The Vent and Rant Thread

[kindlekitten]

oh, and still no water I am now told that Friday will probably be the soonest that we will have it.

[CRussel]

With the heat headed here this weekend you'll need it! I definitely hope they get you hooked back up before you get into the 30's.

[cromag]

We were without water for a week after the Halloween blizzard of 2011 and again after Sandy in 2012. Both were area-wide problems, so no water in any nearby stores (most nearby stores were closed for the duration, anyway) and no showers available at the local YMCAs. It stunk. (I stunk.)

Good luck!

And if you are interested in cooking something in a pan, I had good luck using disposable aluminum foil pie pans as liners.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

No, I don't mind at all, especially since this,has been especially mind opening for me. It is obvious that this is a location that we are going to have an earthquake not if but when and knowing that there are not emergency provisions for things like water in our county is very disturbing to me. I am very active with local politics and services so I find this extremely troubling and it has been very educational for me and I will continue to follow up on this.

Indeed--that is certainly one way to make lemonade, yadda, given your dreadful situation. I can't believe that you're sort of "on your own," especially in your neck of the woods, given the political climate (no, no, mods, worry not, not going there) where you reside. Out here, in AZ, we already know that if stuff goes to hell, it's the Klingon Rule of survival.

and oh yeah, it was hacking into the 401 K which is also disturbing because there are a lot of people that do not have that ability.

Aw, s**t. I hate that. My savings and I have been having a stare-down about needing a car. Both the cars work, but they're ancient. (As you can tell: I'm not a car person. It goes, car good. Car falls apart in driveway, car bad. That's my criterion for "might need a car.") We buy good quality cars, and we take care of them. And if it falls apart in the driveway before it's celebrated its second decade birthday, I feel positively cheated. Yes, I said DECADE. (Lord, they're only MACHINES, not family.) I was looking at cars the other day and realized I'd paid less for my first HOUSE than Dealer X was asking for a BLOODY CAR. That's ridiculous.

Anyway, back to survival kits: KK, when you've survived your own ordeal, I think you should look into why your area doesn't have what would seem to be prerequisite materials, supplies and resources for a local government. As you said, no, you're not likely to have an earthquake, but that's hardly the ONLY type of emergency that can occur! What about fires, and fire-related homelessness and damage, particularly where you are? Sheesh!

Hitch

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

The well driller is here, started yesterday

[kindlekitten]

In trying to sort this whole thing, in looking for emergency water I was referred to the next town for a shower. Really? Yeah it's broke

[covingtoncat73]

Well, I have been retaining fluid for going on two weeks now. I do have those issues but this is more than it should be, considering I have been taking my medication and been on-program with WW.

Actually, I haven't been as good with my thyroid medication than I should be. It could be my thyroid is off.

Anyway, I haven't been eating anything out of the ordinary and I've been drinking my water and eating watermelon and bananas. I was holding on to 2lbs of water. That is down to .8 of a lb but still.

I would call my primary and may still because it is time for my annual bloodwork but I don't think it would be any help with the fluid issue. They won't give me more diuretic because I'm 42 and they want to preserve my kidneys for the long haul. Fair enough.

I worry that maybe my heart is getting worse. My annual with my cardiologist isn't until Aug. 6 and I don't think I could get an earlier appointment. I have been feeling really tired and funky.

Of course, I am counting my points, getting in GHGs, etc. If I wasn't, I'd actually be less worried because I'd know my I was having a bit of fluid.

/Looks at ankles
//Sighs

[cromag]

Y'know, I really, REALLY hate having to be MacGyver within ten minutes of getting out of bed.

It was a pretty much typical day. I rolled out of bed five minutes before the alarm was set to go off, turned my cell phone on, and went into the little bathroom off the master bedroom (just big enough for a shower stall, a sink and a toilet). I shut the door behind me but didn't lock it. We never lock the bathroom doors when it's just family -- if the door is fully closed we know someone's in there.

As I ran the hot water in the shower stall my cell phone (on the other side of the door, in the bedroom) finished booting up and chimed. I recognized the chime as the text app we use to keep in touch with our daughter. She's taking a trip and I'd asked her to keep in touch. I decided to check the message before getting into the shower.

I turned the door knob. It turned easily in my hand. Really easily. Wa-aaa-ay too easily.

The bolt wasn't moving.

At. All.

The door was still securely shut.

I tried the lock button, just in case I'd set it accidentally. Nope. I tried putting tension on the set by pulling the knob and then turning it. Nope. Pushing the knob and then turning it. Nope. I tried pounding on it a few times. Nope.

The door was jammed shut and the bolt was stuck in the striker and I was locked inside, and that was that.

Removing a privacy set is pretty easy -- but all my tools were on the other side of the door. I could call for help -- but my cell phone was on the other side of the door.

My wife has been taking evening classes at a local university and spending a lot of time at the local library. The fact that I had been doing some serious pounding away at the door without a response from her wasn't promising.

I took a quick look at what I did have and decided that, if it was really an emergency, I could get through the door. I had a steel steel scraper in one of the drawers, left over from when I'd removed some wallpaper, and I could use it to break through the hollow core door, if I had to, but that would take a lot of time, make a real mess, and be a lot more expensive in the long run.

I tried calling my wife. After the third or fourth time I heard her answer. I finally conveyed to her the fact that I was trapped in the f***ing bathroom.

"Oh," she said. "I was wondering why you were making all that racket!"

(I took a deep, calming breath.)

She tried the knob from the other side. The bolt didn't move. Neither did the knob on the inside of the bathroom -- the interior mechanism was pretty obviously shot.

I told her where to find the heavy, flat bladed screwdriver and explained how to pull the pins out of the hinges. She eventually worked them out.

Even after pins were removed the door was pretty well jammed shut. The strike side has a slight bevel to it, but the hinge side is flat. And the bolt was still stuck in the striker plate. I pounded the top side free, but it was harder to pound at the lower hinge -- there wasn't much room between the toilet and the bottom of the door to position myself for a good swing. But, eventually, it popped out.

I'll be making an unanticipated trip to Home Depot this evening to pick up a new privacy set. And there's a small split in the door frame by the lower hinge, but I don't think it'll need much to cover it.

But first, I think I'll have a mug of tea.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by cromag

Y'know, I really, REALLY hate having to be MacGyver within ten minutes of getting out of bed....

Could have been worse. You could have been locked out of the bathroom.

[kindlekitten]

We just call them door knob sets here

[kindlekitten]

Still no water. Fortunately I'm a pretty darn good open fire cook so that's been ok. Breakfast has been fruit and nuts, healthy, missing my carbs though. I smell pretty bad, after I haul water for the garden and horses I'm not up for much else. I'm definitely bringing this up at the next town hall meeting. In theory it'll be fixed today. We're expecting record breaking heat. Sigh

[kindlekitten]

Oh, and haven't been sleeping. Stress

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Could have been worse. You could have been locked out of the bathroom.

LOL....that was my first thought, too! At least on the inside, you can use the "facilities," as they say. On the OTHER side of the door, though.... :-)

I agree, however...that would be one of those things that pre-coffee or tea or whatever morning libation one partakes in, would be really, really *&^%$-ing annoying.

Hitch

[kindlekitten]

I've had food poisoning since mid day Saturday. At first it was all exits no waiting with the vomiting being incredibly violent. I'm existing o on ginger ale and gatorade, but the latter almost makes it worse. I'm slowing down now but the tummy is still tender. I considered moving into the bathroom for awhile. Spent 3 days on a bathroom floor in Mexico once. That wasn't pretty.

[CRussel]

BTDT, not at all fun. Get better, KK