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February 26, 2004
All's Quiet On the Staircase
Too quiet, really.
The silence from this blog of late is, for the most part, due to a rather hectic job situation. I'm in the midst of a change-in-management which seems to be much for the good. But, as it is happening, I've gone from one boss to three, each attempting to get the lion's share (and, by that I mean the traditional sense, which is "all") of my time.
In the gaps, I've picked up some nifty new board games and, when time allows, will try to post some mini-reviews.
Posted by ghoul at 11:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 11, 2004
Chimney Story
And now, for those who want to see it, the photographic record of the Gulick Chimney Saga 2004...
First of all, here's the initial "problem", the cap that, thanks to deteriorated mortar, the wind was able to tear from my chimney.
Next, the chimney. From this angle, you can see the mortar that once held the cap in place, but not that the other 2 edges of the chimney actually lack this rim of mortar. And you can also see the lack of mortar between most of the bricks... it's all but just a stack of individual bricks.
And now, here comes the big basket truck of Crown Chimney!
They brought with them the new chimney liner, which you could see coiled above or here, all stretched out.
They lifted it up, tried to drop it down the chimney (all the while dodging the power or phone line that runs right in front of the house).
But, in the time since they cleaned out the chimney two weeks ago, enough brickwork inside had shifted to block their way, so they had to hoist a man up to inspect more closely than the basket allowed.
From that inspection, they were able to determine what they needed to clear up top, and proceeded to insert long rods from the basement up to the top, with which they knocked the obstructions clear (no photos of that, as it was quite dark in the chimney while blocked and uninteresting once unblocked). Then it was back up again.
This time, the insertion worked almost without a hitch!
All that was left was trimming the excess length and putting on a temporary cap.
And now, until it is warm enough so mortar will set properly, we wait. Bricks may fall loose in high winds, but the chimney itself is now safe. Come spring, the exposed portion will be torn down and re-built.
And then I can start looking for someone to reshingle the roof.
Posted by ghoul at 05:30 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 06, 2004
Improvements in the Chaos
Well, actually, work is pretty much completely crazy just now, so maybe it's just a transfer of chaos.
Still, the whole chimney thing is turning out OK... Homeowners insurance looked at it, decided they wouldn't cover anything but the cosmetic damage -- costing about 1/3rd as much to fix as the real problem... and, of course, both need fixing.
Then they delivered their estimate for the cosmetic repairs, which came in at slightly over 70% of the total repair... including the 75% of it that they "aren't covering".
Happy, happy me!
Now I just need to get the repairs done (scheduled for next Wednesday if parts arrive and weather cooperates) and maybe get work calmed down enough to let me finish my first RPG setting document (which I'll work on some this weekend, but mostly I'll watch DVDs to de-tox from very stressful times in the office).
Not much blogging while I do that.
Posted by ghoul at 06:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack