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Incommunicado
Sep. 17th, 2017 10:35 amHi!
So we made it through Irma. The power went out Monday morning at 12:20 and we ran on generators until Thursday evening. The big one could be fired up to run the well pump and the little one handled the house. Fans and lights, no AC, we could still run the coffee maker, microwave, etc, just be careful not to do it all at once. We had some branches down, and a little damage to the rear deck roof but that was it.
Until the wind gusts finally made our radio tower rock so much it pulled two anchors out of the ground and toppled over. So no more internets.
Fox tracked down some replacement sections - they're rohn 20 which is lighter than the rohn 25 most of the tower is built from, but we put them at the very top. The main difference is the 25 will allow you to build a 400 foot tower, while the 20 will "only" get you a 200 foot tower. As our is just 110 feet it isn't a big deal either way. But we borrowed a jin pole (a very simple crane-type tool) and it took us a day and a half but we got it rebuilt.
Fox did the worst of the work on the tower, guiding the pieces into place and bolting everything on. I was Johnny On The Spot on the ground, sending supplies up by pulley, and using the tractor to lift the sections up to him. Each one is about forty pounds, which I can lift, but I could not repeatedly haul that far up in the air reliably.
Fox is currently out buying supplies to start mounting the weather-proof boxes for all the electrical components and switches 'n shit. The tower only has our internet radio on it right now, we'll get the rest of the receivers and antennae and all that good stuff up later.
The 10k trail run I signed up for next week is still on! They emailed me and everything is still go. The 5k beach run, which Fox is doing, is the same, but the 10k has been rerouted due to hurricane damage. They're happening on Anastasia Island, off St. Augustine and in the state park. I was sort of hoping the routes would be the same for a while at least, so he and I could run together, but now I don't know where we're all going. More reason to put some speed on and get across the finish line faster! Plus we're considering an IHOP run afterwards, because breakfast is awesome.
Anyway, it's nice to be back in the 21st century.
I'm doing a 14-mile long run today on the treadmill. If I'd gotten up and out around five I could have done it outside, but I don't have a can of mace yet. I'll be picking that up this week, along with a small cooler to make my own water stop. I'm planning for long runs to just circle Villa Nueva/315/Traiwick multiple times, instead of out and back. That way I can leave a cooler of water and energy gels stashed at the beginning of the loop and I'm not trying to carry all that stuff with me. And between stress eating, not getting a lot of sleep, and being unable to get out and exercise, I put on almost five pounds. Meh. Not the worst weight setback but annoying.
Middleburg actually had some significant flooding - Black Creek backed up and came across Blanding Boulevard, and up into some of the parking lots. A lot of the businesses and buildings in that particular area are built on hills, apparently in case of flooding like this. It's dried out now, but Black Creek is still very high. I'm heading back out Tuesday like normal but I don't plan to go much of anywhere except my "usual" errand stops. That is, I'm not going all the way out to Jacksonville, though I may go up to Jo-Ann's to see what Halloween junk they have.
I'll get back on here later and catch up, but hopefully you and yours got through the storm all right! I'm going to suit up and get my ass on the treadmill. Miles don't run themselves. It would be weird if they did.
So we made it through Irma. The power went out Monday morning at 12:20 and we ran on generators until Thursday evening. The big one could be fired up to run the well pump and the little one handled the house. Fans and lights, no AC, we could still run the coffee maker, microwave, etc, just be careful not to do it all at once. We had some branches down, and a little damage to the rear deck roof but that was it.
Until the wind gusts finally made our radio tower rock so much it pulled two anchors out of the ground and toppled over. So no more internets.
Fox tracked down some replacement sections - they're rohn 20 which is lighter than the rohn 25 most of the tower is built from, but we put them at the very top. The main difference is the 25 will allow you to build a 400 foot tower, while the 20 will "only" get you a 200 foot tower. As our is just 110 feet it isn't a big deal either way. But we borrowed a jin pole (a very simple crane-type tool) and it took us a day and a half but we got it rebuilt.
Fox did the worst of the work on the tower, guiding the pieces into place and bolting everything on. I was Johnny On The Spot on the ground, sending supplies up by pulley, and using the tractor to lift the sections up to him. Each one is about forty pounds, which I can lift, but I could not repeatedly haul that far up in the air reliably.
Fox is currently out buying supplies to start mounting the weather-proof boxes for all the electrical components and switches 'n shit. The tower only has our internet radio on it right now, we'll get the rest of the receivers and antennae and all that good stuff up later.
The 10k trail run I signed up for next week is still on! They emailed me and everything is still go. The 5k beach run, which Fox is doing, is the same, but the 10k has been rerouted due to hurricane damage. They're happening on Anastasia Island, off St. Augustine and in the state park. I was sort of hoping the routes would be the same for a while at least, so he and I could run together, but now I don't know where we're all going. More reason to put some speed on and get across the finish line faster! Plus we're considering an IHOP run afterwards, because breakfast is awesome.
Anyway, it's nice to be back in the 21st century.
I'm doing a 14-mile long run today on the treadmill. If I'd gotten up and out around five I could have done it outside, but I don't have a can of mace yet. I'll be picking that up this week, along with a small cooler to make my own water stop. I'm planning for long runs to just circle Villa Nueva/315/Traiwick multiple times, instead of out and back. That way I can leave a cooler of water and energy gels stashed at the beginning of the loop and I'm not trying to carry all that stuff with me. And between stress eating, not getting a lot of sleep, and being unable to get out and exercise, I put on almost five pounds. Meh. Not the worst weight setback but annoying.
Middleburg actually had some significant flooding - Black Creek backed up and came across Blanding Boulevard, and up into some of the parking lots. A lot of the businesses and buildings in that particular area are built on hills, apparently in case of flooding like this. It's dried out now, but Black Creek is still very high. I'm heading back out Tuesday like normal but I don't plan to go much of anywhere except my "usual" errand stops. That is, I'm not going all the way out to Jacksonville, though I may go up to Jo-Ann's to see what Halloween junk they have.
I'll get back on here later and catch up, but hopefully you and yours got through the storm all right! I'm going to suit up and get my ass on the treadmill. Miles don't run themselves. It would be weird if they did.
