Wednesday 02.12.2014

Before I went to bed last night, I got the fire extinguisher handy, "just in case".  And I wondered if I could use it while calling the fire department simultaneously....

I slept fairly well, considering. And when I woke about 2, I went out and smelled. It was less, thank God.  I finally had a morning that I didn't need to get up--it was just before nine when I woke to a room full of sunshine. Beautiful!!

Checking the back room, the odor was mostly gone.  The sun was warm enough to get the icicles dripping, and I kept watch of the ceiling. Some of the wet areas are drying, some are still shiny wet.  There are no water runs down the wall, and the towels are dry. The one by the door is just a little wet. There is ice on the inside bottom of the inside door. But with the sun it should be melting pretty soon.

I went outside about 2--the back door opened just a little easier, with only a few drops of water at the top of the door frame. I got the ice chopper thing (like a hoe, but just a straight blade) and thought I'd try getting the tire tracks off the driveway. They are about 4 inches high of packed snow, and the car actually slipped off of it as I was pulling into the garage. Don't want to hit the garage....

Much to my pleasant surprise, it came off fairly easily. And when I was getting a good start on it, the maintenance guy pulled in.

He said he had been there both Monday and Tuesday, shoveling the roof. He also put calcium chloride on it to help melt the ice, and today got all but an area of ice about 3' x 5' removed that is above the door. He seemed quite concerned about the odor, and also that there are areas of the drywall that are mushy. He looked in the crawl space to check for water, and said it was a little damp looking in the corner, but not puddled/wet.

All the water has been running through the wall, down the outside of the foundation, now traveling down the driveway. I asked him to put some salt on the ice that was on the driveway, and he did. Tonight it's an impressive ice sheet forming, making it's way like lava, slowly oozing about 20 feet down the driveway.

While I was out there I heard birds, and looked up.  ROBINS!!  Several of them, like a little flock. And they flew around in the trees like they knew where they were.  The other birds were chirping and they were all circling and flying around like they were....greeting???  Familiar???  Are these "my" robins??   Guess I'll try putting out some apple slices or something for them.

I fixed supper and ate, checked the back room again (no smell), and had a quiet evening.

Tomorrow I picked up 3-7pm (maybe I won't have to go in) and have a couple errands to do before going in.  And the maintenance guy wanted to be here when I was here, so I would know what was going on. Hm. Guess I might not be such a stupid girl after all.

Thank you for reading. Hugs.