You'll notice that, in the sidebar to the left, that I have put in a new widget. It is a poll to give our opinions about the most important aspects that need to be addressed by President Obama's FCC chairperson.
It iws important that you vote and let your voice be heard. If you're tired of the pro-corporate bias in the media that has nothing to do with your real concerns for this country and what matters to you... if you are tired of the spin and propaganda that make these things that are only good for big business look like the benefit you and your concerns... if you would like to keep the Internet free for all to use without preference to which corporation can pay the most ('Net Neutrality), then please, take this poll. The airwaves are yours. They do not belong to the government, any media owner, or any corporation. They belong to the American people. Let's take them back.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
It Doesn't Rain...
...but it pours.
(Yes, I am re-using the title from my MySpace blog. Because I am being lazy.)
Anyway, so after the awful events of last week, one might think that nothing else really bad could happen here, but IT DID!
This morning, my cat, Cajun, demolished my brand new bag of bagels right in front of the bedroom door. Cajun had bounded through the bedroom, over the bed, and back out. Well, Cajun NEVER comes in the bedroom, so I should have found that odd.
Well, I got up, went to the bathroom, and then went into the kitchen to get the broom to clean up the bagel carnage off the dining room floor, where, apparently, the bagel destruction had started. I had just finished sweeping it up when I smelled heat and heard some crackling. My eyes were instantly drawn to the chimney, and, sure as shit, the wall around the chimney was on fire!
The fire started in the chimney, apparently from the bricks getting really hot and catching the drywall on fire. At one point, I guess, the stove was on the other side of the partition between the dining room and livingroom, but the chimney access was closed off by a metal (aluminum, maybe?) plate when they moved the stove to the livingroom side of the partition. Where the plate was in the wall was where the fire was burning.
Sprayed the fire with a spray bottle, putting it mostly out. I called out to the kids and got them to get dressed and go out to the car where they would be warm with the heater and all. Then, I called 911. For whatever reason, I got a hold of Pend Oreille County, and they had to re-route me to Bonner County. I reported the fire, told them that it was pretty much out but that we didn't know if it was in the walls or not. So, they were on there way. Then, I unloaded everything off my piano (my 121-year-old player piano... you know, the one my Dad bought me) and went outside myself to wave the firetrucks into the house. It was a good thing I did, because they were all over the place, completely lost. But they finally got here and looked at everything with a thermal camera to make sure that the fire was out. (Apparently, this thing is sensitive enough to see footprints on carpet when you're wearing shoes.) The fire was out, but they pried off the paneling and drywall where the fire had been.
While the firemen were here, I was in the car with the kids, getting worried and wondering how much damage there would be when I got back inside. Luckily, the firemen had moved my piano out of the way, so it only got some soot and a little water on it. Soon after, the firefighters left, and I got to clean everything up. Some of the family came over and helped move the piano back against the wall, but away from where the fire had been so that repairs could be made.
So, now, we have to wait for the chimney repair guy to come over and decide how much it'll be to repair it. We can't run the pellet stove until then, so it is pretty cold in here. Dad may come over later and take the kids to his place until we have the heat back on.
I had to cancel a meeting I had scheduled for a web site, and who knows how practice will go tomorrow without any heat. But Cajun was today's hero. If he hadn't eaten my bagels and acted like an idiot, the fire might have spread to the ceiling (the kids' rooms' floor) and we might all be dead. So, I gave Cajun a can of tuna. He earned it.
(Yes, I am re-using the title from my MySpace blog. Because I am being lazy.)
Anyway, so after the awful events of last week, one might think that nothing else really bad could happen here, but IT DID!
This morning, my cat, Cajun, demolished my brand new bag of bagels right in front of the bedroom door. Cajun had bounded through the bedroom, over the bed, and back out. Well, Cajun NEVER comes in the bedroom, so I should have found that odd.
Well, I got up, went to the bathroom, and then went into the kitchen to get the broom to clean up the bagel carnage off the dining room floor, where, apparently, the bagel destruction had started. I had just finished sweeping it up when I smelled heat and heard some crackling. My eyes were instantly drawn to the chimney, and, sure as shit, the wall around the chimney was on fire!
The fire started in the chimney, apparently from the bricks getting really hot and catching the drywall on fire. At one point, I guess, the stove was on the other side of the partition between the dining room and livingroom, but the chimney access was closed off by a metal (aluminum, maybe?) plate when they moved the stove to the livingroom side of the partition. Where the plate was in the wall was where the fire was burning.
Sprayed the fire with a spray bottle, putting it mostly out. I called out to the kids and got them to get dressed and go out to the car where they would be warm with the heater and all. Then, I called 911. For whatever reason, I got a hold of Pend Oreille County, and they had to re-route me to Bonner County. I reported the fire, told them that it was pretty much out but that we didn't know if it was in the walls or not. So, they were on there way. Then, I unloaded everything off my piano (my 121-year-old player piano... you know, the one my Dad bought me) and went outside myself to wave the firetrucks into the house. It was a good thing I did, because they were all over the place, completely lost. But they finally got here and looked at everything with a thermal camera to make sure that the fire was out. (Apparently, this thing is sensitive enough to see footprints on carpet when you're wearing shoes.) The fire was out, but they pried off the paneling and drywall where the fire had been.
While the firemen were here, I was in the car with the kids, getting worried and wondering how much damage there would be when I got back inside. Luckily, the firemen had moved my piano out of the way, so it only got some soot and a little water on it. Soon after, the firefighters left, and I got to clean everything up. Some of the family came over and helped move the piano back against the wall, but away from where the fire had been so that repairs could be made.
So, now, we have to wait for the chimney repair guy to come over and decide how much it'll be to repair it. We can't run the pellet stove until then, so it is pretty cold in here. Dad may come over later and take the kids to his place until we have the heat back on.
I had to cancel a meeting I had scheduled for a web site, and who knows how practice will go tomorrow without any heat. But Cajun was today's hero. If he hadn't eaten my bagels and acted like an idiot, the fire might have spread to the ceiling (the kids' rooms' floor) and we might all be dead. So, I gave Cajun a can of tuna. He earned it.
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