Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Talk about nervous! . . .

For starters, Isaac is now predicted to move onshore AT New Orleans, and then come directly over Baton Rouge.  The result of that will be Lake Pontchartrain's level going up three feet which will prevent all the rivers in this area from draining which will in turn cause LOTS of flooding problems.  And our flood insurance? . . . well, I failed to send them a check and it expired on August 23!!!  And given the current situation, it cannot be revived until AFTER the storm.  I have really GOT to start dealing with that better.  Unfortunately, that is the single thing for which I could not set up an automatic payment.  Sigh.
 
Then there's that d--- tree . . .  Bryan and a buddy of his came by yesterday to take it down.  I won't go into the whole thing, but suffice it to say that by 9:30 last night there was a wedge cut out of one side and a slice cut out of the other side -- in which the chainsaw is currently trapped.  I say "currently" because at that point I completely lost confidence and made Mark tell Bryan that he shouldn't finish.  I was terrified that they were going to be hurt. 

So at that point, I called a pro (Semper Fi Tree Service -- I figured a former marine can probably deal with ANYTHING) and he is going to come over this morning at dawn.  (It's only 6 AM at the moment and still dark.)  I haven't a clue how much it's going to cost ($250 just to come over BEFORE he does a single thing), but whatever it is, it'll be worth it.  I was worried about it blowing down before, but with all those cuts?  It's not going to take 60 mile an hour winds.  And who KNOWS what direction it will come down!!  Since it's resting now on the saw that's on the side near the fence, it could well go over that direction -- the opposite way from what they were attempting -- and ruin the fencing.  NOT a good time for that.  So I can't WAIT for Jim Utz (the pro tree guy). 
 
The horses have been locked in their stalls overnight to be sure they wouldn't be hit if the tree came down.  They were turned out in the front yard yesterday while Bryan and his bud worked on that tree, so I guess we'll do the same this morning.  They all LOVED that -- although I did have to keep a constant eye on Duke since he tried to eat all the trees, particularly the magnolias. 
 
 
 
 
But once kept away from the trees, the boys both made a point of trimming down the weeds under the fence line.  But not Lizzie.
 
 
She prefers to hang out closer to us.  Nice.
 
Well, it's almost time for the tree guy (thank goodness!).
 
Later.

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