So … as usual I go to bed late, and I mean late, like 3 am after watching some movies. Seven this morning I wake up for whatever reason … hear a light knocking sound, then hear it again a few seconds later. Thinking it’s someone trying to break into my shed, I look out my bedroom window … in time to hear the final death cries of the old dead tree in my backyard. Needless to say at the first sign of cracking I head the hell out of my bedroom in the back of the house, seeing and hearing my wall shake in the process. I met Single Son in the hallway on his way up to check to see if I was alright. Once we figured out it was the tree, Married Son and I head out to check the damage.
Yes, I have pictures.
For the full album, check out:
The power and phone lines have been pulled from the house. Single Son said he saw arcing and smelled something funny. I’m glad I didn’t smell it! I have a paranoia about house fires. I’d have freaked out had I smelled anything. Luckily no power in the case meant no fire.
The neighbor’s back yard looks like a war zone. Their steel swing set is history, nothing but a tangled mess. What’s odd, their inflatable kiddy swimming pool next to the swing set is unharmed. The fence between the two houses is squashed beneath the tree.
Oh, and there was no wind, no rain, no nothing … it just fell over. It had stood tall for all our recent storms and high wind days. Only to fall on its own accord when we least expected it.
I wish I had charged my cell overnight. I had fully intended to charge it when I woke up this morning. Oops. It’s dead, and it’ll be a while before I can charge it.
It’s now just before 10 AM and the electric company is here. That was fast! And yes, I am writing this offline for later posting. Gotta love battery operated laptop computers!
As I was out talking to the Electric Guy, two men approached from one of the yards backing mine. Turns out they were the tree crew from the electric company. Asking when it happened, I told them “7 am, today”. “Oh, we were here to remove that dead tree today”. Talk about shitty timing, eh? But they won’t touch a tree already down (that’s up to the homeowner or resident), except to move it out of the way of the repair crew.
Now we have to get someone to remove the debris. No biggie, Married Son found a guy just last week that removed another tree stump. You know who will be getting a call today!
And an electrician. That’ll be next. Married Son’s FIL is a licensed electrician. The electric company will only repair the meter and the lines, not the box that covers the meter. So, FIL will have to replace that, as well as pull permits. This isn’t going to be an easy fix, I see. Ah well, it needs to be done.
Next I call the phone company on one of the boys cell phones. Haha, I was going to call them today anyway to repair yet more squirrel damage. Now they have to come out to replace downed wires. I just hope that fixes the squirrel problem and that that’s not further up the line.
Now my sons, also sleep deprived, are needing coffee. Because there’s still no power they’re out of luck. Or are they? As a joke, I suggested they go to the neighbor on the other side, who has electricity. And they did!! There’s an extension cord running from the coffee pot that’s been moved close to the front door to the neighbor’s front porch outlet.
How ghetto can we get?
Stay tuned.
Wow!! 10:40 AM and we have power again! The electric company just left. That’s a record! Now to plug the cell phone in. I'm not gonna ever leave it to charge in the morning again!
I just hope this isn’t indicative of how my week will run. I have so much to plan with our Star Trek picnic being this Saturday.
If so, it’s gonna be one long week.
Yikes.....I guess the advantage of living at the top of a ravine is that if a tree topples, it hopefully will fall downhill. That is nice that your power company takes down dead trees - ours will only trim to the lines, and even so, they don't do that as often as they should (I'm remembering the electrical fire in my neighbors tree last summer - they still haven't come out to trim any of that mess back.
ReplyDeleteHopefully insurance will make whatever is wrong right for you and your neighbors - and I see you have lots of pictures showing the damage. Most importantly, no one was hurt, whew.
I'm very grateful that no one was hurt, too. It could have been a total catastrophe!
ReplyDeleteI guess someone had complained about the dead tree to the utility company as a potential problem to the power lines, otherwise, they don't remove trees. Trim, yes. But that buggar being so tall, they would have to remove it. It seems there's always tree crews in the area. But then, there's a lot of old, sick and dying trees in the area. My 70+ foot tree wasn't the tallest around, either.
From what I'm hearing, our insurance covers our property, theirs covers theirs. How the two insurance companies work out settlements is beyond me.
This being the fourth major tree fall that has damaged my property in less than ten years, I automatically grab the camera before I head outside.
Glad you all are safe. Wow, what a morning!
ReplyDeleteAmy, you ain't kiddin'... what a morning. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI wanna go to bed, but Alien and Butterball (and the Knight in Rusty Armor) just showed up. Why, I dunno. Guess I find out.
Oh, the Knight in Rusty Armor is helping Married Son move stumps. Son put an ad up for free firewood on craigslist and has already had responses. I love craigslist!
Each person just files their own damage with their own insurance company and is paid individually. There's no sort of "liability" based on whose yard the tree is in, Strange, but that's how it goes.
ReplyDeleteInsurance doesn't cover removing a dead tree (or even a dead tree branch) - it only covers the damage said tree (or branch) causes when it hits something. Which seems kinda wrong to me, but it is very expensive to have a large tree removed when it's still standing. Great idea having someone take it for firewood.
Ah, thanks Em. Being that I'm not a homeowner, but a renter, that's not things I typically worry about after my initial call of "um, about that dead tree in the back" ... or "the old fridge is overheating something awful".
ReplyDeleteTell me about expensive to have a tree removed. I got quotes last year, fifteen hundred or more because of it's height!
Now here's a huge ha-ha ... Married Son listed the wood on craigslist ... Barky Dog's mother (who is there babysitting the litter of grands she has), calls Married Son saying she wants the wood for a friend with a woodburning stove. Now she wants to be our best friend? I just hope this makes life in the 'hood more enjoyable.
Talk about that silver lining, eh?
Just make sure she doesn't expect to have the wood delivered.......But I have a feeling Barky Dogs mother will only be nice until she gets what she wants.
ReplyDeleteYou keep being the eternal optimist though ;).
LOL, there's no way in hades Married Son will deliver wood to anyone! Barky Dog's parents, grandparents really aren't bad. I get along with them. It's the bratty adult kids (D&A rent from a sister who owns it, a third sister also rented for a few years) ... that I have problems with.
ReplyDeleteLOL ... keep being optimistic, Sunshine, eh?
it's now 2 AM Tuesday ... the fix the electric company did turned out to be less than temporary as about half an hour ago it came falling off the house. It's LIVE and laying across the neighbor's backyard, over the chain link fence and still attached to my house. After pulling off some of the siding that is.
ReplyDeleteCan I please, please, please get some sleep sometime today? I've only been up since 7 AM Monday morning, minus maybe an hour nap.
But now I have to wait for the night shift to come fix what the day shift couldn't ...