Our plane was three hours late leaving Kona on Thursday June 5th, so we arrived at O'Hare around 8 am June 6th, got picked up by our limo service, and got to our home at 10 am. Once we'd taken off, the flight wasn't too bad, but there was quite a bit of turbulence, especially the last hour and a half. This of course was due to weather conditions and high winds. We knew there had been storms going on the day and night before, and that they were going to continue... but it wasn't too bad when we were first picked up. About 85 degrees, though, and very humid!
As soon as we got here, Mary went to the kennel to pick up Violet and Tulip, who were overjoyed to see us. Meanwhile, I collected a very large dead squirrel that was floating in the pool. First time we've ever had a squirrel drown in it. We've had mice and rabbits, but not squirrels!
All our plants and trees seem to have been on overgrowth while we were away. Everything is just huge, including the weeds! Some men we'd hired to spread new wood chips in the yard arrived, and started working away. Meanwhile, we started getting weather watches and warnings... for thunderstorms, rain, and tornados! Eventually the sirens started screaming, which means GO TO THE BASEMENT, but these guys spreading chips didn't seem alarmed, so we didn't rush below. I looked out the window and saw a funnel coming down from a cloud, but it was a distance away. Later, I saw a picture, only closer, of that exact same cloud on the news!
There was lots of wind, and lightning and thunder, but not too much rain for us, although nearby areas did get plenty. The pool solar cover kept blowing off, and I knew it was because it was too big -- it's new, just had it installed before we left, but they didn't trim it enough. So after four attempts to keep the cover on, I got out the scissors and trimmed, and that was the end of the problem.
By late afternoon it was stifling inside the house, so Mary trimmed the rhubarb away from the a/c outside, we made sure the vents were opened, and I flipped the switch to COOL. It did cool, and it felt great... until Mary went upstairs and noted water dripping from an interior doorway! Dripping heavily! I realized it had to be the condenser of the a/c, which is in the attic, and no place either of us wants to crawl to! I turned off the a/c, and sure enough, the dripping stopped. When I thought about it, I figured that the condenser must have somehow become detached from the tube that drains it. In the morning, I called up our heating and a/c people right away, and of course, since it was Saturday, any work they did would be categorized 'emergency' with a minimum charge of $275 per hour. We decided we could wait until Monday, even though the heat and humidty is oppressive. However, it could be worse!
Oh, at work the day before, two people had walked off the job at Emily's workplace -- she didn't know why -- and so she had to go in on this Saturday morning, so she'd called and asked if we could watch her two kids for the morning. So, that's what we did, and as soon as she'd retrieved them, we went outside and threw the Aquabot into the pool to clean it up. By that time, they were forecasting heavy rains, horrendous thunder and lightning, flash floods, regular floods, and once again, tornados! We were a little reluctant to run the Aquabot, but it wasn't raining yet, so we went ahead and did it, getting it mostly clean, but eventually having to yank it out fast and take the electronic programmer for it into the house so it didn't get wet.
The rest of the day was as I said above, a nightmare. We had to go out and pump down the pool three times to keep it from overflowing. I would say we got about 7 inches of rain in 12 hours. Rain came down as hard as it could, one of our small trees was totally blown over and even though a window well to the basement was covered, the water got in anyway and came down the wall like a waterfall. This happened while we were in the basement waiting for tornados to pass over. One did literally pass right over us, and the city of Milwaukee as well, but it didn't drop to the ground. There were a lot of tornados in areas around us, though, that did drop down. Once the tornado alert was over, then the hard rains began again, and flooding everywhere. We haven't tried to drive anywhere since we got home, due to these conditions. They expect this to go on until Wednesday! So far today we've had once violent thunder storm with very heavy rain, but it didn't last too long and only amounted to about an inch. But, the day is not done!
Well, I've got to go. I'm sitting here sweating without our a/c and can't stand it. Have to go to one of our rooms with ceiling fans. If absolutely necessary, I am thinking that we can go to a nearby hotel for less than $275, lol. But, hopefully, it wouldn't be without power... about 11,000 people are without power at the moment, fortunately not us! Later!
2 comments:
Mary wasn't kidding when she said you were having horrible weather. Heavy rain and heat sound like a terrible combination--one I can hardly imagine. Rain here is almost always cool, even in the summer. And the tornado scares do sound terrible. I recall be terrified of tornados when we visited my grandmother in Mississippi.
Plus all the mess with the pool cover and all the pumping our the extra rain water. I hope spring reappears soon! (or maybe this is spring weather!)
Sunshine to you!!
Wat a weather horror Diane. I have trouble dealing with dead animals - squeamish - so the dead squirell in the pool stands out as the worst fr me. I do hop e by now air conditioning repair people have come at a more reasonable Monday rate and you are at least comfortable heat wise.
Post a Comment