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And I even let them help with the dishes because they do them about the same way I do. Other people stack the dirty dishes in the part of the sink with the garbage disposal and then they dump the liquid from the glasses and coffee cups over them, and food, and so on. It just drives me nuts.
Todd is an electrician, a very good one, and he helped me dig out under the Brown Palace so the electrician I hire can get in there. He identified the types of wiring, and how it was set up, and ripped out the stuff we are going to have to replace so I won't have to pay those other electricians to do that. The good news is that the vital wiring to the well water pump is what they call UF - Underground Feed - meant to be used underground or outdoors, and being submerged in flood water would not affect it.
Most electrical wiring has paper insulation around the wires inside the outer sleeve, but the UF wiring's components are encased in waterproof rubber. I hope the hired electrician would have told me this when he finally got a good look under the house.
We figured out that the power is still on to the two cabins. I didn't realize it would work - thought the utility company had somehow shut it off at their end until I had the post-flood state inspection and got all the repair work done. I won't have water in the cabins until we get the official repair work, but the main reason I'm excited is now the motion sensor lights work so I will know when someone comes down the driveway at night, or an animal walks through the yard.
Todd and Lisa also helped me load up the flood debris from the river and take it to the county drop off site. It's the last load we'll be able to take, and I got rid of most of the stuff that needs to go.
One of the reasons to have an expert on site is they bring the right tools. Todd brought a cordless sawsall (saws through anything). So he was able to wade across the river and deal with the side of a camper that is embedded in rocks and dirt deposited by the flood. Four men tried to get it out on Saturday and gave up. I didn't think about cordless sawsalls, and had been trying to figure out how long an extension cord I was going to need to reach across the river.
He didn't feel like getting his waders from the house, so he slung his boots around his neck and waded. Coming back, he left his boots on because the snow melt river is so cold, and he used his belt to make a sling for the saw so his hands would be free.
He used the saw to cut it off at the dirt line, and then carried it to safety.
Speaking of animals, Eloise doesn’t like company, so she escaped last night about 6, and it was still light, but then she wouldn’t come in the house – she’d run up to the open door then veer away when she heard voices. So night set in, and no cat. At one point she literally kicked up her heels and ran next door, stopping a couple of times to roll in the dirt, as if she’d been liberated from something.
I went out several times calling her, but no show. Finally, I turned on all the back yard lights and went to bed. We have multiple floodlights attached to big trees, and it really lights up out there.
About 11 pm, I heard the fox barking, looked out, and he was sitting in the yard barking. Then I saw this dark small thing running toward him and he took off. I went out there and called her, but figured she’d be way up on the mountain, and you have to wonder how far she would follow the fox in the dark.
There wasn’t anything to do but come back in, and the next thing I knew, the fox was barking again – he was on the hillside almost directly across from the bedrooms. He barked for several minutes, and there was a kind of funny noise, almost like a growl, or maybe the snuffing noise and animal would make if it had another animal or something big in its mouth. So I went back outside, and went to that part of the yard – it’s where Eloise spends a lot of time sitting on the edge of the lawn looking into the tall grass for rodents. But I figured if they got into it, she’d make noise like a cat fight.
I had the flashlight, and directed it up into the woods, calling here kitty, kitty, and thought if she was hurt or scared, she might call out. But no sound, and then I saw eyes gleaming. She wouldn’t come down off the hill, but I figured it was because I was right there, so I went back to the house, and pretty soon she emerged from the forest and came running across the yard – unscathed.
You have to wonder what the fox was doing hanging around and barking like that with Eloise only a few feet away from him. Could he be trying to lure her near so he could eat her? Or was he being social?
