The Swamp is Almost Finished

The bog has been eliminated, and fortunately for the residents of McNaughten Village it was obliterated before the Federal Government could declare it a wetland, thus putting it out of reach of the people who live next to it.

Pro Patch Truck

Our fair city is using the Pro Patch Asphalt Pothole Patcher, a system manufactured by H.D. Industries in Jacksonville, TX. The system seems to work well in spite of our inclement climate.

The Pothole Patched

The pothole is filled in with asphalt and recovered with this massive steel plate.  Presumably the plate will be removed sometime in the future - hopefully before the scavengers find it and haul it away to sell to a scrap yard.

Good job, guys!

Fatal Fire and Smoke Detectors

Woman Killed In Far East Side Fire Identified

From the article:
According to [CFD Battalion Chief] Martin, the fire started when Kelsor [the deceased] apparently began cooking food and fell asleep. There were no working fire detectors in the home.

Personally, I hate smoke detectors.  The one in my kitchen goes off when it shouldn't, and it's a guarantee that your smoke detector will go off at 3:00 AM when its batteries are low.  All that said, if this homeowner had kept working smoke detectors in her home, her family wouldn't be stricken by grief and planning a funeral.

Our homes are literally connected, so please, make sure you have working smoke detectors in your home.

Draining the Swamp, Part II

The racket that disturbed my early morning slumber is, quite unexpectedly, the water department.  Judging by the equipment, this was more than just a slight leak in the water pipe, and by that I don't mean drainage, I mean water inlet.  This used to be called the water main busted, but that was quite a few years ago.  I have no idea how people refer to it these days.  Not my concern, maybe?

View From My Window

I guess the sign should read, "Repair in Progress".

Draining the Swamp

Cowboy wisdom: If you ever find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.  In this case, shutting off the water that's flooding the yard is a step in the right direction, and wonder of wonders, that's what actually might happen while we're all still young.

The Swamp

Either someone is trying (unsuccessfully) to establish a cranberry bog, or there's a leak in the water supply pipe.  Check the pics below:

A River Runs Through It

I hope the city of Columbus does something about this in the very near future, because pretty soon the runoff will start freezing and become a safety hazard.