Roof

Several weeks back now, a rather sudden burst of wind and rain hit our house with such force that it peeled the back side (west side) of the roof off. I was changing Madeline on the landing upstairs when I saw the trees down the street start bending and shaking, then the wind hit our house like a compact car. Immediately, bits of shingle and flashing started blowing by the window, and then I heard a sickening sound of something big sliding down the roof.

Michelle and Ella were in the basement when a 5′ by 10′ segment of shingles just slid off the roof on to the ground. We went outside to look and realized the wind had basically picked up the corner of the roof and just peeled the newest layer of shingles back for about half of the backside of the roof. Some of 50’s era shingles had been blown off to, leaving bits of the original cedar shake, and in some places, ship lath, exposed. Michelle and I looked at each other in horror as the rain continued to fall until we realized that we’d actually have to do something so the inside of our house didn’t get soaked.

So, we called my parents to see if they could watch the girls, Michelle ran down to harbor freight to get a big-ass tarp, and I read about how to tarp a roof on the internet. I know – pretty obvious stuff right?

My dad brought over the truck and ladders, I got out my climbing rope and harness, and we set about removing as much extra loose roof as possible before unfurling the massive tarp and nailing it to the roof. We rolled one end of the tarp in 2x2s for a nailing surface, then used other strips to hold the tarp’s edge to the side of the house and roof so it wouldn’t just blow away. We got the roof water-tight, called the insurance company, then barely slept that night listening as gusts of wind rippled over the giant sheet of blue plastic.

We got a few bids on the roof, and by the start of the following week, a dumpster and materials were dropped off. Then the roof came off on one side and was replaced by a new roof. The front side was more complex and took two days. I felt so bad for the roofers as it started to rain at the end of the second day. By the time they finished on the 3rd day, it was pouring. By mid-day on the 4th day, the whole thing was done – and it looked fantastic.

Then yesterday, minutes after paying the roofers, we heard a storm alert on the radio, specifically cautioning about high-winds that can do property damage. Luckily, none was done.

To sum things up

This is excerpted from the concluding remarks in my thesis:

Lastly, I postulate that if this research was repeated using a tool like Google Earth instead of a non-interactive web map that was specifically designed for children, the results would be different. The map and layers used in this test were designed to complement each other when combined. In a tool like Google Earth, the individual data layers come from a variety of sources and are not prepared with combinations in mind. I predict that maps in Google Earth would become more challenging to use, and response times would increase as layers were added. I suspect that this would be the case for adult map-users as well. Since there is currently no cartographer or designer curating the combination of layers, the haphazard symbology, changes in scale, differences in data quality, a poorly designed key, a mish-mash collection of data provider logos, and the scourge of auto-label placement would result in a map equivalent of Frankenstein’s monster, not in a learning and exploration tool.

Yeah, i’m getting a little tired.

Early Results at Oregon Academy of Science

This past Saturday morning I presented the early findings of my thesis work at the Oregon Academy of Science annual meeting. Despite the 8am presentation, the whole thing went well. My advisor encouraged me to do the presentation, not because he’s the section chair, but to give me an opportunity to practice for my coming defense this Spring. Also, it forced me to prepare a consumable explanation of what I’ve been doing the last couple years.

The presentation was a quick 15 minutes, but I think I was able to distill the results so far in to something that made sense to the audience. I received a number of great followup questions, and was happily able to respond to all of them. My advisor later said he was impressed at the presentation which in some way could be taken as a jab, but he’s not seen my findings yet. The draft I have now (and should be working on) is rather crude. But I should get back to that.

Eblen Freed goes live

Michelle Freed of Eblen Freed LLP
For those who haven’t heard, my wife is starting her own law practice. She and her friend Tim are Eblen Freed LLP, a Portland firm that works with families and small businesses. Now they’ve the website to prove it. I know this reads like a plug because it is. But I’m also very happy for my wife who is excited to return to family law and hopes to develop a collaborative practice. Currently, she and Tim are winding down full time employment at their previous firm and doing contract work with the firm while they grow the new practice.

So, if you know of anyone in need of legal services, feel free to give them my wife’s name. She’s damn good.

Madeline is 2 (officially)

It’s no secret that Madeline is a toddler, but today, at 8:50 am, we made it official. She and her sister are in the next room “bowling.” I’m not sure MG is in to it though, and Ella is trying to engage her. MG is in fact, now very clear that she wants to be doing something else, and is happy to tell Ella as much.

I’m amazed at what a little child she’s become. Chatty, clever, goofy, and cute as hell. Happy birthday little girl.

Sill face MG

Maui 2010

In Napili BayBack in the wet, dark spring of 2010, Madeline’s first birthday still fresh in our minds, Alaska Airline had a promotion where we could fly to Maui direct from Portland for $147 a ticket. It was too good to pass up, and Maddie was so small, she wouldn’t need a seat. So we planned for another November escape, though this time with just the immediate clan. Both for expediency’s sake, and for the chance to test out this whole “family travelling” thing. November however arrived, and Madeline is much more of a 2 year old than a 1 year old, and we were starting to question our decision to fly her as a lap infant.

The good news is that the flight, while it seemed longer than 5 1/2 hours, ended without any disasters. And then we were in Maui. We picked up our miniature rental car, picked up some groceries, then traversed the island to north of Lahaina on the west coast where we picked up a screaming deal on a condo. The condo was at Paki Maui, which was an excellent place for the girls. Playground and park next door, pool, and easy access to a gentle wading pool with a sand beach. It was also close enough to food and entertainment. The first night, after a wind-down on the playground, we visited Maui Brewing for dinner. The Island Hopper Red was a terrific way to start the decompression.

I’ll spare all the specific details of each day, but we found a pretty good formula that worked for us. Get up at 4-5am (DST and time-zone change are rough), Watch some sesame street, drink some cocoa and coffee, breakfast and pack a lunch. Lather up in sunscreen, put on suits, and head to the beach. Vary the beach, but enjoy it, eat lunch by 11am, play some more, then venture back to the condo to clean up a bit, relax, then start looking for food.

The beach that was most popular with the girls was Baby Beach just north of Lahaina’s waterfront. It’s protected by a reef, and even when the tide is up, the waves are miniscule. The sand is pretty good, there’s some shade, and the girls could play without a single worry. We even met a family from Beaverton with whom the girls played. It was fine, and I saw a squid, but probably wasn’t either Michelle or my favorite.

My favorite was Napili Beach, which was about 7 minutes north of our condo. The beach is much steeper, and the waves were pretty consistent and of enough size for adults to enjoy. That kind of wave isn’t much for for squirts though unless you’ve got your hands on them the whole time. Still, you could literally lay in the sand and let the water wash you 20-30 feet up the beach then back in to the ocean. Plus, the winter beach had a great drop that meant you could run and dive in to the water.

Michelle’s favorite was probably Po Olenalena Beach because it was the ultimate compromise beach. Great sand, gentle surf, no crowd, and even some snorkeling with turtles. It was about an hour drive from our condo, so we only made the trip once, but it really was delightful. We squatted at the south end near the rocks for about 5 hours and thoroughly enjoyed the place until the girls ran out of energy.

We visited Lahaina a couple times for dinner and to explore. I think everyone agrees that the giant banyan tree on the waterfront is the coolest thing in Lahaina. The food was mediocre and overpriced (Maui factor already included), but the Banyan was just an incredible thing. Giant swooping branches, tendrils reaching to lend a hand, and massive spans of tree that are unlike anything we have here. Michelle pointed out a branch that had the same girth, color, angle and texture of what we imagine a Brachiosauruses neck to be like. The girls loved frollicking under the massive canopy, and it took every ounce of rule following in my body to not only keep the girls from climbing, but to not climb the tree myself. (I added Swiss Family Robinson to the Netflix queue immediately after we got home).

At times, it felt like we weren’t seizing the trip by the horns and dashing out to see things like Hana, Haleakala, the Io Valley and so forth. But the girls couldn’t care less, and frankly, for this trip, neither could we. This was a perfect trip with the family and we hope to return again.

Here’s a slideshow:

Electrostatic precipitator

When we purchased our current home, the furnace situation was a bit of a mess. The furnace was an old oil-burning monster that had been converted to burn natural gas. The exhaust running through the crawl space was full of holes, and instead of a fabric air filter, it had an electrostatic precipitator. In theory, this was cool – precipitators use a negative charge on large plates to effectively remove particles from the air.

However, the precipitator didn’t work, and when we replaced the furnace with a much newer gas furnace, we asked the installer to remove the precipitator. He didn’t, saying it still worked and was good thing to have. Sadly, he was wrong about it working. So air just passed through it to a reusable filter below.

Then, when we remodled the basement, we built a wall around the entire unit to quiet the whole operation down. I left access panels on both sides for the filter and to access the furnace proper. It really quieted things down, which made the basement a much more pleasant place to be. Then, last winter, the furnace started acting up. Twice, the unit died. Once, the ignition element cracked, and the second time, the board died. On the service visit, Todd Morrison (who is awesome) recommended removing the precipitator because he felt there was some restriction on the airflow. I cleaned out what I could in the precipitator from below, but the top portion was now closed in by the wall. (whoops)

Yesterday I pulled out the fabric filter, grabbed the sawzall, a drill, and some tin snips and started taking apart the precipitator plates. It was dirty and slow. But then I hit the motherload. Atop the two metal plates (the positive then the negatively charged panels), I found a screen mesh that was clogged with suety, gross lint and nastiness. See.

I fired up the furnace, and the airflow was immediately improved. The air stunk of burnt oil, so I ran the unit for a while while everyone was gone with all the windows open. Now we should be in for a cheaper, warmer winter.