Quite a storm

[james]

We landed the day the big storm hit California. It had blown over by the time we arrived, and we even were able to land in SFO, but the Del Monte forrest is a disaster. Trees down everywhere, no power, no Internet -- what a zoo.

Our neighbors trees fell -- one hit the garage next door, and the other hit our fence. Crunch. Oh well, I didn't like the fence very much anyway. :-)

So, we're without Internet for the foreseeable future; though we have a backup generator, so we have power. Jetlag, house under construction, and powerlines on the ground everywhere. Now that's pretty weird.

More to come, but Happy New Year all!

James

[brokencookie]

Re: Quite a storm

Look on the bright side -
Fallen trees = more wood for the pizza oven
Crushed fence = kindling
No power - an excuse to use a WFO

[gjbingham]

Re: Quite a storm

James,
I didn't hear where you went. Vacation/work combined? Any great experiences?

[CanuckJim]

Re: Quite a storm

James,

I really hope the worst is over for northern California, Nevada and the Pacific Northwest. What shows on the news is not heartening. If it's any solice, on the night of the 23rd of December we had a combination ice and wind storm that toppled a fifty foot tree at the back of my property. It fell, dead center, on the roof of my car (totalled). To make matter worse, it was an old spruce, only good for kindling. Rats.

Jim

[jengineer]

Re: Quite a storm

and making airplanes

[Acoma]

Re: Quite a storm

Jim, did insurance tell you the car is not covered under Old Spruce trees falling on it? If it was Oak, or other, well then......
Ever seen that commercial?

[RTflorida]

Re: Quite a storm

Jim, thats incredible. It amazes me everytime I see or hear a story like this.
Why that tree? Why did it fall precisely in that direction?.....I guess fate has determined that you need a new car......sure hope you don't have one of the above mentioned "Ficus" insurance policies. On the bright side - it wasn't your house, and I am assuming no one was hurt.

Almost forgot, I have a new (used one time) chainsaw; seems like you may need it.

RT

[CanuckJim]

Re: Quite a storm

RT,

I've got a ten year old Husqavarna that runs like a top. It has felled many, many trees, bucked lots of firewood and cut up literally tons of WFO wood. Problem with junky stuff like spruce and cedar is that they might be softwoods, but they are also silicates, so it's cut for twenty minutes, sharpen chain for ten. What a supreme drag for just about zero BTUs.

Jim

[sarah h]

Re: Quite a storm

Sorry to hear about your car but glad the tree missed people, house and oven!
Have fun with the chainsaw - at least it's not 30 below while you're out there.

Sarah

[gjbingham]

Re: Quite a storm

Wow, Jim. Crazy story. Sorry to hear about your car. Is is safe to park there now (with your next car) that the tree is down.

I had a friend who's house was hit by lightning. He fried all his electronics in the house. Two years later, it got hit by lightning again and burned to the ground. My recommendation: If there's other trees close-by, park somewhere else. I thought lightning never struck twice in the same place....

You lost me on the silicates comments. Silicone in trees? Are they doing bark augmentations now?

G.

[james]

Re: Quite a storm

Trees....

We just got the Internet back, but the power is still down. Of course we have a 40' pine tree laying across the road, the power lines, our fence and our side garden. :-)

As Jim says, it won't even make good wood for our WFO. :-(

The trees fell on Friday, and it's now Tues PM; and they're still cleaning up, and the power is still down. At least we're back on line.

Along with family holidays, we had one new experience. We took the Chunnel from London to Paris from the new station in San Pancras. The train was fast (London to Paris in a couple of hours), though the station was packed with us travellers. That and the: taxi, ferry, train, tube, tube, train and taxi that took us from "door-to-door" made it quite an adventure. It was a new spin on "trains, planes and automobiles."

Still, Paris looked great.

I've never admitted this before, but my wife's birthday is Dec 30th, and our oldest daughter's birthday is Dec 31st. It's always a great time of year. But now, we're back -- and the Internet is working.

Auguri e buon anno.
James

[gjbingham]

Re: Quite a storm

Sounds like a great trip. I did the bullet train from Paris to Marselleille many years ago. How cool...... the landscape is just a blur outside the train.

Glad to hear you and your family survived the storm intact.

[CanuckJim]

Re: Quite a storm

George,

There's nothing left back there big enough to cause a problem, so I'll be fine. Essentially, trees termed as silicates actually suck silicate material (sand in particular) out of ground water. If you look closely at woods like black walnut or elm, you can see shiny spots of silica (glass) in the fibers. That's what dulls the chain. White cedar is a major offender in this area: though a soft wood, it's very tough on sharp chains.

Jim

[jwnorris]

Re: Quite a storm

Essentially, trees termed as silicates actually suck silicate material (sand in particular) out of ground water. If you look closely at woods like black walnut or elm, you can see shiny spots of silica (glass) in the fibers. That's what dulls the chain. White cedar is a major offender in this area: though a soft wood, it's very tough on sharp chains.

I am amazed at the breadth of knowledge coming out of this forum and what I learn from it everyday.

J W

[girdhar]

Re: Quite a storm

Look on the bright side -
Fallen trees = more wood for the pizza oven
Crushed fence = kindling
No power - an excuse to use a WFO

Hi, Broken Cookies , what a funny way to think positively on the eve of new year ,made me to smile. thank you.