According to my husband, this is me and my plants in Texas.
So we’ve hit a bit of a delay writing-wise. We’ve been remodeling the office, and stuff has piled up, and now on top of everything else, we need a new work computer because the old computer is no more.
I spent Monday calling around looking for a new desktop and I swear, everywhere I called everything was sold out. Best Buy was sold out of desktops. I don’t know if it was the Memorial Day sale or Covid or what, but there was no computers to be had. I even checked Sams. Display models only.
Long story short, we are sitting here, metaphorically, since we are actually running around and putting together book cases and doing other stuff like that, and waiting for an all-in-one to be delivered from Amazon. They said it would be today, but nobody actually knows, because the shipping is all messed up.
Because we sit next to each other, the desk arrangement requires a bit of fiddling. We’ve already dismantled our set up in the house, so we’re kind of in between things. Once the computer arrives, we need to load up half a dozen of different programs on it. Ryder will be Friday or Saturday, heads up. We really need to talk to a Methodist minister for the next scene, and failing that, we may have to read a bit of stuff for research. Phhh. We also need to fix the flooding problem.
This is the culprit of the flooding.
This trench runs along the office wall and it’s blocked by a grate, otherwise small dogs escape. The trench clogs. We’ve already cleaned it twice this spring, and here it is, needs to be cleaned again. In our part of Texas, it rains hard. We get crazy thunderstorms, which is why Austin floods so often. The trench wouldn’t be a problem except that some genius did this awesome number when running AC and electric cables.
So, the trench backs up, fills with water, water runs between the cables, and we have a flood. I have no idea how to fix this. I don’t know whom to call to fix this. My solution would be to buy a can of expandable foam, stick it in there, and just fill it with as much foam as we can, but I am not sure it will work.
We have to solve this problem somehow, because otherwise we’re just asking for more flooding. So sorry guys, Ryder will be around the weekend.
Update: It’s 9:20 pm. Computer isn’t here. Grrr.
I hope the Hibiscus thrives, it’s beautiful. Good luck with the trench and I hope the computer finally arrived. I’m looking forward to Ryder, it’s been a huge bright spot during a horrible time, but I’ll be happy even if you give it to us weeks from now. I really appreciate this gift from you and Gordon.
I have a cousin who’s a Methodist pastor in Oklahoma City if you’d like to ask her some questions. I bet she’d be more than willing to answer. I have another cousin in some suburb of Houston who’s daddy was a Methodist pastor, and she’s a former librarian – she’d be more than willing to help an author. 🙂
If you like hibiscus, have you ever considered a poodle hibiscus?
I have a couple of women United Methodist ministers in my family and another (male) United Methodist minister I go to church with in case you are still looking for someone.
Hope you get everything resolved soon. I know home repair stuff is never fun while in the midst of it. Good luck.
I wish I knew more about your area. I had my last computer built for me. It is fantastic. Solid state so it’s super fast. And pricewise it was not much more than buying it from Dell or Best Buy. I hope you have a good luck getting your replacement computer. Take care
All the patching and spraying and digging and screaming in the world will not fix your flooding issue. I also live in a house where the easy way to be lazy was used when it was built. You can temporarily “fix” is with caulk, Flex Seal, or patching concrete, but the solution is to actually get someone who won’t cut your cables out there to open that concrete and get the cables out of it and above the ditch going into the house. Keep in mind that it’s cheaper to pay more to fix it right the first time than it is to fix it 99 times the wrong way. You lose less hair from ripping it out in frustration, too. I moved a lot of times, and I found that the best way to find someone to fix issues is to either call your local home insurance agent and ask them who can fix whatever it is or to contact a real estate seller who knows how to bring a house up to code before selling it. They know all the people who can fix stupid stuff nobody else will even look at.
I’m kind of surprised that you don’t know anyone who can put a computer together for you. When I need a new computer, I call the local guy and he gets me parts and puts them together for me. When my husband needs a new computer, he always wants a laptop, and he buys through my guy and gets it quickly. Dealers get things faster than customers.
Meanwhile, without choices, let Ryder slide for a little while. I’m sure than when you have what you need to work on it, your minds will have figured out where to take it and it’ll go quickly. As we have all told you time and again, we’ll be here when it’s been written.
Good luck with the hibiscus! When I had to live in Texas, I was told by my neighbors that bromeliads were about all that would live in that climate. Bleah!
Your hibiscus is so beautiful !!
Good luck with work, trench and flood ????????
OK, I facepalmed when I saw the half-assed way they did the wiring–my grandfather was a master electrician (probably spinning in his grave). No way that is to code. I would find out who did the pre-sale home inspection and lodge a complaint to the city/county Planning dept, code enforcement division. Then get a competent contractor to fix it properly. For the hibiscus using a large terracotta pot would be best. You can soak the clay and keep the roots cooler with evaporation. A wooden half barrel would also work, but stay away from plastic unless it is double walled. The pots heat up and cook the roots. At least once a week spray down the whole plant with water to keep the leaves clean (when it is shaded so the leaves don’t burn). Using a drip system on a timer will eliminate some stress on remembering if you watered or not. I’m enjoying the visit to the KD world, but it can wait until the Mundane issues are fixed.
I am sorry that you are having all of these difficulties. I used to be an electrician when I was in the Air Force and I am adding to many previous posts that your cables/conduit and trench set up is dangerous. I do think that hiring a licensed electrician would be a good idea. French drains would also be a good idea, I hope that things settle down for you and that someone has the perfect fix for you.
Please don’t worry about your story. It is a gift and whenever you are able to post it will be wonderful. It’s a pleasant surprise to see it in my email. Take care.
My daughter lives in Austin and there are hibiscus growing in her backyard (previous homeowner planted them, I guess. I know she would never plant anything in dirt. LOL)
I like Tiger Direct for computer shopping. Never had a problem with them.
Will take what I can get when I get it, as far as Ryder updates goes: you don’t have to apologize to ME!
Have no idea on your flooding trench problem. I think I would have an engineer look at it (especially if you have documentation for how it goes over time) for maybe redoing the whole damn thing. Personally, it seems really, really stupid to me to have electric running along a trench where water runs off.
Amazon also sells all types of computers. Just do your research for a good brand. They usually are very fast on delivery.
PS I know you are computer literate, but, remember to get your old drives out and copy the important stuff to the new one. I have a server in my house, but there are many out there to keep. Good luck and don’t worry about deadlines with us. We are all safely at home waiting to be free.
I don’t need a rush. I love your work and want you to be able to take your time for a perfect product.
Careful about spell check, your proofreaders don’t always catch everything and you don’t want too many cooks in the kitchen, which I understand.
Be well.
My hubby is an S1 contractor in C for over 20 years. (HVAC) He said have it rerouted, always going to be an issue. Sorry!!!
Am I the only person who depends on Dell for computers and supplies? What don’t I know?
I can throw in a brilliant Baptist preacher with a Doctorate in Philosophy. I think he knows everything about every religion in the universe!
Chill with Ryder! While you may find us all sitting in a corner in the dark chewing lichee nuts, we will recover once we do get a fix.
I will attest to the fact that you treat your fans more generously than any author I know!
A couple of thoughts on this:
1) I agree,rerouting the electric would be smart, having cables underwater is a recipe for disaster. Until someone can reroute them, I wouldn’t use caulk where the cables come in,I would use hydraulic cement, if packed into the hole where the cable goes into the house it will expand and fill around the cable and will stand up to standing water.
2) I would talk to a drainage expert about trying to divert the flow of water away from the house entirely, water like that can undermine the foundation or cause problems do to hydrostatic pressure.
I have been Methodist since birth and have attended the same Methodist church since I was 8 (now 51). I would be happy to connect you with my minister and/or his wife (who is also ordained) if you would like. Just let me know…. Love your work!
Just got down to bottom of your post and the photos have all my red lights flashing… Wowzers!!! Will preface that I’ve worked in building permits and code enforcement prior to retirement and what I am seeing is ‘hobby work’, not professional installation. It won’t meet any code I am aware of; it may be a fire hazard if at all near electrical… Then there is the questionable area of home insurance will not cover damage that is not permuted [any pulled permits on a property should be listed per parcel at either city or county agency responsible], and I can’t see this unique installation having been permuted or inspected during the installation process.
I’d not leave these photos up on internet for ‘all’ to peruse….
Please, please, please go to a licensed and bonded professional home remodler and get one to three estimates to have this work sorted sooner than later. The design flaw presented will continue to occur until corrected.
Local Home Shows have all sorts of construction folks present. Some areas have a ‘Best of’ annual submissions in local newspaper and there you can see One, Two and Three as voted by folks who use services. Do look at ratings and talk to folks who have had contractors do work for them to get recent input.
Doubt foam would be a lasting product in this instance, you might check out hydro static gel, but know neither long term correction for circumstances viewed.
Where is the water coming from? Roof? Yard? Creek? What is the flow over the property for this to be a pinch point? Deal with the water before it gets to house if possible. French drains, sump holes, perforated pipe … whatever you can do to change current hydrology on property to keep water away from your structures [and not direct to anothers] is a win.
Best of luck as you sort this interesting presentation.
Computer shortage is due to covid. 1. China got it, shut down their factories which makes the computer parts. 2. America got it and every company and school in the US needed to send home their employees and students exhausting the supply. 3. Tennessee where Dell has a huge factory was destroyed by a tornado. Basically, we expended the Computers and parts supplies by about March 15th. China got back online a month ago. Parts are on a literal slow boat from China to the lowest bidders to piece them together and ship them to amazon. If I were a fantasy writer I could probably make a good book about 2020, but I’m sure some editor would say it’s too unreal to have pandemics, floods, and tornados in only 1 chapter called March?!?!
What about the no clog filters people put on the roof gutters?
We were shopping for another laptop early on in the shutdown and had slim pickings. So many working at home and kids doing schooling also. However, now I wish we had just waited, because with everyone using the internet and phone, our internet service has been rubbish, sometimes worse than the old dialup. Which means it doesn’t work. Unless you use it when everyone is sleeping ????. I love living in the countryside , but that’s one of the few cons.
My husband is a Wesleyan minister. The Wesleyan church broke away from the Methodist in the 1800’s because they believed the church should be more active in opposing slavery. They were called Wesleyan Methodist for a while, and there are still some of those, but merged with another denomination (Pilgrim Holiness) to form the Wesleyan Church. Wesleyans are generally more conservative than some of the Methodist churches, depending on which churches you are evaluating. My husband and I have friends who are Methodist and Presbyterian ministers, however.
Hope all goes well with your various projects and your new plant baby! It feels good to get thIngs done and often it’s good for creative minds to have a temporary change of pace and place.
You need an irrigation specialist, even though it’s not irrigation. Have you spoken to anyone about a French drain? Just a suggestion. Love, love your books.
Good grief what a mess. Other than bringing in the experts on the drains and cables is there any possibility of directing the water away from the house before it comes in to join you? We had a similar situation dumping water into our furnace room. Husband and son dug some pretty extensive gravel filled ditches ( French drains??) luring the flow down and away from the house. It worked for the remaining 11 years we lived in the house including one weekend where we received 13 inches of rain. Darned labor intensive though and you would have to take a serious look at where to send the water.
If you continue without the promised computer; what if the BDH contacted the customer service dept.? All on one pre-planned day? Or is that simply too terrifying an idea? Sort of like loosing the Mongol Horde to buy groceries?
Have 3 hibiscus in hot sun in Florida which I kept in medium containers for about 4 or 5 years. the roots filled the entire containers to the point that there wasn’t enough soil to keep them healthy, But we were always on the brink of putting our house up for sale. Finally, we bought, sold, moved , yet again. They were so starved that I transplanted them right into the old flower bed last fall, so they were right by the sprinklers , using the soil mixed with plant food and Black Cow. I feed them quarterly with Miracle Grow.
They have turned into thick big bushes that are almost a hedge, at least double height and fullness.I keep pruning them when they become too leggy, and that sends the growth into making the structure strong, and the miracle grow keeps them thick with leaves and the blooms, which had shrunk in volume, are now huge. They like hot sun, food, and drink. Yours should do fine with same. Just keep them from becoming root bound. Keep any aphids off them with a solution of Castile soap and water.
Did you go to Dell? There are advantages to living in Austin. You could also use your pen name, cuz, you know, there are also advantages to being best-selling author lords. Just saying.
My husband is retired Army chaplain, and a Minister for Disciples of Christ Christian church, and has served at UCC church & other denominations as a chaplain. Served local congregations also. We have lived in Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, & Indiana, and he served a year at the Pentagon in Washington DC.
The best way to fill that hole is Plastic Roof Cement. It’s the black liquid asphalt that roofers use on the roof. Smoosh as much as you can on the hole, let it dry, and smoosh some more. If the hole is wet, you can use the wet patch kind. One gallon should be enough.
NOTE ONE: Not too sure if you would be interested but I just looked at Office Depot in New Braunfels and searched for in-store desktop stock and this popped: https://www.officedepot.com/catalog/search.do?Nty=1&Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&Ntk=all&Ntt=desktops&N=5&cbxRefine=550456
NOTE TWO: As I was walking out of Home Depot gardening section here in Anaheim, I noticed a 6-inch pot containing a full-sized hibiscus flower. When I looked closer, I saw that its growing dimensions were 12-18″ x 12-18 ” and thought, “Wow. I could grow that in my garden.” Further searching makes it appear that its actually dimensions may be closer to 36″ x 36″. Something that may interest you: https://www.jberrynursery.com/portfolio/summer-spiceplum-flambe.
Good luck with the mint. I thought I was wisely planting our peppermint so it wouldn’t spread too far by cutting off the bottom of the pot before planting it to limit its spread. It was a nice thought while it lasted. After taking over the slope and threatening to choke out our citrus and pit-fruit trees, it only took three years of ripping it out and treating it like a weed to finally re-take our slope back. =P
Stay safe and all the best,
Sorry about all the crazy. I have no clever home suggestions, and I have killed 3 of my 5 plants in the last week.
But I’m very curious about the research involving a Methodist minister. The nature of the storyverse’s mythology suggests one of two issues: the relics or the minister’s magic. If it’s the relic(s), ohmygod did someone steal something from Aldersgate??? Because, according to how the Kate Daniels world works, that would have enough residual power to both function on its own magic and potentially draw from that nifty faith-based silver magic. (Unless one of the relics is part of the carriage that killed young Emory–which I can see the Molech demons turning to their own use.) If, on the other hand, it’s the minister’s magic, that is also an interesting can of worms. The KD world started earlier in the century than some of the recent UMC politics, but the basic divisions still provide options. Does the minister have magic of his own, or does he draw from all or part of his faith? The more progressive Methodist option would give him the freedom and space to function in his own magic and take care of the community, which is consistent with what we’ve seen in the story so far. But you two are very good at curve balls. 🙂 The conflict between the minister’s (potential) magic and conservative religious views is also interesting.
Take care of yourselves, your home, and your family. But this is **interesting**. 😀
I just discovered and read all of the Ryder stories. I just finished re-reading the Kate Daniels series, so this came as an awesome find! Thank you for making my stay at home a lot more fun! Now that I am done teaching for the year (8th grade English) I needed something fun to read! I can hardly wait for more to be posted.
I saw earlier you were looking for name ideas. I thought “Magic’s Daughter” might fit.
Thanks again for all of your writing, especially during this messed up time.
Sorry for the troubles. We may crave more stories,but are quite willing to wait for that gift while you deal with real world. Those wires will need to be repaired and moved, trench addressed,etc. But if you got an inspection prior to purchase,all costs may be covered by insurances. Not sure if prior homeowners are liable at all. But it shouldn’t hurt to check both options. If you have any spare time that is. (Sarcasm heavy in air) That situation is not only damaging but also dangerous. Electricity doesn’t play well with water.
Be well.stay safe. And may all your troubles be small ones.
We really can be patient. ???? lol many thanks. One of the hoard
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We’ll be patiently waiting for the next installment, and those who won’t wait patiently, well, they can find something else to do.
As for the cables and drain I think I’d encapsulate them by adding a small “box” of concrete around the cables, perhaps about 4 inches from the wall and same on the sides of the cables. That should leave the drainage ditch free to work and at the same time encapsulate the cables so they don’t get submerged anymore. Also silicone (waterproof ) and/or expandable foam from the inside as it then shouldn’t soak up the water. But…check with a professional – the tape on the cables was…interesting !
Property Brothers has the fix! (Seriously, though. You’re all famous, so …)