rolanni | In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen

This post intends to gather and answer questions asked in various corners of Teh Internets. If I've missed a question, remind me below and I'll do my humble best.

First, thanks so much for your concern and your willingness to help and to sacrifice your own things for us. Steve and I are touched. No, really. You guys are great.

But! Please don't send us your copies of our books -- not even your "extra" copies. There's no need. Yes, the authors' copies that were stored in the basement are pretty much pulp, but let me explain what I meant when I said "authors' copies."

Authors typically get between 10 and 30 copies of their own books, shipped from the printer upon publication. The number is formalized in the contract, and is part of the compensation due the author from the publisher. These are the books that were in the basement, and they are used for Good Deeds, mostly.

For instance, if someone writes to us (as has happened several times, now) looking for replacements for their books that were lost in a fire (or a flood, imagine), we replace the set from our authors' copies. We do this gratis; losing favorite books is awful, and insurance companies, at least in my experience, aren't that generous with payouts.

From the stash in the basement also come the books we send to auctions, donate to raffles, and give away in contests. Occasionally, when things are thin, we have sold some of those books in order to keep the cats in cat food -- which they tell us is also a Good Deed.

So, yes, a loss -- and the sight of dead books is something I find extremely distressing -- but a loss to the community, more than a loss to us personally. Steve has a full run of every book we've ever written on his office bookshelves. I have the same. There's a third set in the living room. We're good.

Handmade soap, on the other hand, I will gratefully receive, but! I'm tough to buy for. I don't like sweet smells -- no roses, or lily of the valley, or petunia. I'm partial to lavender, citrus, vanilla, sage... Since I live in Maine and the winters are drying, I also had soaps that were moisturizing. Know that I've gotten gift soaps before that my nose disagreed with; those soaps go to the Waterville Homeless Shelter.

Edited to add, thanks to djbp for the reminder: Address to send soap:

Sharon Lee
PO Box 1586
Waterville Maine 04903-1586

Thank you so very much for asking.

Um. . .No, we don't have a mud floor in the basement. It's a half-finished basement -- by which I mean that the side on the right-hand side of the stairs is paneled and carpeted, with built-in bookshelves and a woodstove; and the left-hand side of the stairs is naked concrete floor and sheetrock walls. The cat's room is there; the oil tank lives there, and beyond that is a small woodroom.

However! We currently have mud in the finished part of the basement, because the water in its coursing through the floors and the ceilings, picked up dust and. . .stuff, which it rained down onto the carpet, making it not only very, very wet, but slippery and dangerous underfoot.

. . .and I think that's all the questions. If I've forgotten yours, please ask again.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

User

kinzel referenced to your post from About the flood and other stuff ... (http://kinzel.livejournal.com/320549.html) saying: [...] news from Sharon re our water problem & house flooding: http://rolanni.livejournal.com/787353.html [...]

One unanswered question -- was this the newly renovated bathroom that took all the damage? (Or am I mis-remembering that bathroom work was to be done?)

Having also lived through a basement flood, I suggest for your consideration an inexpensive gadget, a water alarm -- think of it as being like a smoke detector, but for water. They run on batteries, require basically no installation (open package, insert battery, place detector, done!), and are cheap. One can be purchased at Lowe's for under $11.
{ http://www.lowes.com/pd_117272-84862-BWD-HWA_0__?productId=1005609 }

Most large hardware stores should have something similar -- I just refuse to shop at the Home Despot.

I never heard of a water alarm. What a useful gadget!

Regarding the bathroom remodeling -- we were going about that in pieces. The first piece was to remove the bathtub and replace it with an enclosed shower. We were holding off on the floor/vanity/new toilet/new wall treatment until we had accumulated ca$hmoney. *cue laugh track* Looks like we'll be moving that up, ca$h or no ca$h.

The bit that failed was a piece of...plastic tubing, encased in what looks like, no kidding, chainmail. And what happened is that the tubing split; the chainmail tore and water, she spurted everywhere.

Mike the plumber, who located the problem and fixed it, gave as his opinion that it had failed from nothing more nor less than age - I'm guessing it's original equipment -- and the house was built in 1970.

Did Mike check the other fixtures while he was there? That sounds like supply line, plastic in a braided metal housing -- it connects fixtures, like faucets, to pipes. If all of the supply line in the house is of the same age, you may want him to replace them all (such as the lines to the kitchen sink, toilet, etc). And if the lines to the clothes washer are also quite old, having them replaced at the same time is probably a good thing.

(The braided housing provides extra strength and protection to the plastic, but it means the plastic can't be directly inspected for signs of aging...)

There really wasn't any sense in having Mike stand around in ankle-deep water replacing tubing.

The drying treatment going on right now in the bathroom has the temperatures right at 102F/39C, so I pretty much expect that's the death knell for the various lines and hoses anyway. New lines all around is certainly on the refurb list.

I hope the adjustor's in a good mood when shehe comes by.

Truly, plumbers are under appreciated. I've had to call them out to deal with a break in a soil stack -- yes, that's as bad as it sounds -- and not a word of complaint, although the poor guy was much the worse for wear when he left.

Ask the cats to send good soothing happy vibes to the adjustor monday!

Steve had mentioned that you preferred to pick out your own soaps. For those of us who'd like to help, do you have a favorite store that has gift cards or something?

I've been getting my soaps at Barrel's down in Waterville, and the Farmer's Market. I'm not sure that either of them goes gift certificates.

You aren't obligated to send soap; I appreciate that you want to :)

You might want to check that you have a pressure regulator and it is set low enough. A pressure regulator reduces the water pressure from the utility so that your pipes do not burst. Occasionally, they go bad and the first sign is pipes bursting. The next time you have a plumber out, I encourage you to ask them to check this - it is on the main water line to the house.

I feel that a Whole Bunch of These Things are in our future. As soon as the drying equipment has done the best it can, and the adjustor has hisorher say, we're going to be replacing lines and hoses, and looking at all the regulating equipment on the well and elsewhere.

Right now, the temp in the bathroom stands at 102F. I have a feeling that just can't be good for old plastic tubing.

We have a well, so we are the utility. That was a lot of water to lose in them middle of the summer ....

Ahhh ....*nods in understanding while blushing in embarassment*

Bless you all.

How do you feel about almond and verbena? (Separately). I know a very good French verbena soap.

I've had lemon verbena which was very nice. And almond is yummy.

As far as 102 F heat, your hot water is at least that hot, so it shouldn't hurt them.
However, 30+ years probably have, so a change probably is worth the cost.
rigger

Very sorry to hear about your flood. yes, there is nothing better when a professional is needed to have a plumber show up and fix whateveritis. Glad you have sets of author's books upstairs. Hope the cat area will be completely dry soon. Socks is obviously learning to be a supervisor of all work on the house which could come in handy.

While I cannot quite offer hand-made soaps (ours require the assistance of several machines, along with much elbow-grease) I work for an artisinal soap company that offers either a very moisturizing natural transparent glycerin soap line or more traditional organic natural opaque bar soap lines. Please look at the website and let me know which varieties you'd like to try. www.beaumontproducts.com (Completely unscented versions are also available, made by my own hands just for you in the lab)

In another facility, we also make hospital-grade disinfectants, hand sanitizers and deodorants, (samples of which I would be happy to provide) should you and/or your household feel the need to sanitize the environment post-flood. Please let me know if you'd like some.

In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen

About the flood and other stuff ...

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Pressure Regulator

Re: Pressure Regulator

Re: Pressure Regulator

no subject

no subject

no subject

hot water

Floods, etc.

Soap