Ram's parents were here for a visit over the weekend. I will try to post more about their visit later. They stayed at a lodge up the road from us, right outside of our small town. They really like staying there. It has a kitchen, laundry room, living room, and of course bedrooms. Some times when we tried to book them there it was full. This time they had the whole lodge to themselves. Ram's dad travels a lot for work so he likes being out in the country in the quiet instead of a hotel. I think they like being on their own and they don't have to wake up when the Lambs do. They can spread out their stuff and not be crammed in a guest room. And they don't have to use a shower in our basement.
The lodge is an old farmhouse fixed up and taken care of well. There is another building that is fixed up as a game room with a pool table and some other game tables.
On Sunday we went over and checked out the lodge as we had never seen it. The Lambs were really too young to enjoy the game room. We did play dominoes with Lamb 1 and 2 for a little while. Maybe if they come in nicer weather we could do more outside there and even build a bonfire.
On the way over to the lodge it got me to thinking that years ago, people probably went to visit their grandparents on the farm on a Sunday afternoon. Grandparents didn't usually live so far away. One set of our parents live 2 days drive away and one set lives 3 days drive away for us. I'm thankful that all of our parents are willing to drive to see us a few times a year and we also get to go see them once or twice a year too. We enjoyed our visit with Ram's parents even though it was short.
Showing posts with label parents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parents. Show all posts
Monday, March 23, 2009
Saturday, December 27, 2008
More about my dad's loss of power at home
Power went out at 07:27 Friday, 19 Dec 08 and returned at 15:42 Tuesday, 23 Dec 08 at my parent's house in Fort Wayne, IN. My mom was at my sister's apartment in SC after she had knee surgery. My dad stayed at home during the whole power outage (with the exception of short breaks to eat out and get supplies).
A gas-fired boiler heats water that an electric pump pushes through pipes in their baseboard heaters. If any water boils off or leaks somewhere in the system, more water is introduced from the main water line into the house. A valve on the inlet line automatically opens to keep the pressure up. The valve is called an auto-fill valve. That valve is in the outdoor utility closet where the water heater and boiler are. The flame under the boiler keeps the closet warm.
When the power went out a week ago Friday, the pump stopped. When the pump stopped, a safety system shut down the boiler. With no heat in the closet, the auto-fill valve froze early Tuesday morning. The pipes to the baseboard heaters go through the cement slab under the house. Water flowed over all the flooring (laminate and simulated wood) on the first floor of the house. Some water went onto carpets in the living and dining rooms. Some went under the door into the garage.
While the power was out, my dad kept the inside of the house above 50 degrees and had water flowing, but none of that helped the valve in the outside utility closet.
After he soaked up what water he could, he got a company called ProTech to come to his house in less than 3 hours. ProTech was glad to do the clean up work with power. My parents have to pay the deductible, but ProTech's bill was $3900 plus they have to pay the plumber and get replacement flooring. They ran 13 fans plus two large dehumidifiers from Tuesday evening until Saturday morning. The major reason was to dry any moisture that may have seeped into the walls.
We are glad that my dad was kept safe during all this and also glad for house insurance during something like this. Many in Fort Wayne have even worse problems than my parents do. We are keeping the people of Fort Wayne in our prayers as they have much clean up to do now.
My dad still has to contact the company to order new flooring and then he plans to finally go pick up my mom in SC. My mom is glad she wasn't there during the power outage nor during the clean up! They won't be back to "normal" until after the new flooring. That won't be until after the new year and it may take a long time with others having the same problem in Fort Wayne.
A gas-fired boiler heats water that an electric pump pushes through pipes in their baseboard heaters. If any water boils off or leaks somewhere in the system, more water is introduced from the main water line into the house. A valve on the inlet line automatically opens to keep the pressure up. The valve is called an auto-fill valve. That valve is in the outdoor utility closet where the water heater and boiler are. The flame under the boiler keeps the closet warm.
When the power went out a week ago Friday, the pump stopped. When the pump stopped, a safety system shut down the boiler. With no heat in the closet, the auto-fill valve froze early Tuesday morning. The pipes to the baseboard heaters go through the cement slab under the house. Water flowed over all the flooring (laminate and simulated wood) on the first floor of the house. Some water went onto carpets in the living and dining rooms. Some went under the door into the garage.
While the power was out, my dad kept the inside of the house above 50 degrees and had water flowing, but none of that helped the valve in the outside utility closet.
After he soaked up what water he could, he got a company called ProTech to come to his house in less than 3 hours. ProTech was glad to do the clean up work with power. My parents have to pay the deductible, but ProTech's bill was $3900 plus they have to pay the plumber and get replacement flooring. They ran 13 fans plus two large dehumidifiers from Tuesday evening until Saturday morning. The major reason was to dry any moisture that may have seeped into the walls.
We are glad that my dad was kept safe during all this and also glad for house insurance during something like this. Many in Fort Wayne have even worse problems than my parents do. We are keeping the people of Fort Wayne in our prayers as they have much clean up to do now.
My dad still has to contact the company to order new flooring and then he plans to finally go pick up my mom in SC. My mom is glad she wasn't there during the power outage nor during the clean up! They won't be back to "normal" until after the new flooring. That won't be until after the new year and it may take a long time with others having the same problem in Fort Wayne.
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