This is not a plea to have you heart me and follow me here on DKos. i have a tale to tell and it requires that you follow along the trail.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group gives Kossacks a safe place to check in, a daily diary where we can let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, earthquakes, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It also allows us to find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, earthquakes etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a Kosmail and ask to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
We do have a diary schedule. But, when you are ready to write that diary, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMOM a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FloridaSNMOM is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
Monday:
BadKitties
Tuesday:
ejoanna
Wednesday:
Caedy
Thursday:
art ah zen
Friday:
FloridaSNMOM
Saturday:
Most Awesome Nana
Sunday:
loggersbrat
The bottom line in this story is "What if the state offers us money to remove our lawn and change over to drought tolerant and/or native California plants?" How can that be a problem you ask. Well, we don't water the front yard, lawn or plants. Everything stays pretty green without interference from us. We have not done much looking that gift horse in the mouth for a few reasons, but the main one is we think the drain pipe to the street, through our front yard, may be leaking. That would explain the lack of additional watering required to keep the drought tolerant plants and the tiny bit of lawn we have there doing well. However, we also have a problem of the house shifting and settling in that same direction, resulting in some surface damage to stucco and plaster, and a cracked beam in the garage that has been stabilized with a larger steel beam. We did not consider that water leaking may be eroding the soil under the foundation until very recently.
If we dig up the yard and find leaky pipes, they will have to be replaced. That ends the gray water feeding of the plants. If the soil has eroded around the foundations, that will have to be repaired and the house righted. That is not unusual here in earthquake country.
We need a new roof; ours leaks in our bedroom where the addition joins the original house. That work was done before we bought the house. The ceiling has damage from leaks over the years and will need repair too.
So what starts with replacing the lawn with drought tolerant landscaping with a little seed money from the state ends up in MAJOR money to bring the house up to snuff. Then the inside walls will have to be patched and painted, the last 3 old windows will need to be replaced, the floors will need to be sanded and resealed. Can I shoot myself now? I mean, I probably wouldn't live long enough to pay it all off!
OR....I can ignore it all for as long as possible and deal with it when I have to. The place is not falling on our heads. No one has offered me any money. Its beautiful outside now and I think I'll go walk Razzle. Have a good day all.