My new

song is here

Home floods - essentials to know

A different direction here - a break from the emotional rantings - some of you may be highly relieved. Relax, read and enjoy the information I just learned at a class in town:


“Do it yourself” has consequences – personal fan and heater can incubate mold if insured homeowner tries to remediate mold on his/her own without professional help

Causes Washing machine hose is number one source of water damage inside – ice maker lines, dishwashers, toilets, water heaters also, nail in pipe – can go in when owner is working on home project using drill – will rust and develop as a slow leak – can take months to exhibit itself –

Personal protection: Filters for mold protection – N95 can be purchased from Home Depot – Interstate Safety Supply sells here locally in Sparks – as far east on Glendale as possible, turn right – latex gloves are good idea – Purcell also good as sanitizer. “Fit test” for respirator – qualitative – is it working, quantitative – how many particles are getting through. WET company cannot give their employees a respirator until this is done. HEPA recommended for what an adjuster would be exposed to. Tyvek suits – breathable suit to hold particulants and contaminants out, to be used once and then discarded. Consult with physician – Hepatitis B and Tetanus shots are highly recommended. Tyvek suits also helpful to protect against brown recluse and black widow spider bites. Wet and slippery floor is one of most common hazards.

Approved National Standard Institute – this is the extraction industry standard and they hold up in court – if extraction company or insurance company can use these standards they can cover themselves if they are questioned for mold later developing if challenged in court – the basis for this course – if you deviate from it, it needs to be justified – also can apply in bad faith cases “S500” is the particular standard

Asbestos testing – regardless of age, unless it is proven not to be there, required for testing if extraction employee is going to be doing any type of demolition for OSHA reasons – commercial properties and multi-residential over 4 units (condominium) – WET will test regardless if house is earlier than 1984 –

Initial Phone call from insured for flood – Advise insured: Preserve and protect property, get objects off floor, shut off water if possible, there are consequences of delayed action, is the source of water corrected

Drying carpet – if carpet has to come out, they will take it out – but they often “tent” carpet to help dry out subfloor – a lot of it depends on the backing used – delamination is not necessarily a function of age, more quality of carpet – WET will look at time it “should” have taken to dry it out – they try not to bill if they attempt to dry and then have to take it out anyways – regarding staining, furniture stains will not come out, rust stains from metal – if it is just discolored from water alone, WET is pretty confident that they can clean out the discoloration from water alone

Important documents/papers – If discovered within 24 hours and frozen within 48 hours, then can be preserved by freeze drying if contamination not issue. Sublimation – taking something from solid to vapor without ever becoming liquid – cost is about 75 dollars a cubic foot, plus shipping costs to ship to out of state facility.

Water migration - Check everywhere, moisture sensors, non-penetrating meters for inspecting sub-floors below hard surface flooring. “Hyrdosensor” moisture sensor – looks like a rifle with a metal pole attached – walk into room – all it will do is give initial indicator of where carpet is wet – can tell if pad is still wet. Voltage meter used to detect electrical current for water in crawlspace. Non-penetrating meters will check moisture without causing any damage.

High value area rugs – has to be cleaned thoroughly, immersed in biocide, re-cleaned and re-dried, clearance testing when exposed to category 3 black water – not worth saving if under 1,00 dollars in value

Micro-organisms – fungi/mold – reproduce – live as parasites or saprophytes, posses a body with rigid cell walls, simple plants that lack choorphyll, some species active when wet humidity above 60% Rh (relative humidity) , feed and grow by absorbing digested matter, most fungi thrive in moist and warm environment, after one or more conditions for growth reducing likelihood of fungi reproducing, by nature mold uses air currents to disperse its mold spores to other territories for survival and reproduction. Never just blow air on mold without scrubber otherwise mold spores will spread. Air flow is good to prevent mold from developing. Mildew is mis-used term for growth on plants. Prefers damp dark environment, 68 to 86 degrees. Acid growth substances are needed, most mold will not grow colder than 55 or warmer than 115 degrees. Potential food sources for mico-organisms: carpet adhesives, organic soils within structure, carpet fibers, upholstery, paper (drywall, books, documents, photos) and wood framing, floors walls and tackless strips. Spores are the reproductive aspect of mold. Mold is like a tree with seeds, but grows very quickly.


Pet odors - Shellac based product will seal subfloor for pet odors, Kilz will not work.

Mold on base level drywall – you do not want to just take off baseboard and expose to carpet, it is important to keep it contained or taped so that mold on baseboard does not contaminate carpet (MDF medium density fiberboard is thin coat on particle board – majority of existing baseboard) – if it is water damaged, it has to be replaced – solid wood can be saved - use razor knife to avoid pulling texture off wall

Water damaged materials

Materials physically damage and swell – particle board beneath vinyl if swollen has to come out, laminated wood flooring has to be replaced. Wet insulation means wall is coming out. Drywall is gypsum powder between two pieces of paper. It becomes fragile when wet and more stable as it dries. Wet drywall can be saved, but if it is pulling loose from fasteners it has to come out. This is the reason for drilling holes at base area – a lot of the time it can be saved by doing this if it is not coming from fasteners. Water marks on ceiling will reflect the taped areas where the drywall connects to the studs since the water will penetrate the nailed areas at the holes – will also show up at the on center stud points as circles between the tape lines. Decision to drywall is also a function of how cost effective it is to dry/repair vs. replace. Hydroscopic material means it absorbs water. Engineered wood floor more difficult to preserve than pure wood due to glue and materials added to wood.

Carpet delamination

Causes include water, improper installation, excessive foot traffic, over aggressive extraction, and improperly specified carpet cushion (particularly berber carpet). There are two layers – primary and secondary backing. When carpet is wet it looses 50 percent of its strength, so extreme efforts to dry can cause it to delaminate. Folding carpet can cause damage, and rolling it up can also scratch walls. Decision to repair or replace – category 2/3 will warrant replace. Reasons to restore – good condition, expensive high-quality, customer preference, matching issues. Reasons to replace – wear, delamination, stains/mold, customer preference. Carpet awl tool and knee kicker are tools used to ensure proper removal and reduce risk of damage to backings. Iron on top of wet terry towel can be used to remove seamed areas to pull apart/melt glue at tape. Avoid pulling seams if possible. Other option is to use carpet rake and to pull out pad from under seamed area.

Aggressive drying

This means primary focus on drying vs. replacement – drying wet materials with no disruption to installation, leaving highly porous materials means more need for equipment.

Submersible pump

7.48 gallons of water in one cubic foot – large pumps removed 2400 gallons per hour and 600 gallons per hour for smaller pump – amount of time to remove is number of cubic feet times 7.48 gallons of water divided by gallons per hour capacity of machine (2400 or 600 in case above). Weight = number of gallons x 8.34 for total pounds

Flood cuts – reason for height cut into the wall – 2 feet beyond visible mold is to go beyond the visible mold for mold that cannot be seen. At 2 feet sheet can be split, or at 16 inches sheet can be split in thirds.

Air machines for mold

Air scrubber and negative air machine is the same machine but set up differently. Air scrubber – uses HEPA filtration machine – air runs through it and clean air comes out the other side – particulates are filtered out along with dust, mold, particulates – filters last 6 to 12 months – they mostly can re-used per job, with exception of hospital – it is bagged and re-used – it should not show up on a bill – it is maintenance and should be built into the cost as line item. Two outside filters used before third filter HEPA filter is reached and the item per day cost reflects those charges, those are replaced about once a day. Length x width x height = cubic feet – also height of ceiling times floor area. 4 air exchanges one hour is optimal. At window area, duct is run out the window so that air is pulled out from room – negative means air is pulled out of room – air scrubber is used as negative air machine ones it pulls air out of room, but it is still the same machine. They are used to clean the air to get the spores out. Generally one machine used per contained area, unless it is a very large area.

Aerosolization

Process where contaminants below surface – such as sewage – become airborne – care must be taken to prevent from happening during removal process

Moisture meters

Dry standard used to compare non –dry for moisture readings

Contamination category

Amount of contamination – category 1 – clear water – category 2 – some contaminants – within 48 hours can move up to ---category 3 – human waste, sewer water, prolonged category 2 – category 2 pad must come out, category 3 all carpet and pad must go

Classes of water exposure (amount of equipment based on class) The more standing water, the faster the evaporation rate
Class 1 – small section of room – not a lot of water – slow evaporation rate
Class 2 - majority of room – and affected walls 24 inches or less, faster evaporation rate
Class 3 – entire room – wet ceilings and walls carpet and pad with water more than 24 inches – fastest evaporation rate
Class 4 – specialty drying – wet materials with low permeance/porosity – hardwoods, subfloor, plaster, brick

Hydroscopic

Term meaning matierals that absorb water – term applies to particle board

Removing wet drywall

Be aware of asbestos and lead paint – 1978 and 1979 homes had lead paint

I believe that what you sing to the clouds, will rain upon you when your sun has gone away

Not too much this week - I mean there is a lot going on - my daughter is going to have to undergo some serious tests requiring hospitalization, but overall - life goes on. It has been pointed out that I complain - yes - I do - but if that is all that is seen here, then the point is being clearly missed. Yep - life sucks some times - yes there are a lot of obstacles to deal with, and some times a lot has to be taken away so that everything is put into perspective, but through all of the tough times - what gets me through it is one thing - faith. That is the point I try to come away with here, it may be a point that is missed with all of the other items I delve into - after all - a clear exposing of all of my personal issues, fears, phobias, depressions and neuroses might be seen like whipping out my privates to some - but hey - we all got feelings - I just don't have a problem with - to a degree anyways - expressing them. In this society is still considered taboo to do that, especially coming from a guy. Along the way, one's own projections and issues come into play and hence some of the negative reactions I get here. I just know I am still here, and I can survive in the face of a lot of unpleasant emotions, and life situations - because I do have an overhwelming faith in something good - a force of love, God, Goddess, nature - the world around me - that gets me through it. Without that - I don't know how I would do it.

When I first heard the song below, the lead singer called upon a hippie lady who seemed to know the words from the audience and she sang it - braless and flapping away, clearly uninhibited and then he was joined by members of the audience, so I couldn't really pick out the words until later, but I just love the message - it is a message that no matter how much life gets you down, keep on going, keep on pursuing and then the "rainbow comes". It helped to sing this song when my testicles felt like they were going to explode in pain when they were hurting now long ago. I just learned the chords - a basic G C F Am and it is a nice one to play out in the backyard with a view of the mountains and the wind blowing through the trees. I felt like I could have written it myself, but obviously someone else thought of it first. There is a line about friends in there - I am thankful for the many that I do have who come in here to read this. You may not make your presence known but I know you are there.

Yes I Will - Michael Franti

I received a letter, that you wrote me, On a dark, cold and cloudy day.
Reminded me on the side of the road, You'll find a light you'll find a friend you'll find a way.
Well today i'm feelin' all broke down, I ain't got the faintest clue 'bout what to do,
Can't comprehend the situation at hand, So i'll try my best just to get back home to you.

Keep on walkin' now, (yes i will,)
Keep on takin' bout it (yes i will.)
Keep on singin' bout it (yes i will,)
Keep on ringing out (yes i will.)

I believe that what you sing to the clouds, Will rain upon you when your sun has gone away,
And I believe that what you dream to the moon, Will manifest before you rest another day.
So stay strong, and sleep long, and when you need to Let the morning take you out right on through the day, hey hey,
And when you find you're at the end of the road, Just lift your head up, spread your wings and fly away, come on yall!

When you lost and alone, that's when a rainbow comes. When your lost and alone that's when a rainbow comes for you

Got to scrape that shit right off your shoes

Thanks to the Stones for that line from Sweet Virginia

Let me start by going audience participation today - today's gem comes from my last post:

"Miles Greenburg said...
I have a friend who, through pure torture, asked me to read your recent post. He asked me to explain it to him... but all I have to say is, "WHAT???!" You write a lot but never seem to come to a point. I don't doubt your life is just as pointless"

Hey Miles - if that is your real name - somehow I think it might be something else, but let's just say that really is your name. Let me address your concerns here.

As to the point - that I practically beat you over the head with in my last writing, if I have to explain a point that is that clearly spelled out in high school English (I am not one on big words) - then - well - I don't know what to tell you brother. Read it again, bring it to your ninth grade teacher for an explanation. There aren't any big words in there or anything- it is pretty straightforward. It does require like - a slight bit of intuition since it does go into the realm of human emotions, and if you are as completely disconnected from yours as you seem to be, well - it might be a little confusing for you and your - err.. FRIEND. (I won't even ask you to explain your friend). I wouldn't go around advertising that you didn't get what I wrote - if it is too complex for you, I might suggest such fine shows on PBS as Sesame Street or the Teletubbies. Come on Miles - how can you not get the point of what I wrote?

Now if you don't like what I wrote - that's fine - you don't have to. Maybe my writing style is complete shit as far as you are concerned. Based on your contributions here, I am as equally unimpressed with your style - so we are even there. But assume you are right - and this is a bunch of rank, whining, hysterical, pointless bullshit - which causes a reaction of torture on your end - given that - explain why you are still reading this. It may seem like a wild concept to you, but when I see something I don't like, I stop reading it. Like I said before, that is why I read no other blogs - they don't interest me - but you are still here buddy. I suspect you are getting something out of it. Maybe you love to hate it - some people see crappy movies for that reason - even then, you must find some value - otherwise, you would simply disappear. The fact is Miles - like it or not - you are hooked. You can't walk away even if you wanted to. I appreciate the compliment Miles - you are taking the time, effort and energy to read my shit. It may be torture for you Miles, but you keep coming back for more.

As far as my life being pointless Miles - once upon a time it was, some time I even feel at times it can be. But what makes my life meaningful is my ability to write, even if you in your infinite wisdom think what I write - sucks. I have positive feedback from others and my wife likes to hear what I wrote every Sunday morning. It brings us together in times that are tough. It also makes me feel good to write it, and expressing myself here, musically and in other realms has in fact given my life meaning. That's the point for me, even if to you it is pointless. I am going to go out on a limb Miles and state that you are projecting your own pointlessness onto my writings. After all, you ever want to hear how someone feels about themselves, just see what they have to say about someone or something else.

Thanks for being a part of my audience Miles - you'll keep coming back. In the words of Frank Zappa:

You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help . . . no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold

Love is like a faucet - it turns off and on

About halfway through writing this I finally realized Billie Holiday had the best quote for this stretch of writing:

I haven't thought of the title for this yet, but I imagine Peter Gabriel covered this in his Us album somewhere so when I can think of the right lyric to cover this it will show up there. Last week I talked about my past quite extensively - and maybe the reason I am so stuck upon it is I see the connection between my past and present life quite often, especially when I am going through yet another emotional storm - as these storms seem to come and go like the ones in the physical environment. I wasn't even sure about writing about this here as it is pretty personal, but I have to write about it somewhere, so it might as well be here.

Right now I am reading a pretty interesting book by Deepak Chokra called Life After Death. I have leaned toward believing something lies after our passing, but obviously I can't prove it one way or the other - and his citing of near death experiences does not prove anything necessarily either, but also re-reading Ram Dass - a book called The Only Dance There Is - both books talk about karma - and I have touched on it before. I think particularly if you have gone through a troubling experience - one that continues to occur in my case as the result of a past one, than accepting karma makes it a smoother pass than falling into the angry victim path.

This all falls upon my belief that I have altered between two extremes - on the one side of love, nourishment, and acceptance - on the other side between hatred, emotional starvation, and rejection. In my life the way I chose to deal with them has been in three phases - the first - in my childhood - the "comfortably numb" (thanks to Roger Waters) approach - tuning it out - not really accepting what was happening and living in an empty spiritual void. The second - when my emotions finally had to balance things out, to go to a bi-polar extreme - one of feelings of great despair to the point of wanting to end my life, but on the opposite extreme - realizing there was a whole world of spiritual wonder to be experienced, that I never knew about until I got high on my own brain's malfunction. I think drugs like marijuana and then finally psychedelic mushrooms may have paved the way for that high, but I think that experience brought me to see that if I could get there - in a slightly more toned down version, I could experience the world as a spiritual magic type of place instead of a spiritual lacking void. At the same time I experienced the "mania" - not a word that I like much, but that's what people called it - I tapped into a huge vast unexplored world of anger - which is why my parents changed the locks on the doors. I was never a physical threat to anyone, as even in my angriest state I did a lot more screaming than hitting - but it was clear that my psyche was finally catching up with what it perceived to be a pretty unjust state of affairs - mainly that there is only so much emotional abuse, humiliation, taunting and hatred one can be exposed to before finally something extreme is going to happen.

So phase two - so to speak - was one where doors were opened, in that I could see a place I could be where I could know some concept of "God" on a pretty personal level - as that can happen when you are convinced that you are an Estimated Prophet (thanks Mr. Weir) living out the full extent of that song. So in this place where my doors were opened, I knew a place of holiness and extreme anger - both at the same time. 20 years is a long time to be angry without even knowing how angry you are, and even though it erupted in a volcano I stayed angry for a long time even after my neurotransmitters settled down a bit. So after I had a crush on a sweet young lady at my job, that turned obsessive and then erupted into further emotions where I went from feeling in love with her to hating her guts, well - that anger cycle stayed on - and after I went into the mandatory therapy required by my company, my shrink then convinced me that my parents were the most evil, horrific people in existence - and then I really felt angry at them - because they were the ones who had done this to me.

So - at phase three here - I can't tell you my anger is gone - I raised my voice at home the other day after a long trip - I can say I was tired - exhausted - I can come up with excuses, but ultimately it is on me - my anger has diminished, I try to do all I can to live in a state where it does not consume me - and on paper - I know it is only a fraction of what it once was. Part of this is thanks to therapy, part of it due to all the eastern books I have read - including an excellent one I already cited by Thich Nhat Hanh about Cooling The Flames - but I am delusional if I ever think it will ever entirely leave me - and the reality is once in a while I probably am going to blow up. Hopefully it will happen less and less, for a shorter and shorter time, but my anger is a part of who I am - it has gone from suppressed, to out of control, to finally an occasional erupting.

But this actually was not meant to be just about anger - which is a part of the equation - but more my alternating between love and rejection - because I know on some level that this lifelong search for love is the center of my karma. In my relationships - all of them - and of course that goes without saying that my marriage is my longest and most important - I have experienced both extremes, and the pendulum swings back between one and the other. So I can cry victim, I can talk crap about my wife and how evil she is and everything is wrong that she does, or I can realize that on a karmic level - I chose her to live out this alternating set of extremes, and if it was not here it would be somewhere else. That notion of an elusive mate who will love you all the time, take care of every need and desire of yours - hell - I bet if she was out there, I wouldn't know what to do with her. Early on in my relationship with my wife, when the pattern was starting to unfold - I realized there was a bit of a deja-vu here - that she was reminding me of every relationship I had experienced that had failed - and I on some level - when I was trying to track her down at Balboa Park for a meeting that had gone all wrong - this must have been in the summer of 1996 when I first started dating her - I realized that if I didn't face it with her, it was going to be with someone else - so why fight it and instead just take it where it was going to take me.

So - 11 years later - almost now - here we are. We have had some wonderful times together - when it is going good with her, I sometimes feel like I have died and gone to heaven and can't believe how well I have it. And of course, when things are not going so well - well - you can put two and two together. At this point in our lives, with both of our hormones going south - hers approaching menopause, mine approaching "manopause" - a phrase coined in the paper, and then the stress of a child who has symptoms that keep her from sleeping and going to school, the long search for treatment - the setting puts a ton of pressure on us. We have cultural differences, differences of where we want to live, we have the predictable conflicts about physical intimacy - we have come to a truce in the past regarding a lot of these, but at this point in life - it is pretty tense, I am sure the notion of separation and divorce starts to float out there once again - and really who knows what will happen. I am not a fortune teller. I know 11 years into the longest relationship I have ever been in, I can see why people have affairs, I can see why half of the people get divorced, I can see why for the other half that sticking it out is sometimes the most difficult task anyone can deal with. Ironically enough we turn to marriage for love and companionship, but in the end I think it can only last if you know how to survive on your own and find a way to meet your own needs so that you are not imposing them upon another individual.

So - the opposite end of the pendulum - the one I am obviously experiencing now, brings me back to my life task - the one I have experienced from birth - and that is to find within myself that which a human being can never provide me with. Although I have no subscribed religion, the notion of a Goddess figure - is kind of my do it yourself approach to dealing with this, borrowed somewhat from Pagan and Wiccan religions, but I am not really into the spells and potions and all the stuff that goes with it. It is my task to find the love I am seeking in my own spirituality - that has to come first - before it can be physically lived out. Hell - my poor wife is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, she has issues and tasks of her own, she is isolated, exhausted, hurt and how can I expect her to be my saviour. Right now she has to be where she is, and I have to be where I am and it feels like two people living alone in the same house. Maybe it will get better, maybe it will get worse - maybe it will just stay the same - but this is what it has to be and this has been what I have chosen on some level - my karmic choice, my destiny. I know for myself running away from this is not the answer - after all - "there really isn't very far to go" as a wise Hunter once said.

So - here I am - it ain't easy - it is sad, but life goes on. The mountains are still beautiful, the sky is still blue, I still wake up and life happens - there are people to meet and deal with, dogs to walk, songs to hear, and music to play.

So the lyrics I just wrote a couple days ago - will finish this post - just have now uploaded (link here): My space the video - as this entire post is kind of a lead up to the ideas expressed below:


My Sweet Love

Come now too me my sweet love
Nurturing love, beautiful love
Open up your loving sensual arms
Massage me with them, caress me with them
You know how much I'm hurting now my love
I've sought you out in others who couldn't provide you, my love
Heal this broken bleeding heart my love
Let me float inside your belly - my sweet love

Come now too me my sweet love
Unconditional love, all accepting love
Take me just the way that I am
Don't ask me to change, or even to explain - my love
You know how much I need you now my love
Appear to me this moment, right now - love
Fill my heart with soothing, calming medicine
Let me merge together with you my love

Be now here with me my love
Fill my lips with the sweetest, soothing kiss
Come and cry with me my love
Let our pain become one, our souls - become one
Now's the time to hold each other love
And to drown out all our sorrows in our love
Please don't ever leave me my sweet love
Come to me love, be with me now my love

Hold me now forever my sweet love