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Post by Steve Marinucci on Aug 30, 2008 10:25:38 GMT -5
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Post by John S. Damm on Aug 30, 2008 11:14:34 GMT -5
Good idea, Steve. Information is one important tool as to survival. To our Board friends in that area(and cosmo comes to my mind first because of her earlier post-Katrina posts elsewhere), be safe and secure. Protect yourselves, your family, loved ones and pets first and foremost! Then, and only then, your property and don't forget to protect those music collections if at all possible. This past February the natural gas emergency shut-off valve melted on our furnance and the furnace would not shutoff. I came home early from work by the grace of God and walked into our house finding it nearly 95 degrees in the dead of winter! Soon the insulation touching the heating ducts began smoldering and smoke began pouring out of the heating grates! I called 911; with some difficulty got my two beloved dogs outside to our fenced in backyard as the girls wanted to go upstairs to huddle in their safety zone of our bedroom; and finally started grabbing plastic laundry baskets(the only thing handy) to begin saving my Beatles' c.d.'s and dvd's. The firemen arrived and quickly got things under control, shutting off the gas flow which caused the rapid cool down of everything else. To hell with tax records, clothes or anything else, I was going to save as much of my music collection as possible. And yes, my wife was not home yet. I would have assisted her out, possibly after the dogs but before The Beatles. ;D Seriously though, be safe those in the path of this storm.
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Post by sayne on Aug 30, 2008 11:21:48 GMT -5
I'm sure we are all hoping that the damage in lives and property caused by this hurricane is as small as it possibly can be.
I also hope that the guy who prayed for God to make it rain on Obama's outdoor convention speech really feels responsible for this hurricane. I don't believe God works that way, but this guy does. If he is willing to believe that God could and would answer his prayer and make it rain torrentially in Denver, then he has to be able to believe that God would punish him for his hubris by giving him what he wants, but not in the way he wanted. It does not matter what I believe. It matters what he does. You cannot go around all holier than thou, testify that you are so righteous that God would answer your prayers to ruin heathens' convention, and then not think God did not act in a "strange way" to give you what you wanted. If he really believes in his power of prayer, then he has a huge personal cross to bear concerning this hurricane. Just as he publicly prayed for rain, he needs to publicly give a powerful act of contrition (not in the Catholic sense). If he does not believe he is in anyway responsible, then that is the measure of his true faith in prayer. "Instant Karma is going to get you."
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Post by John S. Damm on Aug 30, 2008 11:48:06 GMT -5
I'm sure we are all hoping that the damage in lives and property caused by this hurricane is as small as it possibly can be. I also hope that the guy who prayed for God to make it rain on Obama's outdoor convention speech really feels responsible for this hurricane. I don't believe God works that way, but this guy does. If he is willing to believe that God could and would answer his prayer and make it rain torrentially in Denver, then he has to be able to believe that God would punish him for his hubris by giving him what he wants, but not in the way he wanted. It does not matter what I believe. It matters what he does. You cannot go around all holier than thou, testify that you are so righteous that God would answer your prayers to ruin heathens' convention, and then not think God did not act in a "strange way" to give you what you wanted. If he really believes in his power of prayer, then he has a huge personal cross to bear concerning this hurricane. Just as he publicly prayed for rain, he needs to publicly give a powerful act of contrition (not in the Catholic sense). If he does not believe he is in anyway responsible, then that is the measure of his true faith in prayer. "Instant Karma is going to get you." Well, I'd suggest that we hire the Chinese to stop the rain with their cloud-seeding science but it didn't work so well at the Olympics. The beach volleyball championship became the proverbial wet bathing suit contest. Calling upon God(or the gods if one is Roman or Greek) for rain to disrupt an event is a little cold and clearly missplaced. Unless of course, it is 1987 and one is asking for the rain to intensify so as to make it harder for Michigan to score a touchdown and thus ensure an Indiana upset over the Wolverines at our home stadium. God should sometimes help the underdog.
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cosmo
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Posts: 264
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Post by cosmo on Aug 30, 2008 13:17:07 GMT -5
Thanks, JSD and sayne, we are still in town but probably leaving tomorrow morning. And I'll make sure that all of my Beatle stuff is on the second floor this time!
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JMG
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Post by JMG on Aug 30, 2008 14:47:13 GMT -5
I hope everyone in the path of this storm stays safe and sound. It's important to remember that belongings and property can be replaced, lives cannot.
Speaking as a building trades journeyman of 36 years, I'm often surprised by people not knowing how to protect themselves in the event of an emergency. No matter if you're a homeowner, renter or whatever the situation, here are some simple thing you should know in order to not only save property but, more importantly, save LIVES...
Know where the electrical panel is so you can shut off the main power coming into your house.
Know where the gas shutoff valve is for your furnace, water heater and clothes dryer. They should be near the unit. If not, you need to have a shutoff valve installed
Know where the main water shutoff valve is in case of a plumbing problem.
These are simple things to know that could potentially save everyone a lot of grief...and save not only property but LIVES. If you're not familiar with mechanical devices, have a professional assist you. It's important to know.
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Post by John S. Damm on Aug 30, 2008 15:51:54 GMT -5
I hope everyone in the path of this storm stays safe and sound. It's important to remember that belongings and property can be replaced, lives cannot. Speaking as a building trades journeyman of 36 years, I'm often surprised by people not knowing how to protect themselves in the event of an emergency. No matter if you're a homeowner, renter or whatever the situation, here are some simple thing you should know in order to not only save property but, more importantly, save LIVES... Know where the electrical panel is so you can shut off the main power coming into your house. Know where the gas shutoff valve is for your furnace, water heater and clothes dryer. They should be near the unit. If not, you need to have a shutoff valve installed Know where the main water shutoff valve is in case of a plumbing problem. These are simple things to know that could potentially save everyone a lot of grief...and save not only property but LIVES. If you're not familiar with mechanical devices, have a professional assist you. It's important to know. Good advice JMG! I didn't know how to shut my natural gas off but truth be told, by the time I got home it wasn't real safe in the basement where the furnace is located. It had been running nonstop for hours by then and everything was really hot. I can shut off all water but how does one kill all electricity to the house? We have a breaker box where I sometimes have to reset a breaker but yeah, I'd like to know how to cut electricity to the house with one switch.
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Post by Steve Marinucci on Aug 30, 2008 18:02:43 GMT -5
Any (or anyone know of any) board members affected by the storms?
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Post by John S. Damm on Aug 30, 2008 18:49:56 GMT -5
Any (or anyone know of any) board members affected by the storms? See cosmo's post above. She lost some of her collection in Katrina but we can all be grateful that that was all, as hard as that would be.
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cosmo
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Post by cosmo on Aug 30, 2008 21:03:29 GMT -5
OK y'all = heading north tomorrow morning. Take care of Beatleworld for the next few days! Paul, don't be slapping any hecklers on the street until I can get to a computer and read about it. Oh, and don't get married again while I'm gone!
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Post by Steve Marinucci on Aug 30, 2008 21:30:55 GMT -5
OK y'all = heading north tomorrow morning. Take care of Beatleworld for the next few days! Paul, don't be slapping any hecklers on the street until I can get to a computer and read about it. Oh, and don't get married again while I'm gone! We'll all be thinking about ya, cosmo. Stay safe.
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Post by sayne on Aug 30, 2008 22:55:41 GMT -5
. . . Unless of course, it is 1987 and one is asking for the rain to intensify so as to make it harder for Michigan to score a touchdown and thus ensure an Indiana upset over the Wolverines at our home stadium. God should sometimes help the underdog. Hear, hear! Priorities, priorities. There will always be war, famine, pestilence, disease, drought, prejudice, and other ills, so why waste a perfectly good prayer on things that will always be. But, an Indiana win over Michigan. Now, that's something that calls for a miracle! Good call. Sports rule!
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Post by sayne on Aug 30, 2008 23:10:05 GMT -5
Any (or anyone know of any) board members affected by the storms? My sister, who does NOT live near a lake or river, had to row away from her house in Florida in the wake of Hurricane Fay. Goes with the territory, I guess, in Hurricane Land. Just as they do here in earthquake country Los Angeles. As we all learned back with Hurricane Katrina, it's best we all prepare not to get help from the government. We're best to prepare ourselves. The tips given earlier for disaster preparedness are very good ideas. My household, although still having a long way to go, does have food and water and medical supplies and other things set aside for earthquakes. We even have extra dog food set aside and a portable toilet. We have a wrench tied to our gas shut-off valve, emergency cash set aside, and we have our telephone tree in place. In the event of the BIG ONE, we still will be majorly impacted, but we still have some sort of preparation. At least we don't have an "earthquake season." I can't imagine living somewhere where natural catastrophes come regularly with the seasons. Good luck all of you in that part of the country.
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JMG
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Post by JMG on Aug 31, 2008 9:03:39 GMT -5
Good advice JMG! I didn't know how to shut my natural gas off but truth be told, by the time I got home it wasn't real safe in the basement where the furnace is located. It had been running nonstop for hours by then and everything was really hot. I can shut off all water but how does one kill all electricity to the house? We have a breaker box where I sometimes have to reset a breaker but yeah, I'd like to know how to cut electricity to the house with one switch. It sounds like you came out of your situation in good shape JSD, it could have been much worse. Your furnace has safety controls but sometimes they fail, due to age or what have you. When that happens you've got a ball of fire in your basement...there goes your house! It's important to have your furnace cleaned and inspected once a year or so, just to be on the safe side. Depending on your electrical panel, the main breaker should be at the top of the panel and clearly marked 'MAIN'. Again, if you're not sure, have a professional assist you.
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JMG
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Post by JMG on Aug 31, 2008 9:38:27 GMT -5
OK y'all = heading north tomorrow morning. Take care of Beatleworld for the next few days! Paul, don't be slapping any hecklers on the street until I can get to a computer and read about it. Oh, and don't get married again while I'm gone! Glad to hear you're going to be safe and headed north...but don't go too far north. It's beautiful right now here in northern Illinois but the calendar is turning to September and THE HAWK (winter) is about to descend and it's NOT going to be fun. Winter 2007 was the worst we've had in about 30 years. I swear to God, if those guys running the snow plows had plowed my driveway closed just one more time, I would have drawn my weapon (.357 magnum) and started firing . Just kidding about that...I think . Last winter just about drove me into the ground.
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