I'll preface this by saying that I'm thankful - even with my proximity to a severely flooded Minnesota River - that my house is dry. Not even a drop of moisture in my basement which, based on my daughter's reaction, is a terribly scary place. My gripe today centers around the highways which usually give us a safe and effective crossing across that very river.
For whatever reason, though, these highways - some after even multiple reconstructions - weren't raised above flood levels which now place them under water for weeks at a time. Did you know that right now you can cross the Minnesota River at only one place between LeSueur and Bloomington. That's a 50 mile stretch of river dividing the state with one viable river crossing at this time. That hampers commerce, commuters and business in general.
My commute, as these crossings closed, went from about 30 minutes to an hour. It's a hassle, sure, but at least my house is dry and we can still get to most places we need to. But those highways, why weren't they reconstructed to remain passable during floods like the one we're currently experiencing. If built properly, a road above current flood levels would also act as a levee to add some control to the flood waters and it wouldn't result in such a pain in the ass for thousands of drivers who are dealing with my predicament on a daily basis.
Was there no forward vision after what many viewed to be the ultimate flood in 1965? And when it happened again in 1993 did state officials not notice a damn pattern developing? Wow, the same roadways are flooding but it's 3-5 feet of water. To me, 3-5 feet of additional height - especially through already disturbingly low areas - isn't an obstacle or a safety issue, it makes sense to add this additional height to these vital highways.
I'm not pretending to be a highway engineer - even though I do know my way around Legos - but wouldn't the cost of rebuilding even half of the currently closed river crossings across the Minnesota River when their time for reconstruction comes make financial sense? Or are we so fucked as a country that looking forward costs too much and we should even think twice about affording tomorrow?
If you like to see photos of what is flooded, check out MinnPics. It's a wealth of stunning photos from both dry and wet corners of Minnesota.
Showing posts with label water. Show all posts
Showing posts with label water. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, August 3, 2009
Water, softening and the headaches they cause
Rarely do I get truly scared about something but this is one of those times. Let's take a step back a few years to when we bought our house. It was the coldest day in January waaaaay back in 2005. We closed on the house on the only day which had snowfall and it was as close to a blizzard as we've had in this part of Minnesota for quite some time.
The first full day in our house found me making two trips back to my old apartment to pick up the last remnants of our stuff and return the trailer I had rented. I also picked up some softener salt because, dammit, a water softener needs salt. I remember grabbing six bags because I was there and I had a relative's truck. I made my way back home and deposited the bags of salt into the softener. All was working well.
Then about a year ago I noticed that the water felt hard. I was all too familiar with this due to the fact that while growing up on a farm, the hard and rusty well water would sometimes wreak havoc on the softener in the basement. My dad eventually became well accustomed to the quirks of it and could muddle through the mechanics of this foreign device on his own and save literally hundreds of dollars in service calls and expert repairs. He, of course, became my lifeline as I looked for help with my own water softener. Whatever I did worked. The softener started sucking up salt again and we had soft water.
Then this past winter the water became hard again. I noticed more moisture than usual on the concrete floor and upon popping the lid off of the softener's brine tank I found it to be totally full of water. It had been overflowing with each regeneration - spilling water on to the floor and down the floor drain (eventually).
Since that time the water softener had wobbled between hard and soft water and because of the wife's leg lotion consumption, I am at a breaking point. I am confident after looking through some similar owner's manuals I found online that I can remove the valve assemble of the water softener control module and I have a good idea of what the problem is.
This is where my fear comes in. What if I get the whole thing disassembled and because of the lack of any discernible model number (and the owner's manual being M.I.A.) can't get parts? What if I break the whole damn thing in a fit of frustration? What if I lose some integral part in my hasty disassembly as the wife makes me sweat while asking aloud "are you done yet?" or "do you know what you're doing?"? Or what if I fix the whole thing and can't get it reassembled? Those, my fellow do-it-yourselfers, are my fears.
Some people had better weekends than mine and they can be seen on MinnPics. Check it out!
The first full day in our house found me making two trips back to my old apartment to pick up the last remnants of our stuff and return the trailer I had rented. I also picked up some softener salt because, dammit, a water softener needs salt. I remember grabbing six bags because I was there and I had a relative's truck. I made my way back home and deposited the bags of salt into the softener. All was working well.
Then about a year ago I noticed that the water felt hard. I was all too familiar with this due to the fact that while growing up on a farm, the hard and rusty well water would sometimes wreak havoc on the softener in the basement. My dad eventually became well accustomed to the quirks of it and could muddle through the mechanics of this foreign device on his own and save literally hundreds of dollars in service calls and expert repairs. He, of course, became my lifeline as I looked for help with my own water softener. Whatever I did worked. The softener started sucking up salt again and we had soft water.
Then this past winter the water became hard again. I noticed more moisture than usual on the concrete floor and upon popping the lid off of the softener's brine tank I found it to be totally full of water. It had been overflowing with each regeneration - spilling water on to the floor and down the floor drain (eventually).
Since that time the water softener had wobbled between hard and soft water and because of the wife's leg lotion consumption, I am at a breaking point. I am confident after looking through some similar owner's manuals I found online that I can remove the valve assemble of the water softener control module and I have a good idea of what the problem is.
This is where my fear comes in. What if I get the whole thing disassembled and because of the lack of any discernible model number (and the owner's manual being M.I.A.) can't get parts? What if I break the whole damn thing in a fit of frustration? What if I lose some integral part in my hasty disassembly as the wife makes me sweat while asking aloud "are you done yet?" or "do you know what you're doing?"? Or what if I fix the whole thing and can't get it reassembled? Those, my fellow do-it-yourselfers, are my fears.
Some people had better weekends than mine and they can be seen on MinnPics. Check it out!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
