End of the World. Beginning of a new one. The Life of Amberwolf.

[bigmoose]

Amber,

A gracious person who wishes to remain anonymous contacted me and asked if I could assist his helping fulfill some of your needs that you listed. He offered:

I have an unused cycle9 2807 in a 700C wheel - Amberwolf can have the whole thing, or I can break it down and just send the motor if that will help buying new from Grin.

I have a shorted-out but brand new Infineon, Grin model C7225-NC that needs some care.

Also a Lyen programmable 9-fet that is brand new.

Finally a less expensive used Infineon (the doner did not state model of condition).

Throttles to go with the above.

The doner thinks you could get two working controllers with a little tinkering.

If not a good fit with this hardware, he graciously offered to pay what Grin will charge for what you need from them to get back on the road.

Let me know when you get a spare moment Amber what you would like and I'll forward it to the gent along with your shipping address at Bill's.

Sincerely,
A grateful gentleman just trying to share it forward.

I share this stuff publicly so that Amber doesn't use his precious cash on things that are on their way, and also for all of us to know what others might be sending off of Amber's "necessities" list.

Amber, either post your choices or email them to me and I'll get them to the anonymous doner. He said he could ship by Monday too.

Edit: Just got word that our anonymous doner is working with Grin to do something special! Will have to give it a bit of time to work out the specifics. I'm not sure of all the details right now.

Edit #2: Clarifying out of the "fog of war..." Just heard that Justin at Grin was already working up a care package for Amberwolf already when our anonymous doner called Grin. The doner said that he is "helping" but to be sure we fairly state that Justin was already working on helping Amber.

We can only wish all involved in this outreach "all the best." They are gentlemen of a good character, and we appreciate their concern and courtesy!

[Hyena]

I've not been online much lately and only just saw this.
I can only echo what everyone else has already said about how sorry I am for your multiple losses, both physical and emotional. I'm sure your dogs will be remembered in death as well and you treated them in life and when you can get back to your house you'll make them the fantastic memorial they deserve. Maybe in the mean time you could make a few crosses to put on their graves so the scores of builders and tradesmen that will be rebuilding over the coming weeks and months don't trample it ? You know what's under there but to the casual observer they might think it's remnants of the fire damaged stuff scattered around the yard.

It's hard to imagine things being much worse but you're fortunate to have a friend like Bill to put you up and help you out like he's doing. Your temporary accomodation may not be ideal but you could be worse off, especially financially if you had to stay in high cost temporary accommodation.
I wish I wasnt on the other side of the globe, I have an assortment of computer, electronic and ebike equipment I could send you. It looks like your ES brothers that you share a continent with have you fairly well covered though so that's fantastic.

I will PM one of the above mentioned now to get your paypal details.

Stay strong buddy. It's hard to imagine any positives coming out of this at the moment but just think, in time a new group of dogs that would have otherwise lived miserable existences in a shelter will come to know your love. And vise versa.

[Golden Motor Canada]

I don't get to ES as often as I like, I was wondering through a thread on Anderson power poles and saw in someones tagline "Amberwolf needs our help". I decide to click though and what I found is very said. Reading how your dogs passed is shocking and brings tears to my eyes. I am so sorry for you and you loss. Most of us have had that special dog in our lives that sadly is now gone, but four at once, truly devastating. I can only imagine how difficult it is for you. I have noticed reading through this thread that you are being able to focus more on what needs to be done to get your life back together. Stay busy and keep planing for the future. Someday you life will have some order to it and you will be blessed with more furry friends waiting at the door when you return home from work each day.

I don't know you, we have never met, I am not sure if we have ever even spoken in the forums or not. But I can honestly tell you I really feel sad for your loss and have tears running down my face while I write this. Stay strong and plan for the future. Happier days will come. It may take time, but they will come.

I will be contacting Ypedal to see what I can do to help out.

I leave you with my special friend from the past Her name was Bailey.



I wish you the best, stay strong!

Gary

[Sancho's Horse]

God

I am so sorry. I saw this thread (actually I only read the first post) and I couldn't bring myself to open it in front of the kids. I have had lots of loss. I wish that time would make it go away like people say...but that is mostly crap. It comes back with nearly any suggestion.

My heart goes out to you. Watch your health in the short term, because it is hell on your health. Don't let it set up its own uncontrolled gravitational field. For me, keeping busy, especially my hands has helped.

Take care, Amberwolf.

[amberwolf]

again i thank you all for your thoughts; i wsh i ahd time and ergny to reply to each of tyou but im so wiped out right now i expet to flal asleep typing this update.

and i apologize for my rash behavior to chroot, but i will leav ewhat i said up because i do't belive in hiding my mistakes.

update today: got up as it got light outsiee prbly gbefor 6am i dunno when sunrise is now. had theruns so i oulcn't ride to the house until they mostly went away an hour later. took tools and stuff to meet up with helpers at burned house, was a nice ride with no bad stuff except i kept thinkng aout the dogs; being alone is bad for me cuz it always drifts gakd to theat. got there no problmes, maybe 7-730am i guess and no one there yet. i started moving stuff out of the shed, setting up a space t put stuff, chairs forf people to sit on, water in the fridge, etc. couldn't keep the toy i must carry with me for now out of the way and still hold it so i went in the house and dug thru the front room and found one of the frontpacks to carry dogs with was stil intact if smokey so i used that to carry the toy in; also camein handy to keep my water with me and stuff.


got a few shelves piled up so they can be wleded up into uits when the generator gets here, when Randall showed upa nd started helping with that, too. went pretty quicvk,then we started moving other stuff out ofthere, sorting things for keep (very small pile) and trash or try to scrap-recycle for money (pretty big pile).


Bill got therea wiahile later and we got stuff out faster, moved out the two pair of dead washer/dryers, lot sof other stmaller stuff. we all got pretty tired before noon and bill had to leave, then randal an di went to lunch and shortly after we cam back tannon showed up; we got the shed turned and mvoed over and bakc a few feet, moved the thin plywood and masonite sheets it has for a floor over to its new sotp, and called it done. everybody wiped out at that pont, they went home buti stayd at least a couple more hours to keep moving stuff out of the wya for tomorrow as best i could, like moving the windmill thing out of the way, all the old junk wood to a scrap pile cuz we cant' use it in the new stuff; all the nwer good wood to a salvage pile we can ssuuse as neeedded tomororw/etc. setup a cutting table andtried to find my cc-calmsp nad get out my circulurar saw but got distracted by dog thoughts and tears and forgot until after i got so tired i had to leave and go bak to bills around 5pm.


got a show re when i got there cuz i ws a pigpen, my sister called to talk as i got out, then cops came for some guys that ran into bill's backyard during a chase, and took tem away i guess. they'd been trying to change clothes riht there at my trke, to hide themselbves i guess; they actually left shorts and stuff on my trike that the cops then took with them.


then biland i wnet to lowes to pickup lumber for based ecks/flors. i was trying to convert the needs list into a cutlist to see what wood sizes we'd need, buta ai was so tired icolund'tconcetrate and after we'd already loaded abuch of whood on the cart, i got een more confused and went ot ask a guy cuting wood for a lady. he was too busy to do anyting execept hand me a package for a tape mesure and tell me to read it, whih i didn't understand at all, then it turned out the lady wa s and employtee in her offtime k...sorry idozed off and forgot hat i ws going to say.

anyway, she gave me someointers and told me about he "cull" piles/carts out front, which are 75% off due to various reasons. gien the cost of new stuf vs that new, warped, etc pirce i had to swa p the cutlist and i thin kwe got enough but am not sure. they'e not the same sizes as what was planned, mostly 2x6 instead of 2x4, so (doze off again a few times here; i basiclly changed the way it is built so iw til e tiald and effor for a danging i cant stopd ozing off so hav to write more tomorow. got some picsthough will post soon s i ma not dorzin off conastlyn.

[amberwolf]

added to memorial, found hachis green snake and nana's collar i'd taken off for something a few days before, and their dog bowls, etc. put freds bowl on the gate of the kennel she died in that didnt' get burid with her and it. nana's collar in her bowl, and hachi's cow and snake her two usually favorite toys lately with her bowl. loki didn't hareally have a favorite anythign except that big fuzzy dog as his pillow,so...

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i gotta get some pcitures printed to stick in afrmae i foudn in the junk to leve on top of the grave to show people who they were before.

[HighHopes]

my heart breaks for you. it is a very tough thing to go through.

[amberwolf]

i think i will use this pic in the frame for now

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that was right after bonnie died; she is buried right behind them under that lantana, which itself almost died this past winter and is just barely coming back now. that scraggly branch of a tree behind the hose and to the left is now a big mulberry tree which will shade the graves of all 5 dogs.

[amberwolf]

Now that I am almost awake, having actually slept a few hours almost straight thru:


The heat from the fire did damage the trees in front a lot; I hope they survive. This is the "jungle" a few feet in front of my bedroom window that shades the house and porch, mostly eucalyptus I think, though someone said it might be african sumac? and lantana, with an old raggedy fir(?) tree in the middle of it all. The morning sun makes it easier to see the browning of the previously very green leaves.

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Stuff still laying out in the front yard; i guess i am supposed to leave it for them to cleanup cuz it has asbestos on it. This used to be my imac, and a couple of laptops people had given me to frankenstein together into a working one, as well as some ebike parts (throttles, etc) I had been working on fixing--they were all in a box but that doesnt' exist now. Just a puddle of goo.

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This used to be the box fan I would run for white noise to help me sleep (along with another plastic-cased one that was over the bed; there's nothing left of that).

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My external soundcard; I forget what kind it was but I think a Creative Labs, their old original USB external. I liked it cuz I could plug it into just about any cmoputer and it would be detected and drivers installed, and it had an external volume knob instead of having to find the volume control onscreen somewhere. The other side is not *as* melted, so there is a very tiny chance that the guts still work if i pry the plastics off and solder a new USB connector on there.

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Pics of progress yesterday.

View from near the side gate (where they will be putting the dumpster tomorrow) toward the northwest. A friend brought a "pavilion" to give us shade to go into for breaks from moving stuff/etc. I have a small pile of metal bits to save out of the barn shed, between that pavilion and camera pov. some of the things are there to give to those helping me, likesome car ramps and jacks for Tannon. The table to cut wood on is at the west side of the pavilion. lawn chairs under it cuz aany real chairs I had are still inside, unusable, except one computer chair I had in that shed that's now under the pavilion.

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Delta Tripper is in the middle of this pic, amost same camera pov spot but facing directly west. Grave to left, pavilion to right. old small shed at rigth middle frame, barn shed is now not visible because it's been moved back and to the left a few feet, so the trees hide it from this pov--used to stick out a little past where left edge of DT is parked. All the boxes in the middle have to be gone thru at a later time to discard stuff; we just dumped it all in them to save time.

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POV of just east of trike, twoard the north. Got boxes from coworker, and bought tape to unflat them and seal them as needed, stacked against northwest leg of pavilion. Small salvaged pile is to the lower right. Stuff along the back fence all has to go away. Mostly it is piles of damaged boxes we replaced with new ones. But lots of stuff I just won't have room for in the sheds when i move the house contents out there, so it has to go. It's not worth paying for storage for half a year to keep, as much as I would like to. Could buy new stuff for that money. (only reason I am even spending all this donated money on the sheds is because I need the permanent storage even if I didn't keep teh stuff in the house, I would collect more project materials that would ahve to go somewhere anyway).

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POV from windmill to north-northeast. can see the washers/dryers against the fence, and small pile of boxes at northwest cornerof pavilions to save stuff from. Red shelves piled up there are the ones I have to weld up into shelf units, cuz I don't have the uprights they would normally just snap into. The ones I do have a re a different brand with different spacing/etc.

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pov from pavilion west side. Plex and stuff in lower right might get saved if room to stack it against a wall. My crazy sister's old bike on the left will go to recyclers; she never cmae back for it and it is a rusted hulk at thsi point. old burned shelves and a spare rusted up bedrframe and other stuff that i can't use anytime soon is going too, behind the bike. stuff to the right is mostly junk and has to go in the big dumpster the landlord is bringing for the house repair trash.

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a small garden implements shed was dropped off by adam, the landlord, for whatever i need it for. it's only about 4x2' so it isn't a lot of help, but can hold what it was meant for at least.

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Same POV, towards southwest. mostly gardening stuff leaning against small shed, will go in the plastic one above. boxes to left are unsorted stuff to save and go thru later. lots of trash in it but no time to sort right now.

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more later gotta run; tannon is here to help me move the lumber.

[lbz5mc12]

Man I'm just glad you have such an awesome landlord. I've met a few in my time that would've complained about doing the bare minimum to help.

[knoxie]

So freaking sad buddy, the material possessions whilst still painful are nothing compared to the loss of your dogs, I hope the kindness of those in person and online help to ease your pain my friend, dogs often mean more to people than other people do so I fully understand how bad you must be right now.
Stay strong and try to focus on the future and not the past, I know it might be too soon to think but focus on the future, the future with more dogs, in time things will get better, you are still here and you have so much to live for and those dogs in the rescue homes need you and a loving home.

We all love you AW

Peace and love

Knoxie

[sbike]

Dear Amberwolf,

...found these words on a site (thebyteshow.com) run by a lady who has a great love for dogs, just like you do...I hope they convey some comfort...

Last Will and Testament from a Loved Companion Animal

Before humans die, they write their last Will and Testament, give their home and all their possessions to those they leave behind.

If with my paws I could do the same, this is what I'd ask...

To a poor and lonely stray I'd give:

My happy home
My bowl and cozy bed, soft pillows and all my toys
The lap, which I loved so much
The hand that stroked my fur and the sweet voice that spoke my name

I'd will to the sad and scared shelter cat and dog the place I had in my human's loving heart, of which there seemed to be no bounds.

So when I die, please do not say, "I will never have a pet again, for the loss and pain is more than I can stand."

Instead, go find an unloved cat or dog, one whose life has held no joy or hope, and give MY place to THEM.

This is the only thing I can give...the love I left behind.

Author unknown

[John in CR]

AW,

Somehow I didn't see this thread until yesterday, and being a dog person I still just have no words. After losing my wife in 2000 the Reaper and I don't see eye to eye on anything, so F#%@ him. I doubt I'll come up with any words I feel are worthy of comforting you, but if I do I'll be sure to post them. In the meantime, it sounds like you have immediate help, so I'll wait until the dust settles some more and figure out something good that I have and you need.

In the meantime, if you just need someone to talk to, I've got a toll-free number. I've got you covered even if you need a dog to talk to, because our akita/husky mix monster is incredibly vocal.

John

[bigmoose]

Folks just got a clarification from the anonymous doner that Justin of Grin already had a care package in the work for Amber! Our doner said he helped a bit, but to ensure that we say that Grin was already working on it when he called.

Also I would like to extend my thanks to all of you that have PM'd me for Amber's email. I can only imagine how many members are reaching out to help if you add up my list, Ypedals and dogman's list! You folks are truly amazing! It warms my heart to see you all reach out to Amber. I wish we were physically in the same area. If we were, I think we would see an "old fashioned Amish barn rasing" happen with Amber in his new house in a week! ...and that house would be the most energy efficient one in Phoenix.

Wishing each and every one of you "all the best" on behalf of Amber. Thanks mates for your courtesy, care and concern. It is doing more good than you can imagine.

[amberwolf]

Another update for today; some more pics if i don't doze off again posting them and forget.

Someone was aksing about what ebike stuff i might need. Mostly i am set between Grin's package for crazybike2 and some stuff Farfle is sending, and i think someone else but i have lost track now, so many things going on at once I need a chart!

I might've lost various spare parts; i know i lost some throttles i was going to fix but i don't think i lost working stuff unless they cant' let me keep stuff due to asbestos, as all that ebiek stuff was in the front room and hallway near the fire but not in it. so it's covered in whatever came from the fire and roof and cieling debris and possibly water from putting it out; they threw plastic over stuff that wasnt' burning as they went in to spray stuff down, so there's a lot that didn't get water damage as far as i have been told.

Tannon and Patty and Michelle, JimS, JohnW, Bill, and DaveB (friends I've known for decades I guess) came over to help assemble sheds this morning. We got (really *they*, as I think i was mostly still in a daze much of the day) 3/4 of the small shed emptied into the big shed or tossed into the scrap or trash piles, and the floor of the first new shed assembled and in place. I think I probably made it harder for them all to help me in various ways, and I apologize here even if i forget to do it when talking to them at the time.

Adam the landlord came by to trim the biggest mulberry tree back becuase SRP won't reconnect power till it's at least six feet away from the powerlines; he had to cut a LOT of it off because of some of the things they require. I was heartbroken to lose so much of it, especially after everythign else that's already happened; it's like someone cut my heart out on Tuesday, then has been snipping fingers off all week, and now cut off an arm and a leg. He didnt' cut anythign he didn't absolutely have to off the tree, so it's not his fault, just that it hurts. There will be other trees that have to be cut, especially around the front bedroom, so they can do the work needed on it. I know they will grow again, or i can plant new ones, but it hurts so much to see them survive the fire only to have to be cut away for what feels lke stupid reasons.

He'll be back tomororw to begin work on stuff, and the dumpster for repair trash will be dropped off, and SRP will be putting a temporary power drop in separate from the house mains so they will have power to work on stuff. Adam will bring a generator too, and i can use that to run the welder to put shelves together out of the stuff I have there, and to do a repair to the fence gate, as well as add lock hasps/etc to the gates to put the padlocks onto rather than abike cable.

When we finished up around I guess 2pm-ish cuz it was too hot to continue and we were all exhausted, Tannon gave me a ride back to the house along with some stuff JohnW brought for me, plastic shelves for my stuff while I'm at Bill's, and an underbed storage plastic bin--both will help me organize here.



Tomorrow morning I go back to start scrwing walls together and put them up on the floor. Later others will come by to put the roof up.



Update on myself...i got a fair bit of sleep from utter exhaustion last night, but am still pretty wiped out. Sleep...rest...those are hard. I just had a half hour's unintential nap when I sat down after lunch after a hard day at the house with friends starting the shed-assembly. but I wake almost every time i sleep to nightmares of the dogs in the fire runnign around dying while looking for me to rescue them. I'm getting better, but it is not easy.

[amberwolf]

Rest of pics from yesterday:


Barn shed in it's new place and empty. At the time I thought it would be really nice and shaded there especially the part in front of the doorway, so I could later use it for a workshop out back once all this is over and done with, but that was before I saw how far Adam had to trim the tree back. Pics later in this post will show that--it takes away almost all of the shade from the front of it at midday, and pretty much all of the shade is now gone for times earlier than that, morning/etc.

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This is what it looked like yesterday with teh plant tank all shaded and would have been kept cool by that, but now i could only save a single branch going over the tank which barely has any shade at all. better than nothing but it looks awful now and will be so hot....

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This is the stumps of the large sections of tree cut off for SRP. See how bright it is there? It used to be all shady like on the right half of the pic. It got so hot over there right after cutting the tree up....I will need to move the BBQ grill and other stuff tomorrow. I couldn't get to it today. They'll also be ripping out the evap cooler; I don't think there will even be one after this, which is a shame because it was a lot cheaper than the AC to cool the house when I needed to, and could be used to push cooler air after dark thru the whole house. That's Jim's ladder there; if he hadn't brought it they woudl have had to cut down even more of the tree to get the branches out of the way for SRP, probably would ahve lost almost all of that whole tree on the left side (there are actually three trees there, the left and two intertwined on the right; there was a fourth tiny one in the middle but they cut that out too).

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Now see how little shade there is over the tank....

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and the huge hole letting sun bake this area:

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and this is what was removed; it looks like a lot less in this pic than it really is. I wish I could plant them and let them grow somewhere else in the yard, but even mulberry trees can't do that, AFAIK.

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this is my friends building the floor to the first new shed; I wasnt' much help to them so i puttered around and tried to do cleanup and whatnot, and sat down out of the hot sun a lot and drank what seemed gallons of water. I still ended up with a really bad headache that has finally subsided a few hours later. That's CrazyBike2 under the tarp-thing on the right; I moved it with lots of help to get it out of the way of the tree bits being moved, becuase the guy pulling them thru there was just dragging them over the bike, catching branches on it and i was sure he was gonna break stuff off of it.

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I hope to move the bike itself up here to Bill's so I can install Grin's care package on it and ride it again, but I need to weld a few thigns on it first. I probagbly can't do that until tues or wed at the earliest, gotta do it all in the morning before it gets hot, probably before 10am. After taht I am not a lot of use in the heat, whcih is terrible because there is a lot of daytime left that is basically useless, and I can't really do anything at night or before dawn, at least not yet. Gotta wait for the power drop and then wire up some CFL lighting around the sheds and pavilion, on extension cords, hopefully make myself a temporary mini-workshop in front of the barn shed in what shade is left there for daytime, since that is easiest/closest to the power drop location to light it up and run the welder, etc.

[dnmun]

that looks so dry it is like the outback. does everybody use their grey water to water the bushes?

is the swamp cooler mounted on the roof? i could not live without mine in colorado since it is dry there too, but not like that. we get about 12" of rain there on the front range.

here we get 35-40".

[beast775]

amberwolf,i just saw this and im so sorry this happened to you.the pics are great of youre dogs. ive seen them for so long its been years now i feel like i knew them.i guess i will send ypedal a pm? cuz youre pms are going to cause you p.m.s.im truely sorry.

[The Stig]

Hey Amber, I am and the rest of ES is here for you buddy! Let us know what you need and how your going build a brighter future with it! Anything... like biscuits, Love, coffee, wishes, karma, whatever!

[MitchJi]

Hi Amber,

I didn't pay any attention to this thread because from the title I had no idea...

I was crying when I read this, and again while typing this response.

A very wise man once told me (paraphrasing) that life is like a road, it's impossible to remove all the thorns from the road, but it is possible to wear strong boots. I hope you have the inner strength to make it through this ordeal as easily as possible.

We adopted (or they adopted us) two stray cats. The first one in about 1996. One morning our neighbor started pounding on our door and yelled to come right away. She had been run over by a car and died in my arms. My wife got a message from her after she passed. She was very happy to leave her cat body and she was very thankful that we made her part of our family.

The second cat died (due to a misdiagnosis by a vet) two days after giving birth to four kittens. In spite of our best efforts bottle feeding the kittens only two survived. Again my wife got a message from her after she passed. She asked us to take care of her kittens, was very happy to leave her cat body and she was very thankful that we made her part of our family.

So I'm completely confident your dogs are happy now, and extremely grateful for your love and care while they were with you.

Much Love and Best Wishes,

Mitch

[Hillhater]

This must be the least joyful thread ever on this forum !
Life can be so unfair and cruel at times and this is more difficult since most of us are too distant to give the kind of support that would benefit you most...the hand of friendship !
Keep strong AW we are with you in spirit.

[marty]

Amberwolf,
Last summer we had a family vacation in your neighborhood. It was 120°

Stay cool. Drink water.

I got a hat like this that I wear when working in the sun.

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I also think that a cotton tee shirt keeps me cooler then no shirt. I also wear long pants when working outside for safety reasons. Also because I am weird.

Stop worrying about the trees. They will grow back. Like a hair cut. You can plant new trees.

[dogman dan]

Your mulberry trees will grow back very quick, in fact, the pruning will help them grow more this season. but it's a real shame you had to lose some shade right now. Crazy hot yesterday.
Good that you had a lot of help yesterday.

Hang in there, and if you run out of help, let me know. I'll come out and pitch in.

[amberwolf]

Your mulberry trees will grow back very quick, in fact, the pruning will help them grow more this season. but it's a real shame you had to lose some shade right now. Crazy hot yesterday.
Good that you had a lot of help yesterday.

Hang in there, and if you run out of help, let me know. I'll come out and pitch in.

I won't put you thru all that; i'm pretty sure help will continue, even if timing doesn't work the way i want it to cuz people still have jobs and lives and existing plans. Any help is still help.

The trees...it's not really anything except the emotional trauma of yet more major change right in front of my eyes (but would have been much worse to suddenly come back to that drastic a change). I don't do well with changes to my routine or environment, and it takes me a long time to readapt. Just moving my bedroom from one room in the house to another was so hard on me that only a few months ago did I finally settle into it and feel safe and at home, about the time we had the cold snap I guess. And now...EVERYTHING is different, or gone.

I know it is not easy even for normal people, but for people like me it can be almost traumatic just to have to get up at a different time than usual, or not have my favorite spoon to eat with, or not be able to eat the things I'm used to, etc. Sometimes when these sorts of things happen I get so upset I can get hysterical if I don't keep myself calm; usually the dogs would know I was panicking and help me out. I know that hardly anyone here will really truly understand that part...but that's just how it is for me, and autistic-spectrum people like me.

But to have all of this happen at once? All I can do is cry it out, talk about it, suck it up and go on, though. What else is there to do? I want to retreat into a corner and rock myself into oblivion, and I think I almost went that way, that first night, but it won't change anythign or fix anything or make it any better, and it won't help anyone else either. If this were ten years ago, twenty...I'd probably still be rocking in the corner right now, not having said a word to anyone after coming home to that.

A very wise man once told me (paraphrasing) that life is like a road, it's impossible to remove all the thorns from the road, but it is possible to wear strong boots. I hope you have the inner strength to make it through this ordeal as easily as possible.

I guess I usually have Slime Soul Liners or something. But these thorns are more like tent stakes, so if it weren't for the patching all of you and others have been doing, and pumping me back up, I'd've gone flat already and fallen off the wheel.

does everybody use their grey water to water the bushes?

I doubt that even one in ten thousand even thought about doing it, probably less than that. I get shocked looks from most people I've discussed my "efficiency" and "cost control" methods with because it never even occured to them they could do those sorts of things.

Most people have automatic sprinkler systems and the like, or just stick a sprinkler on a hose, etc., and never even think about saving water like that.

I havent' had time to discuss it with the landlord but I wanted to see if they could alter the plumbing to put the grey water outside instead of down the drain.

is the swamp cooler mounted on the roof?

No, but I guess it must not be clear from the pictures that show it sitting on the metal frame against the side of the house. Too much tree in the way still I guess.

Last summer we had a family vacation in your neighborhood. It was 120°

That sounds like a nice cool summer here. Just remember; at least it's a dry heat.


I am off now to get ready and ride over to the house to start screwing shed parts together for a couple hours before it gets too hot. Meant to get up earlier but I keep forgetting I don't have my usual alarm clocks anymore, and I am not used to keeping the celphone with me to use it as an alarm yet. I still have to read the manual to figure out how to set that (and turn off a lot of other thigns that annoy me). (I did it accidentally when trying to figure out how to set the clock when I first got it, before discovering there is no way to set the clock because it is automatic as long as its connected to the cel net, but I havent' found the place to do taht since then).

[dnmun]

maybe you can talk the landlord into installing a swamp cooler on the roof while he is doing these repairs.

it should be easiest to frame it in now since they will need to blow a lot of insulation or roll batts out in the attic for the heat and will be rocking the ceilings where the firemen pulled down the sheet rock to let the heat out.

swamp coolers are the most effective where it is dry like that. but mine is mounted in the window too, and colorado is really dry also. so much cheaper for cooling too.

there is so much elevation drop into my yard there that i have a separate drain for the bathtub and the washing machine that goes out under the floor on top of the ground and through a long piece of 2" black poly pipe and i move it around from tree to tree out on the county road in front, about 100' from the house.

i even set up a siphon system so i could siphon liquids from my septic tank to siphon water from the tank downhill to where the trees are all planted along the side of the road.

there you would have to use a sump to collect the grey water and then pump it out out the plants. the city hates for people to do that though. they make as many laws as they can to keep you from modifying your house to make it more effective.

there was no need for them to cut your power lines either. they could have just removed the meter. but they are all like that.

i was lucky that i was able to put out the fires that burned two of my houses. fire is my biggest worry about renting out the house, but i have had several flooding events too.

my house has been gutted like yours for about 2 years now while i work on it, but i don't have the city inspectors here to harass me either.