Better the Devil You Know

Three days ago, this headline appeared in the Los Angeles Times:
Scientists: Big Quake Likely in California

Which is little like saying:

Bartenders: Heavy Drinking Likely on New Year's Eve

Duh.

But then today, we had this headline:
5.2 Earthquake Shakes Up Midwest

Interesting.

You always hear stories about how Californians are not prepared for The Big One. K and I have done what we can. We have extra supplies of bottled water, canned food and plenty of cat food. Of course, it's all in the basement, so if that collapses, we're out of luck. Yes, we have the rare California basement. Relatively rare. I think its an advantage of the house's age. Yay, more storage!

In addition to food and water, we have $1 bills on hand (for when the ATMs all shut down). We keep shoes by the bed. Actually, I keep plenty of shoes by the bed. You never know. And, I keep walking shoes in the car.

And, we’ve had our foundation reinforced. Maybe I’ll have K blog about that one day. He loves to show off the extra-supported cripple walls. I don't know much about the process because whenever K gives the tour, I always fixate on the very un-comforting name - cripple walls.

And yes, there are flashlights but I can never find one when I want one. Their whereabouts seems to be a secret K likes to keep to himself. Fine.

But my greatest comfort lies in knowing that we live within spitting distance of the Wilshire fault and the house has managed to survive for 99 years, so far. We all take comfort where we can. I don't like the idea of the Big One but no one I know worries about it.

I was in the Midwest once - for a weekend. As soon as I stepped off the plane, I started worrying about tornadoes. I was in Nebraska and I thought it as brown and flat as a Triscuit. A perfect twister breeding ground. My hotel room was on the 13th floor and I was constantly looking out the window.

I had a aunt who lived in Texas with a special obsession with tornadoes. She had a cellar. I remember it as dark and there were always spiders. Faced with a tornado or a dark room full of spiders, I'm not sure which I'd choose. I'm glad I don't have to make that decision.

Tornado attacks seem personal, directed. Not like earthquakes. Earthquakes are democratic. When they hit, they hit everybody. Not just the few. Not just the trailer parks. Earthquakes spread their destruction around. Tornadoes destroy like a laser beam. And they have a season! No thanks.

So I imagine those people in Illinois were pretty surprised this morning. I'm sure many were frightened. As frightened as I would be to see a tornado roaring up Sunset Blvd.

But lucky me, I have a basement.

So which natural disaster most concerns you? And are you prepared?

Yikes! Better Get Those Stimulus Checks Out!

. . . and then this afternoon, the main story was this:

99-Cent Store Cooking

Et nobis?

These were the top two news stories on Yahoo! this morning:

When You Should Expect Your Tax Rebate Check

and

Celebs Take A Spill On Dancing With The Stars

Can anyone say “Bread and Circuses?”

Hot Enough?

I’ve heard people say that Los Angeles has no seasons. Those people have never lived in Los Angeles.

We have seasons.

We have Awards Season

We have the Bowl Season

We have Fire Season

and we have the Holiday Shopping Season

And in between each season there are subtle changes in weather.

Or not so subtle.

For example, last Friday was pleasantly perfect. Yesterday it was ridiculously hot, somewhere in the 90’s. And as I type this it is 93 degrees outside.

And it’s only mid-April.

Of course, as soon as we take the comforter off the bed, the nighttime temperature will drop by 20 degrees. It’s a little game we play with the gods every year. They always win.

I’ve started taking more frequent walks in my neighborhood. The problem is that I am not an early riser and by the time I manage to drag my lazy self out onto the pavement it is already up into the high 80’s.

Oooh, but what a pleasure it is to return to my cool, cool house. Way too many trees shade us on our eastern side but they are much appreciated on these days. And all the insulation recently stuffed into the walls and into the attic will really make a difference this summer, otherwise known as Hollywood Bowl Season.

I'm not a Fan of the Turbine Fan

K and I were talking about the whole house fan thing and why we don’t need one of those turbine-like fans on our roof. Apparently, back in 1909, houses were built with attics that were vented on two sides, allowing air to move freely. So air is drawn up into our attic and hot air is moved out through the open attic. Later, homes were made with sealed attics, thus necessitating the installation of the turbine fan.

I am in no way endorsing John McCaine, but sometimes older is better. And sometimes, way older is way better. I was fascinated by an article about sustainability in this month’s Dwell. (yes, I live in a Craftsman but with fantasies of a Modern.)

The article mentioned Windcatchers. I’m a theatre geek, not an engineering geek; I understand nothing about how anything works and I am rarely curious about the mechanics of things.

But I have to say, this Windcatcher thing was fascinating! The Windcatcher is a method of cooling used in ancient Persia. It's basically a ventilation shaft that takes advantage of natural air flow to control interior temperatures.

Wikipedia does a good job of explaining the concept here. But the May issue of Dwell, gives a good explanation without dwelling on the details, in an article on The Lighthouse, a model for sustainable architecture in the London area.

The system doesn't work in all environments. The conditions have to be right for air movement. But it did make me wonder why such simple and low tech temperature control methods would be abandoned in 20th century architecture. Was it all a conspiracy to sell turbine fans and air conditioning units?

Another Window! We're on a Roll!

As you'll recall, when we started, the kitchen window looked like this:

And yes, that is what my cabinets and counter top looked like. But I take responsibility for the color. Just a test.

This afternoon, it looked like this:

With a view like that, why would we even think of ordering opaque glass?

Here's the new Pella, ready and waiting for service

Because the new window is not as wide as the old one, a bit of framing on the side was required (it's because of the cows that we needed a smaller window. It will all make sense later. Trust me.)

The new window goes in . . .

A couple of pieces of plywood cover the new framing until drywall can be applied (oh no! not more dust!)

And the days of louvered windows letting dirt and dust into my kitchen are gone forever!

And in case you're wondering about the kitten, she returned from her bath more beautiful than ever:

But still not willing to stand still and pose for a nice, clear photograph:

A Window! Woo Hoo!

The 3 windows from Lowe's arrived on Thursday. K dragged them up all 17 steps from the street and one of them was put into place on Saturday.

This was the window space in the library back in November when the demolition began. I don't think I have a picture from prior to this. But believe me, it was not a pretty sight. The window was another ratty louvered one, with an a/c unit at the bottom that didn't quite fit - so they made up the difference with a board.

Here's the same space with the new drywall. Contrary to appearances, the ladder is not a permanent fixture.

K installs flashing.

This beauty awaits her debut.

I made a quick trip to Trader Joe's. By the time I returned, it was in!





Ta-da!

Grilles and screens are still in the box. Next up, the side-facing window for the living room and a window for the kitchen. We expect the two special windows that are coming directly from Pella to arrive this week.

Yay!