El Niño Is Here (and so am I)

Last week really sucked, although it started out as an optimistic 2016 beginning.

On Monday I cleaned our camper and then took it to the storage facility. That evening, watching the local news, I was informed that a storm would dump up to 5 feet of snow on our local mountains on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wow! On Tuesday I assembled my backpacking gear for a multi-day snow trip. My plan was to request a kitchen pass from Joyce for the trip, which normally is immediately approved.

Major roof leak in laundry room
Major roof leak in laundry room

Before I could present my request, Joyce informed me that our roof was leaking from the rain and the laundry room was flooded and a large bubbled had formed on the kitchen ceiling. Drats!

LEAK MITIGATION

So instead of going backpacking, I would spend Wednesday doing some temporary roof repairs.

Kitchen leak
Kitchen leak
temp roof repair 01-08-2016
Temporary roof repair

During a pouring rain I covered and eliminated the leaks in the laundry room and kitchen. But new (minor) leaks developed Thursday night in the living room, bathroom, and dining room.

FRUSTRATION

I have known for a couple years we need a new roof. In September I contacted several roofing companies for quotes. Boy was I in for a shock. Most of them didn’t even show up to provide a quote as promised. One showed up, measured my roof, and never bothered to get back with me, despite several phone calls on my part. One company gave me an astronomical quote.

And finally, one company with 35 years of experience, with a good reputation from homeowners and other contractors gave me a reasonable quote, and I signed a contract with a deposit in October. The owner told me they were very busy and would do the work as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this company keeps pushing back the start date, and here we are almost 3 months later with some serious leaks. On Wednesday, he promised to get out in a couple days – weather permitting.

With most of the leaks stopped, I decided to do a weekend snow trip since now rain was forecasted. Here is a view of the local mountains from our house on Friday.

Mt San Gorgonio and the San Bernardino Mountains
Mt San Gorgonio and the San Bernardino Mountains
Mt San Jacinto
Mt San Jacinto

THE LAST STRAW

Friday afternoon I started feeling funky and woke up Saturday with flu. What an awful start to a new year. So, all I can do is sit at home. It will be a good time to get the blog up to date and hopefully we will get a new roof this week. With El Niño here there will be plenty of snow this winter.

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