Damn. As I write this, our roof is being removed by the shovelful. The raining debris and house-shaking noise evokes the excitement/terror of a natural disaster — I don’t know whether to weep or yell, yee-haw! (I’m inclined toward the latter.) The crew seems to be a conscientious bunch. They thoughfully moved items they knew would be in the way (a task that was our responsibility), though the hedge which flanks our house has been dinged by falling debris (that debris is now being redirected). It turns out that we have 4 layers on our roof. 4. That means that the weight of the debris is 30% more than anticipated. No small thing. Oh, and by the way:

Re-Roofing - FHA will accept a maximum of 3 layers of existing roofing. If more than 2 layers exist and repair is necessary, then all old roofing must be removed as part of the re-roofing. (4905.1 REV-1, 2-12)

http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/ref/sfhp1-24.cfm

I’m sure more house secrets will be revealed as the work progresses.

I made this little quicktime movie of some of the debris falling action. I apologize that, without thinking, I shot it at a 90 degree angle and I don’t think one can rotate movie clips (at least not in my software). Ah, well — it just adds to the the tension.

Butchie had an unpleasant trip to the vet on Friday and has spent the last couple of days recuperating. The experience put me a bit on edge as vet stuff in general still reminds me of Bongo’s last days. I’ll be able to relax once Butchie seems to be back to her old self. She has strange shaved and bruised patches all over and, for a while, the subcutaneous hydration caused one of her front paws to swell to twice its normal size. It looked like she was wearing a catcher’s mitt — comical in retrospect. After two days of rest she is still walking a little strangely, but seems to be making steady progress. She underwent a battery of procedures and tests — teeth cleaning, blood tests, x-rays, etc. — that required the use of general and local anesthesia in addition to pain medication afterward. All were administered in the name of setting a baseline for her entry into her senior years. The x-ray revealed a bit of arthritis in her spine near her tail, so we now know to keep an eye out for any behavior that might suggest she is in pain. We have arthritis medicine that we are holding in reserve until it seems necessary — her other health concern is liver-related, so we don’t want to overdo the administration of any medicine that might tax her liver. The vet diagnosed her simply as “old cat”, so that was a relief after her sister’s bizarre problems. I can’t help feeling a little over-protective of Butch, now.

Mr. Slakethirst and I met with a color consultant on Wednesday and picked a new roof color for the house. It sounds much less exciting than it is. We chose “Heather Blend” — a subtly shaded, warm-hued shingle, predominantly golden but with flecks of cool green. Exterior paint color consulting won’t happen until next spring. By that time, the new roof will be installed and the weather will hopefully be good enough to practically consider painting. I’m a little sad that the fun part — the paint choosing part — has been put off for a few months but oh, well.

I have had one minor issue with the roofing company, so far. Our house color consultant required shingle samples so we could look at the different color choices in our particular exterior environment. When I requested samples from the roofers, I got the sense that my request was highly unusual, above and beyond. Not only would they not supply samples, but they didn’t even suggest that such a thing was a possibility. I was told again about their display out in Gresham, which I had already seen — it was helpful at the time, but their open parking lot did not exactly mimic the more sylvan setting of our house. I called Mary McMurray, the color consultant, in a panic and she suggested some roofing supply places that I could check out. I did some running around and gathered shingle swatches from a couple places and found that there are whole sample boards put together by the roofing company for precisely this purpose — ABC Supply happily handed over numerous sample boards (even though they were running low) and Dealers Supply handed over whole shingles as if it was the most usual thing in the world. Needless to say, I’m a little annoyed by our roofers. I completely intend on telling them that this is a need they need to accommodate in some way, but I’ll save that for the end-of-project evaluation. Maybe their usual customers don’t request this? Hm hm hm.

This website is viewable only by registered users. Fortunately, my membership roster is not exclusive. Having met me is a good part of the admission requirement. This way I’m able to quell my ambivalence about my natterings begin open to the entire world and still natter on with abandon. Welcome, friends!

Update: Okay, make that *some* of the content will only be viewed by registered viewers. My better half (who is simultaneously more anonymous and more public with his site) has convinced me that a non-public web log is a downer and counter to the spirit of the web. I guess I’ll take his word for it. Now I have to make the decision about what will be public and what will be private — eh — something I was hoping to get around. It’s not that I have anything to hide mind you.

This old-school web jest made my day.

Web 1.0 - 2005 - San Francisco
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