Day 3272

I didn't make it to the gym today. I certainly got plenty of exercise though. Dash was eager for a walk this morning after yesterday's all day rain. We walked along the shoreline and watched as volunteers prepared a relay station near the lake for today's annual Dallas Marathon. Traditionally, this marathon has been held when the weather was horrible, but today looked perfect for runners. Dash liked the cold, clear weather too.

After breakfast, I went back up on the roof and cleared away the water again. There must have been a lot of rain last night, because there was just as much standing water today as there was yesterday. No wonder the leak returned. I think I finally figured out what is happening. The high-tech coating that is supposed to protect everything is not adhering to the substrate properly. Whenever there is a tear in this coating, often caused by a dead tree branch falling and hitting the roof, water seeps in and gets under the coating and eventually finds a path inside. If the coating was bonded to the substrate, small rips or tears wouldn't be a problem. As it is, the elastomer coating isn't much better than placing a giant tarp on the roof during rainstorms.

When I removed all the water, the sound of water dripping into buckets gradually subsided. I'll let the sheetrock on the ceiling dry for a few days and then I'll try to bleach the stains again. This won't fix the problem though. The next time we have a long, sustained rain I'll have to deal with this mess all over again. Adding a few more patches won't really fix anything. There is already water underneath the supposedly waterproof coating, so it won't evaporate. I don't really thing this is fixable. I need an entirely new roof.

There wan't much point in going to the gym today. I had a long list of chores that needed to be attended to. This was a good day to do them. I started by going out and finding strawberries so I could make my smoothies this week. Oddly, the store that had nothing but grapes in the strawberry section yesterday had a ton of strawberries today. I wonder who bought all the grapes?

It was long past time to vacuum the house as well. I'm always amazed that I can quickly fill the Dyson canister with dust and dog hair, but the carpets never look any better. Whenever we get a new rood, we're going to need new carpets as well. It sucks that the house is falling apart. I've got a new car fund, but I bet it's going to get used up just fixing things around the house.

According to Fitbit, I burn up a lot more energy doing household chores than I do at the gym. I guess the whole point of going to the gym is to get me out of the house. It's a lot more enjoyable to shoot baskets at the gym than it is to push a broom on the roof.

I need to start interviewing roofing contractors and ask a few architect friends for suggestions on how to restore this place. We might be here for a while. I thought we would have moved by now, but there's one thing about growing older that you never consider when you're younger. Once you start falling apart and doctors become important, the last thing you want to do is start over in a new state with a brand new batch of doctors. Janet and I both have doctors that we like. We may be here forever.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day