Sunday, September 11, 2022

DOCUMENTS WHERE? -- RELIEF -- UNWANTED LEAK

 Republic -- "If you can keep it."  [Democracy]

     Accountability for Jan. 6th insurrection.

U.S. Select House Committee on Jan. 6th Hearings continue in the fall.

U.S. Dept. of Justice and FBI deserve respect for doing their jobs.


QUESTION:  Were any of those classified documents missing from empty folders found at Mar-a-Largo and other security information in boxes like those confiscated by government authorities transported by the ex-President to his Bedminster, N.J. residence as theorized by ex-FBI agent and seen in Daily Mail, U.K. video in Washington Post article questioned in Newsweek HERE?

Note:  "Trump and the Mar-a-Largo documents: A timeline -- Washington Post HERE.


9/11 A date embedded in our memories as are those whose lives ended that day.   


SO-CAL

Updating Southern California weather effects where I live should any who might want to know what climate changes on this planet may bring to some in the future.  Refer to my previous post describing the situation.

Given our extreme heat wave, we managed to avoid any rolling blackouts with our power grid withstanding day-after-day heavy demands.  Residents voluntarily cut back further on power usage including during our flex alert prime time usage expanded by one hour on each end of the five hour block for a total of seven hours (3 - 10 p.m.)

Hurricane Kay formed in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico's coast moving north toward our Los Angeles area fortunately only becoming a tropical storm breaking heat and rain records.  A California hurricane is a tropical cyclone with usually only the remnants affecting us though they are rare.  The last hurricane was 25 years ago.

Periodic rain bursts from Hurricane Kay came to various locales across the Southland, finally even a couple very light rains to my own neighborhood.  Some beach communities built up sand dunes along the shore to contend with high surf and possible flooding.  People living inland in areas where forest fires had burned away soil-holding vegetation filled sandbags for placement against possible excess water causing damaging mud slides to homes and businesses.

East of where I live one forest fire only 5% minimally controlled day-after-day kept spreading causing several occasions of thousands being told to evacuate their homes.  Two people died in their car apparently trying to escape the flames.  Finally,  though only a small amount, enough rain came to curtail the fire's expansion which is now 50% contained.

I was delighted to see dampened pavement on my driveway one morning and a bit more the next day.   This light rain almost invisible to the eye was hardly sufficient to impact our drought but was enough to give vegetation a brief refresher.  

Let It Rain -- Diana Krall en live sur RTL

Equally, or maybe even more importantly, our temperatures have cooled down now.  In fact, our temperatures are in the 80's, a bit below our previous years usual numbers.  In a few more days our humidity will lessen to the drier level we usually have that is more comfortable, especially if the heat increases as is expected.  

My week brought me water in a way I did not welcome with the discovery of a leak when a patch of water which hadn't dried up in the heat I observed coming from underneath my garage door.  The week before I had noticed water but couldn't detect an active specific leak though I had my suspicions as to the source.  Now, with this obvious water it was time for the plumber.

A new hot water heater was the order of the day as I expected.  The plumber thought my heater was probably about fifteen years old -- quite a long life well beyond the usually expected ten years or less longevity.  I vaguely recalled reading these heaters operated best if drained periodically but realized I had never done that.  Maybe it would have lasted even longer if I had.

I could recall only that my husband had taken care of the last purchase sometime before his 2006 death.  I didn't have the old purchase receipt to make a cost comparison with the quote I was given for a new hot water heater.  I was really surprised to learn how expensive installation of a new one would be.

I did check the internet verifying what they said was the cost of the unit, the quality of the brand as the highest rated one, so I decided not to delay installation in order to get other price quotes.  Additional copper piping and connections were needed since the old ones were long since beyond being workable.  

They said they could install the new hot water heater for me right then, that Friday afternoon, so perhaps it was best not to delay.  The two young men (most service workers are young to me any more) worked steadily and hard for several hours and labor isn't cheap.  Hopefully, there are no more appliances or other items needing replacement anytime soon.

I expect others of you living in individual residences have had to go through the hot water heater experience but I'd never had to give much thought to one -- we just always had hot water wherever we lived, but then my husband probably always looked after this essential I just took for granted.  

16 comments:

  1. I live in a ground floor apartment and have installed what we call geysers in our three bathrooms and one in the kitchen. They have served us well all the thirty years that we have lived here and except for some plumbing repairs, nothing has gone wrong so far, touch wood.

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    1. Geysers are new to me so I have researched them on the net. They sound like an interesting approach to heating hot water plus your experience with them seems positive.

      I'm guessing this comment is from Ramana in India listed with a link on my blogroll who often overlooks adding his name. It's so annoying that Blogspot has made it so difficult for many readers to leave comments other than as Anonymous with no link to their blog as once was automatic which has caused some readers to cease commenting.

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    2. Ramana Rajgopaul9/12/2022 4:03 AM

      I apologise. It was indeed me and I should have been more careful.

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  2. So glad you got your new hot water heater installed. Mine is about that old also--toes crossed for I know like you the installation will be steep.
    Amen for the rain and the cooling off. Must be a huge relief.

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    1. I, too, hope your hot water heater keeps working properly. Yes, excessive heat can be quite intolerable for me.

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  3. I currently have an instant-heat water tank. It only turns on to heat water when we turn on the hot water faucets. It is a little safer as it never has a tank of water waiting. All of the appliance replacements we had this year were very expensive.

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    1. I've not investigated the instant-heat tanks so appreciate learning of your experience for possible future consideration.

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  4. My hope is that California is seen as one canary in the coal mine of the world in terms of what is to come with climate change and other changes. Octavia Butler's 1993 novel, The Parable of the Sower, was one of the many early warnings. A dire warning. Having spent the first 23 years of my life in California and my soul having been nurtured by its beauty, I am unable to ignore what happens there. It is heartening to hear that California residents voluntarily cut back on power usage during the extreme heat. Countless anonymous people can make a difference, acting together in community.

    About water heaters. O my goodness! We had so many water heater disasters here in my condo complex that I lost count. Our 74-condo complex has three levels. Time and time again, an older water heater has drained and flooded the condo or condos below it. There were so many of us, mostly women, who knew nothing about the lifespan of water heaters, including me. At about 15 years old, the water heater that was there when I moved drained into the condo below me. The damage was minimal but, of course, disruptive to my neighbor while her condo was drying out with heat, fans, and dehumidifiers.

    Attempting to prevent that from happening again with my new water heater, I called a plumbing company when my second water heater was 10 years old and asked if they would drain it and assess its remaining lifespan. I was told it had a few more years in it. The next year it began to drain into the condo below me. Fortunately, I was working at home and knew more about water heaters and was able to turn off the water to it and limit the amount of water that drained to the first floor condo. Both times the damage was minimal compared to other incidents where much more water drained to a lower level and sometimes two levels when the water heater was on the third floor. One of the incidents affected 4 other condos -- two below it and two to the sides. Mine was one of the condos to the side.

    As a result of the two events where my water heater drained, my condo insurance now has a $2000 deductible.

    Also as a result of so many water heater disasters in our condo complex, others much worse than the one my water heater caused, the condo association now requires that every owner buy a new water heater every 10 years. A major expense but necessary.

    I appreciate your music choices.

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    1. I never thought about individual hot water heaters in condos and the problems they could cause so thanks for the information you've shared. My new one has a water turnoff I never even thought about with the old one or knew where it was. This turnoff will be easy to operate but it's up so high I would have to stand on something to reach it which would be a safety challenge for me. My water heater is raised several feet off the floor. Also, due to earthquake potential we have to strap in the unit which probably is not considered necessary in every state.

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    2. We have those straps, too, but only in recent years.

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  5. Our water heater is due to be replaced soon and I am not looking forward to that day. Appliances seem to deteriorate faster and faster these days.

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    1. Hope you get long term wear from your heater.

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  6. We recently (in the past few years) replaced our water heater. They are now quite expensive, I know. New federal rules for them went into effect around 2015 or so, and it increased their cost. Now, of course, the issue is supply chain, availability, labour costs. I'm really glad you were able to get on top of your problem right away.

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    1. Many items have been affected by energy and environmental rules resulting in increased manufacturer's costs, hence the consumer must pay more, too. Given it's for our health and safety we shouldn't complain, just as paying more for labor in many positions so people can earn a decent living is justified. I think that does mean at the corporate level with the 1% having such obscene profits they should be adjusting their participation for a more fair distribution of wealth.

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  7. We've been in this house for 13 years and so far have had no trouble with either the central heating boiler (that also heats the water) or the immersion heater. Fingers crossed they'll keep going for a few more years.

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    1. I hope your units keep working without problems, too. I don't know what the expected life span on those type units would be. Perhaps some sort of periodic servicing could be in order to possibly prolong their operation.

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