Category: Burningbird

Categories
Just Shelley

Sewer problems

Long time buddies know about the issues we’ve had with the sewer connection.

We’re connected to the head of a gravity main. Unfortunately, the town next door has a force main that dumps into the gravity main at the same spot. Our lateral sewer connection is sufficient but shallow, especially when the force main pumps into the gravity main.

When we get rain, we can’t flush because the force main discharge backs up into our plumbing.

When we replaced a shower a while back, the plumbers didn’t know about this, and when they cut the connection, we got discharge all over the basement walls. Luckily, insurance covered that.

The Water District 2 folks have been in the process of moving their force main to another discharge location, a much larger and more capable gravity main. This has been in the works for six whole damn years.

But they keep running into bad construction companies, and the town that has the new gravity main keeps pushing the project back. Not until November of 2019 now.

Last night it rained. Not an especially large amount of rain. But when the force main hit today, it actually shook the house, backed up into one shower, and blew out the wax seal on one of the toilets.

That we’re not happy is a given. I think it’s time for me to get a lawyer.

Categories
Just Shelley Weather

Climate change and sewers

By my rain gauge yesterday, we had 3.98 inches of rain, and that’s not accounting for what fell after Midnight.

We’ve had heavy rains before, but this one seemed to be a particular problem in the O’Fallon area.

Last night we tried to flush our toilets, and they weren’t going anywhere. The seal on one was leaking (good thing we hadn’t fixed the drywall under those pipes yet). We called a plumber.

Poor guy came out, popped the top on the clean out, and up came sewer water.

He could run a camera, but we all thought the issue was the main was over-taxed with the rain, and our sewage just couldn’t enter the flow. Our system is over-taxed anyway, because one town’s force main dumps into our gravity main, at the manhole in my neighbor’s yard.

Anyway, I got my wish this AM: we could flush again. I’ll still need the plumber to come back, replace the O ring on one toilet, just in case.

Everyone keeps saying the same thing: they’ve never seen weather like this before. Not during the summer, not this fall.
Welcome to climate change.

Categories
Writing

Writing alone can set you free

Not long ago, I received an email from a person praising one of my writings. He wanted me to know, however, that he doesn’t take sites like mine seriously because it’s a personal web site, and therefore, not credible. Because my site lacked credibility, he didn’t feel he could share the writing with others.

I was reminded of the email when I read PZ Myer’s posting today, notifying his readers that Anjuli Pandavar is no longer part of his network. PZ Myers and the other members of the Freethought Blogs are fully within their rights to remove a writer. If the writer posts pieces that violate the premise behind the site (I’ve read a few of her works at the Wayback Machine, and they surely do), it’s a good idea to remove the person rather than muddy the waters in which all of them swim. The New York Times may choose to play the all-inclusive game, most smaller sites cannot.

Still, it is a good reminder of why I now write solely in my own sites. It may get quiet around here, my sites aren’t always the most active or my writings frequently shared, and some people may question my credibility, but no one can kick me out or tell me what to write.

There are also no expectations with sites like mine. Since 1996, I’ve written about the Loch Ness Monster, the semantic web, environmental legal cases, the HTML5 standards process, animal welfare, photography and web graphics, sexism, JavaScript/Node, and now, Trump, with his miserable excuse for a White House. Oh, and RDF (Resource Description Framework).

RDF and Trump. Probably not a combination of words you would ever expect to read in your lifetime.

My only consistency in what I write is … well, none, really.

 

 

Categories
Just Shelley

Bubbling pipes

The sewer district system engineer is coming out this morning.

It isn’t normal to have the problems we’re having. And last night, I didn’t sleep at all because the pipes, toilets, and plumbing were bubbling all night.

I know this is nothing compared to people’s homes flooding, but it wears you down. Especially if these types of rain events are going to become more common.

We suspect we know why the previous owners decided to sell…

Categories
Just Shelley

Finding Truth

According to Dictionary.com, triangulation is:

The location of an unknown point, as in navigation, by the formation of a triangle having the unknown point and two known points as the vertices.

When I studied history in college I had a professor tell me that the only way to discover the truth behind an event is to read three completely different interpretations of the same event. Somewhere in the middle of all these interpretations, you’ll find the truth.

Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to only listen to one viewpoint, one interpretation.  Listening to those who are like-minded and speak with one voice is less disruptive than seeking the truth.