eat from a feeder, but prefer the ground. n/t

[Vinca]

12. Thanks - it occurred to me that I spelled it wrong. Time to drag out the Audubon book. LOL.

[Omaha Steve]

13. They can perch but love looking for fallen seeds for some reason

Dark-eyed Junco. Photo: Melinda Fawver/Great Backyard Bird Count

Also depends on the seed selection.

What part of the country are you in?

OS

http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/dark-eyed-junco

Dark-eyed Junco

Feeding Behavior

Forages mostly while hopping and running on the ground. Sometimes scratches with its feet in leaf-litter or snow. Will come to bird feeders, but tends to forage on the ground under the feeding tray.

Diet

Mostly seeds and insects. Close to half of summer diet of adults consists of insects, including caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, true bugs, and others, also spiders. Feeds heavily on seeds of weeds and grasses, especially in winter. Also eats some berries. Young are fed mostly insects.

[Vinca]

17. I'll toss some seeds on the ground, too.

We've also got a bunny living somewhere around the house and he seems to like sunflower seeds.

[KT2000]

5. Glad you are OK now

but that sounds horrible. Hope you can pull together your Christmas traditions in time so wishing you the best.

[Stuart G]

6. Wishing you the best ....always..and...great pictures.

So glad you made it thru ....I love your pictures, especially of the Cardinals and Blue Jay...

[renate]

7. wow, what a wild ride!

And what a mixture of good and terrible luck. You guys were so nice to wait till Monday so the guys could be with their kids over the holiday.

Those pictures are gorgeous--thank you for sharing them. The ones of the colored birds, red and blue, are especially beautiful.

Thanks again for sharing, and I'm sorry you had such a rotten week and glad you're basically OK now.

[summerschild]

8. Steve and Marta -

Of ALL PEOPLE you two don't deserve that kind of luck!

Hoping things have settled down to normal now and you are able to enjoy the holidays (though cold).

Hope you have a beautiful and blessed holiday season and no more problems!!

[moonscape]

9. Love the shot of the cardinal and jay! n/t

[malaise]

14. Wow - lovely pics

Get better soon - Happy Holidays Omaha Steve

[we can do it]

15. Happy holidays! Hope it's all behind you now.

[mnhtnbb]

16. Good grief! What a run of bad luck in the house.

Glad everything was repaired.

We lived in Lincoln for 6 years and don't miss that howling wind chill in the winter!

Gorgeous shot of the cardinal and blue jay!

Merry Christmas!