the results are in

So, we got maybe four to six inches here, depending on where you are standing.  Some places are bare, some have a foot or so of drift.  We get a lot of wind action.  Aside from the plow-in from having the street cleared, I had very little between my car and the street that needed to be shoveled.  Besides, it's supposed to be 47F by Wednesday, so at some point the solar snow shovel takes over.

Some high surf this morning, I got a picture from my upstairs window. Since the stairs over the wall are gone, there's no way to get on the beach without putting out a major effort, which I'm not in the mood to do at the moment.  Here's the vista:

Can't tell from here how much beach there is today, just that the waves are kind of rough.  I'm  mildly surprised there are no surfers out there (yet).

The stop sign is still hanging on, the no outlet sign is buried under a snow drift.  At least the front steps (and a path through the lawn) are clear for the postman, while we still have delivery on Saturdays.  So I'll get my usual supply of catalogs and credit card offers.  And life goes on.

bedtime, and not much snow here yet

What we've gotten is crunchy, and not too much of it, so far.  We'll see what happens over night.  They're still promising 4-6 inches at the shore.  It's not doing much of anything outside at the moment.

Meanwhile, here's what the wind did this afternoon to "my" street signs:

 

The one laying on the ground says "no outlet," which is how I feel a lot of the time, living here.  The stop sign, as you can see, is trying to escape.  I just checked again, and it's still hanging on by a thread or two.

These are new signs since Sandy.  The old ones left us in that storm.  In fact, the post they are or were attached to is new, also. 

Meanwhile, here's how Pablo spent most of the day:

That's the new afghan his Grandma made for him.  He's not a Chihuahua, he's an Afghan Hound....

 

Crunchy snow just starting

We're just starting to get some snow here, and it's chunky, crunchy stuff.  Pablo is not pleased, but he did an honorable job of taking a piss under the back deck, then ran back indoors doubletime.

They're saying we are on the 6 inch line, expecting most of the damage overnight.  Glad I didn't try to go to work today.  Glad I got in a short nap this afternoon.  Glad I have a lot of music to listen to.  Hope the power stays on for the duration.  Fingers crossed.

Going to make a pot of chicken soup.  I hear it's good for the soul, among other parts.

Nemo, or why does weather have to have names?

Nemo is a ridiculous name for a weather system.  Are we naming everything now so people can feel more victimized by it on a personal level?  If it's anonymous weather, we don't take it so personally? 

It's a Republican plot.  Used to be a Communist plot, but we gave up on those guys as the cause of all our troubles a while back.  Maybe it's a CIA plot.  Or a North Korean plot.  Or a Chinese plot.  The new world order.

Whose-ever plot it might be, it's 40-something degrees here, so no snow happening.  Lots of wind, and rain.  Wundermap looks like the snowy part is going to slide on north of us.  (Our front actually doesn't have a name, it's the snowy part that they're calling Nemo.)  One front keeping the other at bay.  Actually, north-west of the bay, if you want to get geographically technical.

You can tell how many residents we don't have living here at the moment.  The "Code Red" call a little while ago advised residents to "secure your debris" and "ask your contractors to secure their work sites" because of the potential for the river coming up at high tide this evening.  Nothing about danger to the residents.  Nobody cares much about us these days.  Especially not the insurance companies.

I think I'll go out and tether the camels.  We're self-help, in my neighborhood.

Reporting from the top of the hill in Sea Bright, NJ.

Clydesdale barrel racing

 

Not quite as fast or agile as one might wish, but it can be done.

thought for today (and every day)

A couple of things of note

One.  I found another Pablo look-alike:

 

Pablo would not wear a hat, tho.  He doesn't like his ears to be covered.

Two.   This one made me really laugh, which felt good:

Those of you who know me will understand why this is so funny (at least I think you will).

Three.  There's something about animals (other than the human type) wearing clothes:

 

I'm very happy to not be the one who has to get these shetland ponies into and out of their shetland sweaters.   I have enough trouble with Pablo's LL Bean field coat.  Great job of knitting these to fit, though!

Four.  The river is a bit icy this week, tho I think it's starting to melt, it's a bit warmer now than it has been:

Considering this is salt water, I don't quite get how it manages to ice over.  The ice comes and goes with the tide.  It's been several years since it's been cold enough for this to happen, I think it's only gone to solid ice once (I'm thinking it was 2002 or so) since I've lived here, which is since 1998.  

I think the part that gets to me is, it reminds me of the scene in Pikovaya Dama when Gherman doesn't show up as expected (or doesn't recognize her once he does arrive) and Liza kills herself by jumping into the river - some production I saw somewhere looked kind of like this, but maybe with more ice. 

loooooong week

This has been an extraordinarily long week, and it's only Thursday night.  One more day of doing puzzles for profit, then two days of getting my ceiling banged into place, followed by another day of interviewing contractors for things like garage doors.  And oh, yes, the structural engineer who I really could have liked to talk to two months ago is coming on Monday to tell me noone but me is going to pay for the roof that failed miserably in the hurricane.  Oh, excuse me.  SuperStorm.

In their great lack of wisdom, the homeowners' insurance company decided, without informing me of the fact, that I need a structural engineer to examine my broken roof.  Nice idea, except, since it's been raining every other day since Sandy, and that rain has been encroaching severely on my living space due to the roof not doing its job anymore, I had the freaking roof replaced.  Scroll down a bit, I think they finished a couple of weeks ago.  Dry as a bone in here since then.

So said structural engineer is coming to look at something which no longer exists.  Don't you love farce?  My fault, I fear.  I thought that you told me to replace the damned roof (again), my dear.  Good idea to get it done before the incoming weather ruined the floor and walls and anything else under its porous covering.  Had I waited, my claim might have been much, much more.

My main aim in life at the moment is to keep my living space, poor as it is, in liveable condition, and avoid additional damage to same, while maintaining some semblance of sanity, and working full time at a job that is a two hour commute (one way) from home.  Sending me a structural engineer to entertain with tales of two roofs at this late date does not help me accomplish my goals.

Penalty points off the score for the insurance company.  Flood insurer is winning at the moment in the helpfulness department.  And actually, car insurer wins the contest hands down, that deal is done and closed long ago.  I wish they could insure my house, too.

anybody got a gospel choir handy?

I need them to sing the chorus parts for me today:

The roof is done!  - Hallalujah!

The materials for the living room ceiling (including insulation) are being delivered tomorrow!  - Hallalujah!

I actually got to work three consecutive days this week!  - Hallalujah!

Not to mention, the sun is out, it's not bone-shattering cold outside, the wind has died down, and Pablo and I had a nice walk on the beach today!  - Hallelujah!

We may be on a roll here!  - Hallelujah!

Thoughts on the new year and the one ended

I suppose the world expects to hear something about how great 2012 was, and what my hopes are for 2013.  I've been chewing over this for a while, and while it's still not digested, I can safely make a couple of statements at this point.

1.  2012 was a pretty good year, all in all, if you leave off everything from 29 October onwards, which was sheer living hell.  Funny how those last couple of months cast a very very black shadow on the entire year.

2.  2013 ought to be better, since I suspect it will be hard pressed to be worse (again, those last two months of 2012 really muck up the stats for the year).

Do I have any "resolutions" for the new year?  Generally speaking, no.  What might normally sound like a resolution in my case is more like a hope, as in I hope life can more or less get back to normal (real normal, not the much acclaimed "new normal").  I hope to be able to forge ahead with getting this place back into some sort of liveable condition, with the longer range goal of getting it in shape to put on the market, so I can go live anywhere else, so long as the new place feels safe, which this one does not.  I'm not sure it is inherently unsafe, it just feels that way to me.  Of course, my view is colored by my PTSD, which is raging in full bloom.

I hope that once my COBRA is in place (wasted the whole day yesterday trying to get it set up), I can go to some sort of head doc and get some chemicals to help with the PTSD, since in the US there is no longer anyone who does talk therapy, mainly because the health care system frowns on that sort of thing, and generally won't pay for it.  This too shall pass, I know, but I could appreciate a bit of help with it now and again.

I hope to get in a lot of opera in 2013.  I would like to go to Europe for some of it, but that is highly unlikely at the moment, and now is when I need to be acquiring event tickets and such, so it probably won't happen.  I can stick to the US, and maybe explore some new venues, since I have friends in the business who are literally all over the place these days. 

I hope to be able to get to work on a regular basis.  Being stuck at home freezing to death indoors and waiting for various contractors who keep not showing up is not helping with the PTSD.  I'd much rather be doing something productive. 

I hope everyone I know had a better 2012 than I did, and will have a wonderful 2013.