December 16, 2007

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  Insulation

  It has come to my attention that there was some concern about the blown-in insulation and possible safety issues with having the insulation around light fixtures. All of the light fixtures pictured are loaded up with energy saving fluorescent bulbs and really don’t throw that much heat. I have to admit, the contractor is a cheapskate and used the cheapest, easiest method to insulate the attic that he could. I shudder to think what the walls are insulated with, but I have to assume that the contractor used the same stuff there. What I probably should do is drill into one of the walls at some random place and see whether fiberglass roll insulation gets caught in my drill bit or if the blown-in crap does. I tried observing the situation by looking into the area around an outlet but couldn’t draw any conclusions from that. I know there is rolled fiberglass around the fireplace and some upstairs around the vaulted ceilings because it’s a vertical surface; the remainder is unknown although there are some very cold walls here and there. Insulating after the fact seems like a pretty overwhelming undertaking. I would almost think one would have to tear out the drywall, insulate and redo the drywall? I am good at a lot of things, drywall is not one of those things.

  Anyhoo, I would like to hear any recommendations you might have.

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  The dogs and I walked yesterday afternoon and it was quite a workout; we walked and ran approximately two leagues on the nearby mountain bike trails. Yes, “leagues,” I just thought I’d throw in an ancient length measure just to be a smartass, but yeah, it was about two leagues; almost missed the tip-off of the KU-Ohio game.

  It was in the 20s and snowing like crazy but it was quite beautiful. 

   

  

  We found this miniature snowman sitting on a log along the bike trail. He has a leaf for a hat.

   

  

  Late afternoon and shooting straight at the sun during the snowstorm

   

  

  Small stream leading to the Kansas River

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  We are not listed on the flood plain for North Lawrence and I’ve often wondered why because it doesn’t seem that far to the river from our house. In fact, there is a lot space between us and the surface of the river.

  I am standing a bit southeast from my house and about 50 feet from the river’s edge facing north. From the center of the photo, toward the right you can see the outline of the levee against the trees that is the top of the levee. The levee was built by the Army Corps of Engineers following the flood of ’51. I don’t know what the elevation is but I think a hell of a lot of water would have to come down the river before we would be in danger of being flooded. I was talking to one of the geezers from the area one afternoon a few years ago and he told me that during the flood of 1951, people were grazing cattle where my house is currently sitting. That is comforting.

   

  • 5:32 pm
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