8/10/2025

 Sunday, August 10, 2025

D+

70 Second Temple in Jerusalem was set on fire by the Roman army under Titus during the capture of the city (approx)

1993 Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as a US Supreme Court Justice

2022 Former President Donald Trump invoked the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination repeatedly during a deposition into his organization's business by the NY attorney's office 

2025 We received 10 inches of rain yesterday and overnight; power outage

In bed at 10, up at 5:15.  Lost power at 4:07 a.m., estimated restoration at 11 a.m. today, a repair crew is (allegedly) on site.  Matthew Gottschalk: Don't bet on it.  O, ye of little faith.  Power back on at 8 a.m.  That's the good news.  Bad news: the basement is flooded, again.

Morning meds, etc.  Morning meds at 8:15 a.m.

Among the damage from the flooding were canvases, painted and unpainted that I had resting on the basement floor.  I thought many times over the years that I ought to raise them off the floor in case of flooding, showing how smart I was and how dumb I am.  I suspect they will all end up being trashed because of the likelihood of mildew/mold.

Rain, flooding.  According to the National Weather Service, as of 8:35 this morning, Bayside received 9.93 inches of rain.

Text exchange with LOA:

Good morning (I hope!)  I hope you folks weren’t badly affected by the storms.  We lost power for 4 hours this morning, but it’s just been restored.  Do I recall correctly that you experienced powerful storms and flooding in Iowa and now again in Wisconsin?  The rain gauge on our patio tells me we got 5 inches yesterday and overnight and more is expected today.  Yikes.

Our basement is flooded, so it looks like we’ll be going out for lunch. 

Larry called on the house phone; our visit was postponed to Tuesday.  They had no problem with the storms in their RV.

Soaked cardboard, including two nudes I painted decades ago on canvas board, one with her toes reversed, a matter TSJ pointed out to me when he first saw the painting, a regrettable form of belittling.

Text exchange with Andy, David. 

Charles Clausen:  Are you folks without power, as we are?  If so, we have a good supply of bottled water here available for toilet flushing and any other emergency needs.  Let me know if you could use some and good luck with the power restoration.  We’re told we should have power back by 12:30 today, but I’m not counting on it, though we have visitors from Atlanta scheduled for lunch.

Andy Clausen:  We have power, we only had a minor flicker last night.

Charles Clausen:  Ours just came back on.    That’s the good news.  The bad news is our basement is flooded.

Andy Clausen:  How bad? We have less than an inch on the floor but our sump pump appears to be dead

Charles Clausen:  Ours is also less than an inch.  Geri is down there with a mop and a bucket.  I’m next to useless but I’ll be going down to check the sump pump.  We had an alarm going off last night but the read-out said the system was OK and I pushed the button to turn off the alarm.  I hope I didn’t turn off the pump.  I’m going downstairs to check.

Andy Clausen:  I’m running out to get a new sump pump. Do you want me to get you a let dry vac?

Charles Clausen:  I think we have one, but I’ll check when I’m downstairs. . . . We could also use a wet vac so we would appreciate it if you could get one for us 

Andy Clausen: I struck out at Menards

Charles Clausen:  I suppose its not surprising 

David Kevil:  There is a line forming at ACE.   I’ll see what they have.

The near pile is mostly wet cardboard; the far pile is wet rugs, carpeting.  There is much more carpeting in the storage area of the basement as well as boxes of saved 'stuff', ours and Steve's, that will have to be brought up and discarded.

Text exchange with Sarah and Anne:

Cat with broken foot

+49 176 20023048:  This morning we awoke to a cat with a broken foot without his ‘cast’. So, off we went back to the emergency vet who kindly rebound his foot for us without charging again. Before he got out of the cage from the car ride, the new binding was off his foot again. Grumble. So we did it ourselves, having watched the vet now twice. We decided to add an extra ‘leash’ to the binding to try to keep him from getting it off again, in doing that, the second binding of the day came off. So, third time hopefully being the charm, we redid it again, got his harness on him and tied the thing on. What a morning.

Charles Clausen:  Oh the challenges of being pussy parents!♥️ We are without electricity after getting 6 inches or more of rain .

+49 176 20023048:  Egad!  (Max is once again not in his cast. 😣)

Charles Clausen:  It’s still raining with more storms coming through today.  Butler on the northwest side got 13 inches.  State Fair was flooded and most of Mitchell Field.

+49 176 20023048:  I saw a notification that the Fair closed early last night.

Anne Clausen:  But the Brewers won!!!  I think I did mention the possibility of Max removing the kitty cast yesterday. I didn’t realize he could do it so many times in a space of 24 hours. 

We did have rain, thunder and lightning early evening and middle of the night. Can’t say we hadn’t been warned. More rain coming today.  Currently 69 degrees, 95% humidity here. Gray and soupy.

+49 176 20023048:   Yeah, I’m not sure how anyone could believe that the cast could stay on any cat the way it’s wrapped. I think the only way to keep it in him is to shave his leg so it can be taped in place. They didn’t want to do that though. They also didn’t want to tape it to his leg fur but honestly it didn’t hold at all. 

Anne Clausen:  Just checked AccuWeather. Very colorful radar from here all the way to Sioux Falls. Yikes!  I believe you about the problems with Max’s cast. Does he really need one? If he already had not been putting any weight on it, maybe that will heal it? Or does it absolutely need to be immobilized?

Charles Clausen:  I checked our rain gauge during a break in the current heavy ainfall.  We got 5 inches.  WEenergies website says we should have power restored by 11 a.m. today, but I’m not betting on it with more than 45,000 customers without power.  It says Shorewood has no power outages, lucky ducks!  We’re expecting Larry Anderson and his wife for lunch today, visiting from Atlanta.  They are vacationing in their RV, just spent two weeks at Peninsula State Park in Door County, currently in an RV park somewhere in Racine County..  I’m hoping they weren’t too badly impacted by the rain and flooding.  BTW, seeing Larry recalls memories of Moosie.

Anne Clausen:  Indeed. Would not have wanted to be in an RV during those storms last night. 

Charles Clausen:  Me neither.  I’m reminded of living in a tent in Vietnam during monsoon season with the rains pounding on the canvas making it like living inside a kettle drum.

Anne Clausen:  Not a good memory. Jusent watched a bit of channel 12. Some stunning video of flooded roads and one road that had just been washed away. 

Charles Clausen:  Good news: we got power back at 8.  Bad news: our basement is flooded.

Anne Clausen:  Congrats on power restoration. Condolences on flooding. 

+49 176 20023048:  Ugh!

Steve arrived at about 6 p.m. from Chicago to help with the cleanup. 

 

An unwelcome reminder: how long can we or either of us live in this house that we have been happy to make our home for the last 14 years?   I am next to useless around the house.  My contribution to taking care of the house consists of (1) filling and emptying the dishwasher with our eating and cooking utensils, (2) keeping the kitchen counter tidy and clean, (3) doing some grocery shopping, and (4) taking out the trash and recycling, i.e., kitchen chores.  I keep my bedroom and bathroom clean, do my own laundry, and make my own bed, my own breakfast, and my own lunch.  Everything else, Geri does.  If it weren't for Geri living here with me, I'd be either in an assisted living facility or only a step or two away from one in a so-called 'independent living' facility for old folks..  It's a daunting reality.  Geri mentioned today, on a short rest from back-breaking cutting of wet rugs, etc., that we should be looking at apartments.  I'm sure it was a statement borne of disappointment, frustration, and exhaustion from the flood, but it's only a matter of time.  I don't have to remind her that I am next to useless around the house, unable to climb a ladder or get up from the floor, but I do have to remind her that she is 81 years old and from a family with a history of heart disease, i.e., not a person to be lugging soaking-wet carpeting up basement stairs.  I don't want to move from here, and I'm sure she doesn't either.  It would signal, for me at least, the beginning of the end of independent, autonomous living.  Next step, giving up the keys to my car?  Or worse yet, some form of institutionalization, Bosky Dell Home for Broken-down old Marins and Law Professors Who Can No Longer Take Care of Themselves or Anyone Else.  F word.   I hear my dear sister shouting down from On High, SNAP OUT OF IT, BUSTER!  Stop feeling sorry for yourself!  You're in much better shape than most old guys in terms of family and security.  My beloved Mom chimes in with "Enough with Micky the Mope!" All true, but when I snapped the photos of the wet cardboard and wet carpeting this afternoon, I lost my balance just standing there and almost fell down on the driveway.   I wondered what I would do if, as would have been likely, I couldn't get up.  Geri was inside, taking a well-deserved nap, sound asleep.  Would I be able to get help from my MedAlert doohickey around my neck, or from my Apple Watch, or iPhone (did I have it with me?), or would I crawl down to County Line Road and wait for a passing walker, jogger, or driver to give me a hand, as Tom Mara did when a took a header on Wakefield a few years ago?  Not a day goes by without a near fall.  Am I catastrophizing?  I suppose so, but still . . ., it's not a pretty future.