Subj : Miss.RvrDamBreach-Davenpt To : Nancy Backus From : Barry Martin Date : Sat Mar 07 2020 10:00:00 Hi Nancy! BM>>> Was reminded by the subject: they are predicting flooding again this BM>>> year but not as high a level. The chit-chat between the local news BM>>> anchors and meteorologist included a comment about stacking the HESCO BM>>> Barriers double thickness. NB>>> Maybe this year they'll be better prepared to deal with things... BM>> Hopefully! I do recall having a half-thought some time back of why BM>> the barriers didn't have a better seal at the junctions (between and BM>> under the individual units): can't possibly line 'em up that BM>> accurately. Some sections did have plastic sheets (probably Visqueen BM>> or equivalent), but even then if gets punctured by debris shooting down BM>> the River..... NB>> Let's just hope that they've used this time wisely to refine the NB>> materials and figure out solutions to the problems last year.... :) BM> Hey: we're working with the government here! Do you really think...??!! NB> Sigh... you do have a point there.... ;0 Unfortunately.... OTOH they should have a lot of reminders to get things done by downtown residents and business owners. BM> From what snippets have been reported on the news lately it sounds BM> like just about nothing has been done. Was determined they need an BM> outside expert (as opposed to figuring it all out ourselves). (I BM> thought that was decided last summer.) Some other rather mundane BM> items. I think a lot more has been done -- they did get the railroad BM> to remove most of the rail bed elevations which had been installed to BM> elevate the trains. NB> Hopefully there's a lot happening behind the scenes that just NB> isn't being made public yet.... or the railroads will need to NB> re-install the elevations to get the tracks out of the water.... Right: if nothing done it is just going to be a a loop of raise the tracks, fight with the railroad to lower, get lowered, flood, raise.... Plus with the yearly flooding I'm quite sure the Downtown would slowly be abandoned, or at least the half closest to the River. (Maybe that's the secret! Do nothing, the problem section goes away.) BM> Another item is creation of a 'destination park' (??) along the BM> riverfront. To be six or so blocks long with play and game areas. BM> When the River rises the plan is to just let it flood so made to BM> withstand water and any damage easily repaired. With what I've heard BM> about river flooding this does makes sense: allowing the flooded river BM> to spread over land helps alleviate downstream flooding by slowing the BM> flow some, plus the extra water spreads out rather than up: 10 cubic BM> feet of water covering 10 feet is only 1 foot high but the same 10 cu BM> ft confined to 5 feet is 2 feet high. Easier to build a short wall BM> than a tall wall, plus less water pressure on the short wall. NB> That does seem like a practical and useful plan... how close are NB> they to implementing that....? I think they were going to start with Phase 1 soon, as in sometime this month or April. Other phases following, I assume partially on money available, land acquisition (not sure if some of the project is currently in use as residence/business). Would also make sense to build a section and test: this material holds up, this one has a problem; more shade needed for the picnic tables..... NB> Yesterday, one of the radio announcers kept saying that today NB> we'd be getting 2 to 4" of snow... the forecast from NOAA at the NB> airport was saying maybe a trace... Looks like if it comes, it NB> won't be until this afternoon... and likely isn't going to be NB> much of anything.... and won't stick long anyway since tomorrow NB> is supposed to be sunny and not as cold... and then Sunday and NB> Monday are warming up.... We've had high's in the 50's and almost 60ø this first week of March. Definitely a wind chill factor: couple of days ago the average wind speed was 20-25 MPH and did have a record gust of 61 MPH. BM>>> At this point looks like mid-June. NB>>> That would be visiting your Aunt, not just your Mother....? BM>> Correct. NB>> Ok.... are you visiting your Mother before that...? BM> At this point no. She is super-concerned about the Coronavirus, BM> though oddly not to the point of wearing a mask and gloves or use of BM> hand sanitizer when going out. A little while ago she had been talking BM> about us visiting my Aunt (in Vienna) in May or June; now nothing to do BM> with airplanes so that trip is postponed. NB> Probably safer that way... I do know some people that are still NB> making their accustomed flights here there and everywhere, pretty NB> much, but if it's postponeable, it's probably a better idea, NB> especially when you are talking somewhat elderly travelers.... NB> Perhaps by May or June, the scare will have died down, and be NB> more contained... :) And life will go back to somewhat NB> normal.... ;) Yes, I'm certain things will be back to normal by Summer, though probably slightly modified to check for fevers and maybe better cleaning of surfaces. BM> OTOH my Aunt in the meantime slipped and broke her hip so she's in the BM> hospital. (Remember that thread on long words: try this one: BM> Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien Universitatskliniken ==> BM> general sick house city of Vienna university clinics) NB> Pretty understandable still, though.... :) Pause to get over the shock of the longer word, look for potential words within the mega-word, flip some around to account for the different grammer rules.... BM> Not sure when she will be released; problem is no one at her home BM> (apartment) to take care of her; does have visiting nurses but needs BM> almost constant care/oversight for quite a while (I know from BM> experience!) I did call yesterday and she sounded happy and in good BM> spirits. NB> So she'll be in some sort of rehabilitation for a few NB> weeks/months until she can resume her own care on her own...? My Mother had called my Aunt earlier this week and found she was going to be transferred to a Kurhaus (rehabilitation building) by the end of the week. So basically a type of assisted living site. Was given the telephone number by the staff. A few days later I called that number: ring ring ring -- short message in German, fortunately followed in English: essentially the number does not exist. Check: dialled right. I call the hospital (original - Krankenhaus), explain, get the same number. Great! I try to ask for the name of the Kurhaus but they just give me the phone number again and then pretty much hang up. Call my Mother to explain what's going on. She tries later (different shift?!) but same problem. She calls a couple of neighbours to my Aunt to see what they can find out and eventually do get a valid number: the last digit was wrong, though was the last digit of the room my Aunt was traferred to. I'll try calling later this morning. In the meantime while my Mother was calling to get the number I was trying to do Google searchs for a potential lead. My Mother had obtained the name of the facility but that didn't come up with anything. (I might try a reverse search now that I have a valid telephone number to see if I overlooked something.) BM>>>>> As for my Aunt, I don't know if my Mother showed my Aunt or what. BM>>>>> My Mother was staying with my Aunt in her apartment (I was in the BM>>>>> hotel a couple blocks away). Early in the vacation I was going to BM>>>>> show and it was a 'later'; admittedly after a while I forgot about NB> it. NB>>>>> Again... maybe another visit.... ;) BM>>>> Works for me! NB>>>> Just have to keep it in mind to put on the trip agenda... ;) BM>>> Yup.... NB>>> Write yourself a note, and then put it somewhere where you'll trip NB>>> over it when you start getting ready for the next trip there... ;) BM>> Need to remind myself to remember to read the reminder note about BM>> remembering! NB>> That's why I suggested putting it somewhere that you can't help NB>> but run into it... :) BM> Still had a problem: last summer my Aunt was extremely picky about BM> putting things back where they belonged, nothing out that that BM> shouldn't be out (get, use, put away). May have been an attempt to BM> compensate for some memory loss. NB> So you couldn't rely on seeing the object to remind yourself to NB> show and tell for her.... ;) Put your note in your daily NB> calendar, loose, and keep moving it as the time progresses.... ;) There are ways to give myself reminders. BM>> Yes. My Mother's camera is still 35mm film - apparently she's not the BM>> only one as can purchase and develop at two or three stores convenient BM>> to her. She has said usually only a few boxes of film available and BM>> she does look at the dates to be certain not expired and will last a BM>> while in her camera. NB>> That's what my camera is, but I've not taken any pictures for ages NB>> now... less need/opportunity to do so than previously... BM> I too take less pictures - less opportunities in general (Vienna trips BM> aside: click-click-click-click-click!!!). OTOH when I do take BM> pictures I take more as "plenty of film" and if take two or three of BM> essentially the same one will have someone's eyes closed, another will BM> have an odd shadow, .... NB> Makes sense.... usually I'm with others who are busy taking the NB> pictures... and with their digital cameras or phones, so the NB> results are just about instantaneous.... Right, my Mother has had that also; people say they'll print a few pictures to give to her and they never do. BM> Also take for fun stuff. Local 4 o'clock 'happy news' had a segemnt BM> on a polar bear cub at the Vienna Zoo. Take a picture of the screen, BM> transfer to a letter to my Aunt. ...OK, I'll admit it's easier if the BM> show is recorded and can get the camera! I don't have the phone's BM> camera on and me watching TV through the camera screen! (Jeopardy! is BM> on locally at 4:30: record that and tell MythTV to start early.) NB> Yes, viewing after the fact from recording does make it easier to NB> stop and get the camera out to get the shot... :) And I don't know if my Aunt has seen those pictures: I think the letter was to arrive about the time she fell, so might be in her mailbox. NB>> ... A computer addict needs 26 hours in a day, all 8 days of the NB>> week BM> Well they did say the Earth used to rotate at 25 hours instead of the BM> current 24. And why are there seven days instead of eight? NB> Because that's where God quit creating....? ;) Forgot that little detail! ¯ ® ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ® ¯ @Q.COM ® ¯ ® .... 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