Just reading this now because I originally thought you were just
commenting on earlier subject matter seasonal greetings. Now all I can say
is YIKES! ... and send wishes that things VASTLY improve in the next
year and after..
MUch love,
ann
On 12/28/2021 3:47 PM, Stanley Halpin wrote:
A hearty Ho Ho Ho etc. to all!
I am in limbo. The guy we contracted with last April to rebuild our flooded
kitchen cabinets? Talked with him last week. “Materials are finally in, I’ll
stop by sometime after Christmas to discuss…”
The guy who last March was going to rebuild the damaged lower dresser drawers?
I texted him, he said they would be done probably next week?
The guy who was going to arrange for an engineer to get an estimate on raising
our rental unit a few feet so as to be above Flood Plain so that we can rebuild
the major damage caused by the wind-toppled 100-foot white pine? Some time this
week, maybe?
The lady who was going to arrange our secondary internet connection so that our
niece Mary can re-establish her home office here now that she can’t live in the
damaged rental? Still waiting for a call back.
[Back story on the rental: our niece lives there. We lived with her 8 months
last year after our home was flooded. The pine tree blew over onto her house
Dec 11th. She’s moved in with us. Because we are in a flood plain, special
rules apply. The U.S. Government subsidizes the cost of flood insurance, and
communities that agree to FEMA’s rules are given more generous discounts on the
insurance. FEMA’s rules are designed to avoid constant rebuilding of structures
in jeopardy, like along the coast in the traditional path of hurricanes or in
known flood plains in the interior. Requirement is that the community will not
provide a building permit to any upgrade or repair unless either A- the cost of
the upgrade or repair does not exceed 50% of appraised value, or B- the
structure is brought up to current building code. So, above the flood plain,
with up-to-date wiring, etc. We will likely be well over 50% of appraised
value, and thus anticipate Option B is going to come into play. So the first
question is, how high do we need to raise the rebuilt/replaced structure?
Probably 3-4 feet. And meanwhile niece Mary has lost her home office. She works
for a hospital on medical insurance issues. Usually about 90% from home. But
because of the private sensitive nature of what she deals with, her home office
work computer cannot be WiFi, it needs a hardwire ethernet connection. Our
cable modem is at the other end of the house, so I am trying for a secondary
connection in “her” new office…]
So, waiting, waiting, frustrated at having so many of these details which are
just out of my control. I took the requisite shots of the tree down across the
house, of the crane lifting the pieces out, the guys nailing sheets of plywood
and tarps across the holes in the roof. But I can’t be too excited about any of
those shots. One of my occasional outlets is cooking, but that is harder with
Mary here. We get along well with Mary, we are comfortable with her in our
home. But she is still dealing with damage caused by her COVID over a year ago.
Loss of taste has now become distortion of taste, so there are a very limited
number of food options that she can tolerate. I could still make my sausage and
cheese breakfast casserole or my 3-meat 8-bean chili. But she wouldn’t be able
to eat those, might not even be able to tolerate the odor if she were in the
same room with those, and so it wouldn’t be right for me to indulge.
I am looking forward to getting some of these nuisance details out of the way!
And I am looking forward to some travel we have booked for 2022, some trips
just for relaxation, some trips (e.g. Iceland) for exploration and photo ops.
And hoping that we can zig-zag our way through the COVID restrictions and
outbreaks. While life has not been ideal for us lately, we have avoided serious
tragedy, I know that many of you are facing similar woes, and we are all ready
for a big party! Or something.
Meanwhile, Ho Ho Ho and serious best wishes for a healthy productive prosperous
New Year!
Stan
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