The weekend from left field
Seagull
A little background: this weekend, Portland experienced two days of
freezing rain; something that is rather unusual for this part of the
country. Thanks to that blast of arctic air earlier in the week,
however, "unusual" was beginning to take on a whole new meaning.
Temperatures had been dropping below 20 degrees (F) during the nights,
making ideal conditions for ice, frozen pipes, car problems and
general nasty conditions that I (as a former midwesterner) was all too
familiar with.
But I digress. Saturday night, the freezing rain started at about
7pm, and within a half-hour, had managed to turn the entire metro area
in a giant ice-skating rink. This doesn't sound like much, but in a
city where sand, and not salt, is used for treating the roadways and
large hills with steep inclines dot the landscape, a little freezing
rain can quickly become quite a mess, especially when mixed with the
right ingredients.
Case in point: it was close to 11:00 on Sunday morning, and the
temperature was just starting to climb above the freezing mark. My
friend (whom we'll call "Jim", because that's his name), was talking
long-distance on the phone while sitting in his living room. As they
spoke, he became aware of a gentle rainfall pattering against the side
of the apartment building. He thought nothing of it, until he looked
outside and saw that it wasn't raining.
Almost on cue, a loud *bang* rang out, and the sound of rushing water
started to fill his ears. Thinking quickly, he told his friend on the
phone, "I better call you back; I think something weird is happening",
and went to investigate.
Following the sound, he quickly dashed into his bedroom, just in time
to see water start seeping in through the ceiling and collect in the
corner of the room. As it ran down the walls, the sound of spraying
water intensified to a low roar. Water was now pouring out through
the smoke detector, mounted in the ceiling, and the sprinkler head
just above his bed.
Thinking quickly again, he dashed into the kitchen to retrieve some
pots and pans, with the intention of placing them underneath the leaks
so that he could save the carpet. By the time he returned, however,
the rush of water had intensified, and he soon realized the futility
of his efforts. Water was now coming out of every orafice in the
room: it was pouring out of the smoke detector, dripping from behind
the sprinkler head, and even seeping in *through the electrical
outlets* (whose insulated wiring had, thankfully, prevented the
circuits from shorting) He shut down and moved his computer out of the
bedroom, ran to the breakerbox in the hallway, killed the power to the
bedroom, and then jumped on the phone for the manager's office. Just
to add a little color to the situation, he later dashed outside and yelled
"it's raining in my apartment!" to a few passers-by.
By the time the manager arrived, water was now a 1/2" deep in the
bathroom, and the carpeting splashed like a puddle as you walked
across the rooms. The manager was already aware that *something* was
wrong, as the water had tripped the fire alarms; in fact, the detector
in Jim's bedroom was desperately trying to wail out a warning, despite
the fact that the noisemaker was complete overrun with water. The
manager dug out the key to the maintenance closet, just off the
patio of Jim's apartment, and had the door open when the fire
department arrived.
One of the water pipes feeding the apartments had fractured, causing a
jet of high-pressure water so intense that an 8" diameter portion of
the ceiling of the maintenance closet had collapsed. Water was
gushing out in great quantities, travelling in all different
directions: between the walls, above Jim's ceiling, and all over the
closet.
This is what happenes when a cracked pipe freezes, then thaws. The
heaters installed in the baseboards to prevent this from happening
were, apparently, vacationing in the Bahamas.
Submitted for your amusement: the apartment building is less than 4
months old.
Cheers,
-+JLS
--
\
sea...@netcom.com \ "Whoso Loves / Believes the impossible."
sea...@aracnet.com \ --Elizabeth Barrett Browning
http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull \
== Strider ==
] It's not often you get to see it rain in someone's apartment.
<chuckle> This reminds me of an incident outside my first apartment here
in Austin, the story of which might have started "It's not often a new
river is created just outside one's apartment...." ;) Okay, not quite
as amusing as your opening line, but the story is still kinda funny....
] But I digress. Saturday night, the freezing rain started at about
] 7pm, and within a half-hour, had managed to turn the entire metro area
] in a giant ice-skating rink. This doesn't sound like much, but in a
] city where sand, and not salt, is used for treating the roadways and
] large hills with steep inclines dot the landscape, a little freezing
] rain can quickly become quite a mess, especially when mixed with the
] right ingredients.
I'll second that; here in central Texas, we only get ice storms every
five or six years, so in general people don't know how to drive in icy
or snowy conditions (except some of the northern transplants). The
freezing rain started here early Thursday morning, and by noon there
had been over 400 traffic accidents in a city of half a million people.
Since we have very infrequent ice storms, we also use sand instead of
salt for the roadways. Anyway, local broadcasters were urging people
to stay home unless they absolutely had to be on the roads, which
probably helped, but Austin seems to have a bonehead contingent that
believes that anti-lock brakes work just fine on ice....
Anyway, let me get to my story:
] One of the water pipes feeding the apartments had fractured, causing a
] jet of high-pressure water so intense that an 8" diameter portion of
] the ceiling of the maintenance closet had collapsed. Water was
] gushing out in great quantities, travelling in all different
] directions: between the walls, above Jim's ceiling, and all over the
] closet.
One night I was up very late in my first apartment here in Austin, sometime
during the 1991-92 school year. I had been working late on some grad school
project or another, and it was so late that I decided to just pull an
all-nighter, and I was getting ready to go to the grocery store. I went
into my bedroom, and heard a distant roaring. I sat and listened for a
few moments, puzzled and unable to determine the source of the noise. It
vaguely resembled the noise of a jet flying over, but was much too loud
and didn't fade away.
I don't remember exact details, this having been about four years ago (and
very late at night ;), but what had happened was a water main had burst
underneath the parking lot. The apartment was located in northwest Austin
on the edge of the hill country, and the area of the complex I was in was
somewhat terraced down the side of a hill, with the parking lot at the top
of the hill. The edge of the parking lot was built up with a 4-foot pieced
concrete retaining wall (similar in principle to the way a highway might
be built up leading to an overpass), and as a result the first-floor
apartments were several feet below the level of the parking lot itself.
The gusher of water resulting from the broken pipe was a sight to behold;
pieces of the retaining wall were blown out of place, with water gushing
out from various spaces in the wall (there were intentional gaps in the
wall to allow for expansion, and ivy-like ground cover was used to prevent
dirt erosion through the openings). The water poured forth from the gaps
in the wall, coursing down the hill along with a cascade of mud and stones.
When the fire department arrived and managed to shut off the valve for the
water main, we were able to get a glimpse under the parking lot: a gaping
cave about six feet deep and four feet in diameter had been formed by the
rushing water, clearing away nearly all of the soil beneath the edge of
the pavement above. It was so bad that I began to worry that the cars
parked above the hole would cause the whole thing to collapse. ;) I was
lucky because my apartment was on the third floor, but a few unfortunate
souls had the bad luck to get flooded out....
] Submitted for your amusement: the apartment building is less than 4
] months old.
My complex was only a few years old at the time.... ;-D
In the spirit of the discussion, why are they called apartments when they
are all joined together...?
Why do we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway?
(Name that comedian.)
Strider
--
Michael T. Ruff S T R I D E R Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Architecture Development 5900 E. Ben White Blvd.
Personal Computer Division Austin, TX 78741
mi...@beast.amd.com I am not a ventriloquist. I speak only for myself.
Lord of the Flies
>It's not often you get to see it rain in someone's apartment.
>This is what happenes when a cracked pipe freezes, then thaws. The
>heaters installed in the baseboards to prevent this from happening
>were, apparently, vacationing in the Bahamas.
>
>
>Submitted for your amusement: the apartment building is less than 4
>months old.
Here in Chicago, during our recent snap of Arctic cold, the news broadcasts
carried constant reminders to let faucets leak slightly, the slow trickle
a deterrent to complete freezing of the pipes.
Mark
--
Mark D. Garfinkel (e-mail: mg...@midway.uchicago.edu)
(c) 1996; all rights reserved. Permission granted for Usenet quotation
with attribution.
Seagull
:
: That'll teach you to close those brand-new faucets _real_ tight.
: Here in Chicago, during our recent snap of Arctic cold, the news broadcasts
: carried constant reminders to let faucets leak slightly, the slow trickle
: a deterrent to complete freezing of the pipes.
This is all you can do for pipes that are behind the walls. Of course,
one would hope that the heaters they had installed would actually work. ;)
Other nifty tricks:
* for exposed pipes, use a fan to circulate the air around the room rather
than insulate them; there's already plenty of heat indoors, but without
circulation, it will rise to the ceiling and stay there
* antifreeze down the drain will keep the return pipes from freezing if
you are going to be gone for several days; not that this isn't exactly
"environmentally conscious", but it works well
* insulating the pipes coming _into_ your house is a great way to freeze
them; the water is alrady cold when it comes in, and that insulation
will make sure no heat gets in there :)
Seth Breidbart
== Strider == <mi...@beast.amd.com> wrote:
>In the spirit of the discussion, why are they called apartments when they
>are all joined together...?
>
>Why do we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway?
>
>(Name that comedian.)
Gallagher. Is he still around?
Seth
Keith Warren Rickert
> That'll teach you to close those brand-new faucets _real_ tight.
>Here in Chicago, during our recent snap of Arctic cold, the news broadcasts
>carried constant reminders to let faucets leak slightly, the slow trickle
>a deterrent to complete freezing of the pipes.
Oh, maybe that's why my apartment managers havent fixed my leaking
faucet yet. Hmm, I suppose I should tell them the chances
of frozen pipes are pretty low here in Pasadena...
Keith
--
Keith Rickert | "It was the least I could do - a quantity
ke...@imppig.caltech.edu | I specialize in."
ric...@cco.caltech.edu | Major Dennis Bloodnok,
| Third Underwater Artillery
== Strider ==
] In article <DMDn4...@txnews.amd.com>,]
] >In the spirit of the discussion, why are they called apartments when they
] >are all joined together...?
] >
] >Why do we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway?
] >
] >(Name that comedian.)
] Gallagher. Is he still around?
I think so, just less heard from these days. Last I saw of him, he had
shaved off his remaining hair (and attached it all to his cap ;). I like
Gallagher's brand of humor because it seems he put more thought into most
of his jokes than most comedians.