As the Dust Settles and the Waters Recede...

Getting away from the noise, clutter, and dust, of the water soaked southern part of the house, as the water evaporates and the dust flies is always a good thing....and despite the number of games on tap for this week, I am grateful for the time out of the house....with the wind machines drying the floor, kitchen, and basement, the Nationwide Adjuster was here this morning, and cut our first check...this for the cost of the floor in the Kitchen, and the sub insulation.  There is more to come, and more we still are not sure of....because the damage, in total, has not been determined.  We continue to dry the hardwood in the living/TV area, the basement is drying well, but the crawl area under the kitchen floor is still in the process of drying out, and not quite ready.  Meaning, we will be with the noise, dust, and pain in the ass of the continued process of getting the house, and our lives, back to "normal"...

So getting away to Rockford for a Junior ACME game last night was indeed a good thing.  I got to work with one of our young umpires from up Defiance way, one of the new umps using our Mentor/Mentee program.  Putting Jacob behind the plate, I soon enough found out that he was ready, well ahead of his time.  If he stays with it, being only 19 years old, he will make a outstanding umpire down the road....he is better than many that I work with, with many years more experience, than he has.  I have no problem pointing him out to league assigners and athletic directors as a quality official(who also works basketball), who is ready for varsity assignments.

Tonight and again tomorrow, I will be working double headers...first at Lima Central Catholic, and tomorrow with Sam here in Celina....not a big double header fan these days, but with cooler temperatures, and a chance to get away from the noise, and dust....it's not all that bad.  Friday night I'm at Crestview, then Saturday morning, Sam and I work another double header, in another round robin format here in Celina...that might not be so "enjoyable", with 90 degrees on the forecast sheet.

There you have my life....noise, dust, baseball, and helping Patricia decide what kind of kitchen floor to replace with....it will be different for sure, and like the drying out, it's still a work in progress.

back later>>>>

Photos-Usually things are never as bad as they first seem....in this case, I am saying just the opposite..When we first walked in on this mess, I thought to myself "OK, this is bad, but not really something that will distract from our daily lives...boy, was I wrong on that count...still, however, it could be much worse, and for that I am thankful.(1)  The 57 years of flooring in the kitchen, for the most part, is gone, the drying continues, and do the plans for the new floor, and changes to be made. (2) The basement, which basically is a wash room, food storage cellar, and my personal weight room, antique room, and shower area, has never been pretty...the damage there, while it may look pretty awful, is really not a big deal, at least at this point in time.(3) The biggest question will be...can the TV room hard wood, 90 years old and restored in 2005 be saved?  Will it need sanded and sealed, or will some of it need replaced?  That may take a month or longer to figure out....after the initial drying takes place.