There was one HELL of a storm here last night about 2:00 AM. Its starting to look like 2:00 AM is the magic time for storms around here now days. This storm was really bad and worst part was that the super high wind was out of the west which put it broadsiding this trailer. I was almost tempted to head for the tank a couple of times and brave the flying sheets of metal flying around and heavy rain to do it.. The vents in here sounded like a jet engine going over heard several times. I felt drops of water hitting me so had to head for the vents and windows to close them and the trailer actually felt like it could go over several times. Note the scattered metal siding scattered around. Before it was neatly stacked, laying flat on the ground and had that steel 55 gallon drum half sitting on top of it with some considerable chunks of wood in it. The wind just flipped it over and the siding took off. This storm reminded me of the one we had when the old pole barn vanished.
More scattered siding.
After I post this I'll be out rounding up all the siding and re-stacking it, but this time I'll be putting some heavy rocks all the way around it along with the drum that got dumped off of it. There's another 20% chance of storms today. Sure hope the Ocotilla didn't get much damage out of this. It was a little more than unnerving hearing the sheet metal flying around because it was actually singing as it sailed past the window in here. I'm sure glad there wasn't anything else in the path that could have gotten damaged. There was another .7 inches of rain in the gauge this morning so between night before last's rain and last night that makes a little over 1 inch. I'm real surprised because only one solar panel got flipped, but fortunately it wasn't damaged. From looking at the Ocotillo now it doesn't appear that the siding bent it over it looks like the wind tried to tip it out of the ground.
The drum that got flipped and the wood is under it.
Got the solar cooker to.
Fridge
The old mini blower I put on the mini fridge took a dump and I'm not sure I'll do anymore with it now because it sucks too much solar power for the good it does. I guess I'll put the butter back in the freezer of the propane fridge and live without the mini fridge in here again. Its cooling down enough to where the propane fridge is starting to work half way decent so I'll live with that for now.
Blogger Sucks
Don't know if anyone else is having this trouble or not. Maybe its just a Firefox/blogger problem or what, but before when you clicked on pictures to view them the pictures came up and could be further expanded. When you clicked the back button then you were taken back to the blog. Now they have the cheesy slide show come up when you click on a picture to view, they can't be enlarged and when you click the back button you are sent back to the history file that you were at before visiting the blog. This sucks and I really wish blogger would quit screwing around! The way I see it is IF something ain't broke don't fix it!
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If I pick the "images from ..." down in the lower left hand corner, the picture comes up bigger and can be enlarged one time. Just makes everything more complicated. I, too, liked the old blogger better.
ReplyDeleteDavid - Am sure glad you weren't hurt by the flying sheets of metal! How is your fresnel lens?
ReplyDeleteIs your RV in danger of blowing over in a storm?
Very pleased you're getting some rain :) Gotta help the spirit relax after the weather / heat you've had the past few months... ours is coming up!
Yeah, we live at the coast, and when we first moved here, anyone from up country who knows us thought that we'd love to see them / pay for their holiday expenses (accommodation / meals / drinks) - put them up. Not always! Doesn't happen so much anymore... :)
DD, I liked the old blogger to. This may be a new feature to blogger, but to me its a BUG. I know the part about clicking the back button and jumping back two histories ago is!
ReplyDeleteDani, the RV isn't tied down so it could definitely go over. Probably wouldn't be fun at all! We can use the rain, but the high winds I could sure live without. The ocotillo looks more like it was bent over by the wind rather then the siding leaning up against it. Its bent over to the east and the wind was out of the west. The siding was laying up against the north side of it. In any case its partially uprooted. Sure hope it survives!
wow what a storm...!!
ReplyDeletecan you still see our place over to the SW?
and can me and the wife crash at Ring's next time?...and could we drop Jackie off there for the trip?
I'm usually ready to open the door and push him out by the time we get to Odessa anyway.
and he's a blast to hang with if you are sloppy drunk or ..asleep.
and yes...Blogger does suck now!
Bigfoot
PS:....We stopped late on a Friday night last trip down and got a room in Monahans....only 3 motels there..one (the older, shabby looking one owned by a Pakistani, or some facsimile thereof was full).
ReplyDeleteThe other newest one...was $120 a night. The other one was $116+tax...damn.
Ring oughta charge $40 per head...and toss 'em out at 8 AM...no continental breakfast either.
adios
BF, just make sure you call the reservation desk first. They do have a kennel outback for Jackie. Jack would have to stay in the garage. ;)
ReplyDeleteAt one time they were renting motel rooms for $35 a night in Odessa and they looked pretty decent outside, but of course that's all I know about them. Could be that the $35 was for an hour though I did see a few women walking down the street with umbrellas though. Hay! Oilfield workers do need entertainment to.
The slide show has its own X in the upper right corner - click that to close the slide show and you're back at your blog page :)
ReplyDeleteGlad the RV is still upright!
Ah so... Abby. hadn't noticed that before, but I still don't like it. The pictures still don't come out full sized even if you click on them. Just tried it again and noticed you can close them by clicking outside the pictures anywhere on either side.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a storm. If you want, I can bring you some of those screw-in type of RV tie-downs when we come down in November. We got a new little travel trailer, and I'm thinking about getting a set for it. They are like large wire spirals, and just screw into the ground. You've probably seen 'em.
ReplyDeleteYup, the new Blogger is going to take some getting used to...
Oh yea BF, looks like your cabin is still there. Maybe I'll take a ride up there after it dries out just to see if there is any noticeable damage.
ReplyDelete10-4, David....if you get a chance, I'd appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI try to keep most of my "stuff" shoved under the cabin to keep it from blowing away.
That plastic/steel picnic table may be on the other side of 118..maybe Nick has it now.?
If I were you...I'd switch back to the "old" Blogger editor option...I did and everything kinda works....mostly now.
And, as an add on to Allen H's good idea...they do have a better trailer tie down method similar to the scfew in....but has 2 opposing 3' long steel rods for rocky soils...used this on our 27' trav trailer...and it's still there...5 years later.
Do I need to make sure Jackie has his shots up to date?
B'foot
That looks like some of my metal siding, do we have the same siding or did my siding end up blowing down your way?
ReplyDeleteAllen, those type anchors wouldn't do me any good. Starting at about 4 to 6 inches down its solid rock here. Thanks for the offer though. I can't quiet figure out what type BF is talking about?
ReplyDeleteBF, I think Nick was probably wanting another table so he should appreciate your (the wind's) generosity. Too bad the wind wasn't out of the south because I could have used it to.
Got a link to the type anchors you're talking about?
Bkid, might be both. I seem to have more than I thought I did so maybe I have some of yours to. Found another piece out in and down the road aways.
Wow. That must have been terribly scary. I have a rather small house, and when the thunderstorms come in I always get scared, what with seemingly horizontal lightning and crazy winds it makes me want to move back to CA.
ReplyDeleteI can't say I care much for all of Blogger's new bells and whistles either. Actually, they suck!
Towanda, I was dancing the gig the whole time. ;)
ReplyDeleteHope that moisture gives you some relief from the burn ban for a while. J
ReplyDeleteSofar, not much chance of that. We'd probably have to have gotten a foot of rain for them to lift the ban. More than likely they will never lift it. I think they just like to keep us pissed off.
ReplyDelete