Friday, February 3, 2023

Day 4789

It was a beautiful day today. It was a little chilly, but the ice is almost gone. Dawn was certainly happy to get a walk again. She's been house bound for several days. The only reminder that it wasn't a perfect day was the occasional sound of water dripping from the ceiling. There were fewer leaks this morning, but they were still there. I knew what I had to do.

After breakfast I went to Home Depot to get some large sponges that would dampen the sound of water hitting the buckets and bought a new large plastic tub to replace one that had shattered outside in the cold. I emptied all the buckets and got ready for my long walk.

I knew I was going to have to get up on the roof and sweep the standing water away to get the leaks to stop, but I wanted to wait until the afternoon to get started on this loathsome task. A walk would give me time to think about things. The roads and trails were completely dry today. Once the temperature got above freezing, the ice disappeared quickly. One thing I noticed was that my Hoka boots provide a lot more support than the regular Hokas I was wearing this morning. I'm going to save the boots for bad weather though. They're too expensive to be my regular shoes. I've got so many leather shoes I don't even wear anymore. The Hokas are so much more comfortable.

I got rejected for the upcoming Crew-6 NASA Social. I wasn't terribly surprised since NASA gives new applicants preference now. I've been to too many of these things before. It's just as well that I'm not going anywhere in February. I really can't afford another Florida trip until later in the Spring. I was still disappointed to have my application rejected though. I'd attend every launch if I could.

After I returned from my walk, I went up on the roof to remove the standing water. I tried to see if our stepladder would reach the lower carport roof, but it was too short. I should have realized that I had probably tried this before. If the stepladder was tall enough it would have been a much easier way to get up on the roof. I didn't buy a ladder at Home Depot because they were heavy, a bit expensive, and I couldn't figure out how to get one of the large ones in my car.

The climb up the bricks is hard on my knees now. This whole process seemed a lot easier when I was younger. At least the roofer I called is coming out tomorrow to give me an estimate. The roof is in bad shape. The Armorflex silicon coating is torn in so many places that it is basically worthless. I could feel a lot of squishy areas where water had gotten between the coating and the asphalt roof underneath. The problem with the existing modified bitumen roof is that the seams between the asphalt and rubber strips have started to go bad, letting water get inside the house. The Armorflex coating was supposed to prevent this problem, but now the coating has gone bad as well. It's time for a brand new roof.

I finished removing all the standing water just before dinner this evening and a few hours later all the leaks stopped. Unfortunately, there is more rain in the forecast later in the week. I really can't continues going up on the roof like this. I'm getting too old and one of these days I'm going to fall. I've asked lawn care guys to give me a bid on doing this job for me, but there has been no interest. It's really a terrible job.

Janet did her grocery shopping today. Tomorrow, I do mine. She said the stores were out of a lot of things because trucks weren't resupplying them during the ice storm. Maybe there will be a better selection tomorrow. I hope the roofer can come up with a good solution to my problems. I'd really like to put roof leaks behind me.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day


Watch of the Day