Yesterday, I blogged about our water heater failing, resulting in some very unwanted water in our basement. We dodged a big bullet. Just 2 area rugs were saturated, and will likely need to be thrown out. There were also a few damp spots on the concrete, but I put a fan down there, and cranked the de-humidifier up to "max", which should get rid of it.
TTFN
My wife called me about 7:30 or so this morning to let me know the hot water tank in the basement failed. Not the news I wanted to hear less than half-way through my shift. I'm pretty much the only person in the newsroom for at least half my day, and can't leave. She says she heard a mechanical, grinding noise from the basement about 7:15, and when she checked, find it had failed. The plumber was there within 15 minutes, and had a new tank installed and connected by 9:00.
That's all bad news. The good news is we have yet to develop the basement, meaning there were very few items down there. A couple of old carpets, a couch, my wife's flower pots and the cat pans. The carpets soaked up a lot of the water, and they'll need to be disposed of. I'm also going to get a wet-dry vacuum on the way home to get the water out of the rugs first. It's also a good idea to have one in the house anyway. She says the plumber managed to get a lot of the water down the floor drain, so there shouldn't be much damage. She'll also take a bucket of bleach water down and give the whole area a good sanitizing to try and keep any mold down.
As for what it's going to cost: I have no idea. But I'll gladly pay it. Part of the joy of home ownership.
TTFN
Seems like winter is finally here. It's been cooling off ever so slightly since I got in to the office this morning (my Saturday to work), and will continue to do so throughout the day. Tonight is when we get our blast of cold, with the mercury plunging to -33 C. Not much recovery from the cold until Wednesday, either. But we've managed to escape most of January without the extreme cold.
And a sad note from the entertainment/news world today
Veteran talk show host and broadcaster Larry King has died at 87. He'd battled heart attacks, lung cancer, diabetes and most recently the coronavirus. King was a late night staple in our household, as we watched his almost every evening. I certainly didn't agree with everything he said, but he was entertaining and informative. R.I.P Larry.
TTFN
An interesting trek to the office this morning. I was just pulling in to the parking spot I use about 03:45, when I noticed some headlights also entering the lot. I was juggling keys, my mask, gloves and extension cord to plug the car in at the time. Thinking it was a co-worker, I closed my car door to let that person into the adjacent spot. But they never did! It was an RCMP member
Checking to see what someone was doing in the parking lot of the building we share with the provincial court that early in the morning. The officer asked if I worked here, I told him I did, and where I worked. We each said a pleasant "good morning" to each other, and carried on with our day.
In the 7+ years I've worked here, that is the 1st time ever anyone has checked on me. And I'm in rather august company! the gentleman who dies morning news on our sister FM station (and occasionally on ours some weekends) says he had a similar experience New Years Day when he arrived at 03:45!
And this past weekend while out grocery shopping, I did the Dumb Thing. I was juggling keys, gloves and my mask as I was leaving the car. I hit the auto-door lock on the way out, and closed the door. With my keys still inside. A quick call to our automobile association, and a 30 minute wait, and all was okay. I hadn't locked my keys in a car for over a dozen years before this past weekend. Yes, it was embarrassing, but it happens all the time.
TTFN
And now the clean-up is underway. I don't know how much snow we actually got, but it wasn't very much. As mentioned in yesterday's post, the wind was the big problem. But it had an unexpected benefit as well.
I'm saying this ironically, because I'm totally out of shape, but the blizzard did result in me getting an unexpected 20 minute workout session yesterday. Some intense cardio, worked on the core and arms, and even got some leg reps in as well. The biggest benefit was I got my 2 parking stalls and sidewalk shoveled out!
I also expect I'll have another, albeit shorter, session when I get home today. And I must get hold of our property manager to have him get our street cleared. On my way in this morning, I noticed someone's van got stuck a little further down from where I live. C'mon property manager, do your job!
TTFN
You should hear the noise in our newsroom this morning! We're on the top floor of our building, and wind gusts to 80 km/h due to the blizzard are swirling around things like the air conditioning units and whatever else is up there. At times it almost sounds like a train horn blowing. We're not expecting much for snow from the Alberta Clipper rushing into Manitoba, but what there is is being blown around by that wind.
As mentioned, we've had gusts of 80 km/h, but Regina recorded a gust of 126. And south of the provincial Capital, it was 144. Due to this, there are plenty of highway closures, mostly in central parts of our province, and central west parts of Manitoba. Schools in both provinces in our broadcast area have cancelled bus services for the day.
I spoke with one of our weather gurus who says the snow will end by mid-morning, but the wind will continue howling until after midnight. I just hope my garbage can is still upright, and hasn't blown down the street by the time I get home.
TTFN
It could get very breezy around my part of the world in the next couple of days. A weather system, known as an "Alberta Clipper" due to it's rapid movement, is poised to roar over us in the next 48 hours. The wind is going to be the worst part of it, with gusts up to 80 km/h likely. Some areas could get gusts of 100 km/h.
If that's not bad enough, we could see rain showers, freezing rain, and the potential of up to 10 cm of snow as well. Despite this, we can't complain. It is January, after all, and there are still months left in winter. Also, aside from one storm ion December, we really haven't had that bad a winter. It's been milder than usual, and we haven't had much in the way of snow. Still, I'll be happy when this season is over.
TTFN
Yup! That's me rockin' a new "do". Short, isn't it? Question is, why? Answer is easy-ish. First and foremost of course is the pandemic. With a new strain of the virus now showing up, but not here yet, I'm doubling down my efforts to avoid it until the vaccine arrives (another, future story). Secondly, I actually decided way before Christmas to get a set of clippers and lower my ears. Due, again in large part, to not wanting to wait until the new year to get in to see a stylist. Thirdly, it was simply time for another change, as the mop top was getting a little long, although, I did have hair past my shoulder up until 2017.
It's easier to keep, and doesn't need combing in the morning. The only down-side is I went ahead and did it in winter. Meaning when it's even moderately cold, I need something on my head. Will I keep it like this? For the foreseeable future, yes. I've used the machine twice already, and another 2 times means it'll have paid for itself in the savings from going not to a stylist
And a belated Happy New Year! May 2021 be a damn sight better than 2020.
TTFN
