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Success! (Kind of)
Feb. 5th, 2011 03:53 pm
This is what it looks like after 4 cans of table salt and a whole lot of brute strength.
I fall down, go boom now, K?
Or ice dam to be more precise.
I got up this morning at 7:30 am, which for me on a Saturday is pretty much unheard of. Got dressed and went to the grocery first thing, planning to get it over with and maybe score some rock salt or ice melt. I got the food but no rock salt as everyone is still sold out. According to the couple of big box home improvement stores I called the shipments they were expecting were diverted to Chicago. Yeah, pisses me off.
Anyway I got 6 cans of table salt and 2 bags of kitty litter so I can make my own damn traction/ice melt stuff. Because yesterday Mother Nature tried to kill me while I attempted to get my mail. Getting the mail, especially when it doesn't contain anything but junk, shouldn't mean risking my life so I'm fighting back with the tools I have available - table salt and the stuff cats shit in. Um, maybe not so much fighting back as just trying not to fall on my ass.
Got home, ate some breakfast, took a bath, walked into the living room and found this:
This discovery was followed by much cussing then a phone call to my expert, aka Dad. Pics have been sent to so he can see for himself what I was doing a really shitty job of describing over the phone. The general consensus is that I have an ice dam someplace - either in the gutters or around the chimney. Which would put me in good company as pretty much the entire f!cking city of Indianapolis is dealing with the same shit right now. No, that doesn't make me feel any better. Neither does the knowledge that there is absolutely nothing I can do. I could call a roofing contractor but all they will say is they can't do anything until it warms up - which it isn't ever going to do as this winter is going to last forever and ever and we're all going to die frozen in our beds! *cough* Um, sorry about that. I'm just a little sick of winter these days.
I'm sure it is still pretty to some people but I'm really done with snow and ice and winter in general. Sunshine and green growing things can start any day now, thanks.
Hammer Time
Feb. 4th, 2011 08:45 amThe sun was out all day yesterday with a temp around 20 degrees F. The small patch I was able to clear Wednesday did warm in the sun but not enough to help melt the drive.
Out came the sledgehammer. I was loathe to use the thing as I don't want to damage the concrete. Then I remembered that while I am stronger than I used to be I am still a weenie girl and the odds of me being able to swing that sledge hammer hard enough to damage concrete is, well, pretty much zero. I was able to crack some ice though, managing to triple the size of the bare spot before I pooped out.
So now I have a bare spot about 3x4 feet instead of 1x1 feet. Better but at this rate I'll still be chipping away at this shit when spring finally arrives.
Temps at freezing (32 F) or just above (34 F) over the weekend. Also a chance of snow and no sun, which sucks! Let's hope I'm able to score some ice melt today or tomorrow, the sun today works some magic, and I have enough strength to wail away with the hammer when I get home fro work.
No pictures today. Sorry!
IceAggedon: The Aftermath
Feb. 2nd, 2011 02:08 pmWe also got lucky in the the second wave was mostly sleet here in Indy rather than more freezing rain. I really think that's the only reason I have power right now.
I didn't have internet until a little while ago - that went down sometime in the night and wasn't back for several hours. But I'm up and running now. Since I was without connectivity for half the day I decided to just go ahead and take a vacation day today rather than stress over work stuff. I did log in to check email once I was able to - and promptly got booted by the remote system as it once again can't handle the load of nearly everyone working from home. *sigh*
I'm off to sit in front of the fire with a good book. I plan to brave the outside world to go to work tomorrow. The word on the street (ha!) is that the roads are in decent shape once you get out of your neighborhood. I can see the main street from my house and it looks like traffic is moving well so I think I'll chance it tomorrow. I shouldn't have any trouble getting out of my driveway - getting back up it is a different question but I'll deal with that when I have to. I'm hoping the sun comes out enough tomorrow to start melting some of this stuff while I'm at work so I can come home and pry it up.
I went out earlier to try to chip away at the ice. Um, yeah, not a great idea. I didn't get far and after 20 minutes I stopped, feeling kind of wet noodle-ish. I need more salt. Or explosives.
IceAggedon: Second Wave Has Arrived
Feb. 1st, 2011 03:22 pmNow I can hear the
IceAggedon: The First Wave
Feb. 1st, 2011 11:08 amSo the plan is to maybe fix some lunch then try to log in to the office again. If I still can't get in then today is a holiday. Surely IceAggedon counts as a holiday?
The second wave is just now reaching Illinois so its about 2-3 hours away. That wave is supposed to nail us with more freezing rain leaving up to another inch of ice then a coating of a couple of inches of snow. The weather advisory goes until 7:00 PM tomorrow so I'm not expecting to go anywhere for at least a couple of days. I hope to be back in the office on Thursday but it kind of depends on my ability to get out of my neighborhood.
( Have some pictures of the IceAggedon! )
IceAggedon Approaches
Jan. 31st, 2011 04:26 pmI've already told the boss man that if there is any ice I will be working from home. I do not do ice.
The latest weather hype is calling this a "potentially catastrophic" storm. Depending on how the storm tracks Indianapolis could get an inch or more if ice by Wednesday evening - OR - a third of an inch of freezing rain and sleet tonight followed by a foot of snow tomorrow. Really it all depends on which way this thing tracks. As the first wave is pretty much here already I'm going to guess that here in the city we're going to get mostly ice while the big snow is going to stay north.
Fingers crossed that the power stays on.
I'm watching the weather closely today. Unless the storm track shifts Indianapolis is right smack in the path of a monster of a storm. We are looking at .5 to 1 inch of ice followed by several inches of snow. Everything should start sometime this evening and then goes until nearly Wednesday evening. Right now I'm trying to decide if I'm going to get permissions to work from home - providing I have power - or if I'm just going to say screw it and take a couple of floating holidays for tomorrow and Wednesday.
One thing I do know - I do NOT drive on ice. Hell, I don't even try to walk on ice.
Want to know a secret? I am absolutely terrified of walking on ice. Seriously, I get all shaky and just want stand still and cry. So nope, if we get what they are predicting I will be staying inside where it is safe(er). And all the weather channels are predicting the same thing so it looks like we're in for a major ice smackdown.
Gives me the heebies just thinking about it.
