Paul’s made a little more progress on the trailer.
As you might have heard, Alaska was hit with a good-sized earth quake near Anchorage a couple days ago. Our own Anchorage-based Alaska Paul filed this report:
“This past Monday (Nov 26, 2018) my friend First Larry came over to the house and helped me shoot the 90 remaining rivets in the M100 trailer floor section so I could attach the side panels to the floor flange. The seams where these parts overlap is sealed with a two part rubber like sealant and cleco fasteners hold everything together while the sealant hardens.
Usually the sealant cures within 3 or 4 days so this morning (Nov 30, 2018) I was working in the garage cleaning up the excess sealant by 8am. Because the trailer is sitting on two work tables it’s necessary for me to stand on a 5 gallon bucket which allows me to bend at my waist to clear the trailer sides while still being able to reach the floor panel.
This was the position I was in when Mother Nature decided to remind me just who was really in charge of my life.
We got hit with a sharp jolt and then the garage began dancing. As I was holding onto the trailer rear panel trying to remain upright I noticed the walls of the garage were flexing hard enough to open and close the walk in door and this door had been latched. For some reason the movement of this door fascinated me so I continued watching (while tightly holding onto the trailer) until I realized the door was opening and closing so fast it looked like it was waving goodbye. I agreed it was a good time to say goodbye to the dancing garage so I bounced my way out of the garage and staggered towards the house.
Unlocking the door to the house took longer than usual since my actions resembled a drunk opening a door while on a ship in a storm. A couple of years ago I’d installed outside grab handles on either side off the kitchen door so I hung onto a handle with one hand while I tried to get the key in the lock with my other hand. I gripped the handle so tight I think I left fingerprints pressed into the metal.
After getting the door unlocked I quickly checked on the Goddess (she was fine) and Samson the wonder parrot who was not amused to have his perch catapult him skyward. Samson sought safety on top of his cage in the living room but the many aftershocks continue to irritate him.
In the brief time it’s taken me to write this email we’ve had six noticeable aftershocks along with many little tremors.
While I’ve been thru stronger earthquakes than the ones we had today this main one was impressive. There are reports of power lines down, sections of local roads destroyed, broken water pipes in commercial buildings and traffic signals no longer operational.
The Goddess and I have been real lucky… we never lost electricity, we still have heat, we have enough food to last for more than 3 weeks and since we’re retired we don’t have to go anywhere. We’ll be staying home where we can help the neighbors if need be.
Oh yeah.
The garage made it thru the quake with no damage to speak of, the little blue house shook and shimmied but it’s fine. Some stuff got broken, some stuff got tossed around but the little Willys and the M100 trailer are both fine.
We’re pretty happy
I’ll send a few photos to show the ground cracking in the back yard (See below).
That’s all,
Scary, but at least all are safe there. Mother Nature is not happy with what is being done to her world by thoughtless over development, and is reacting as a “warning” to us ALL… IMO.
Not so sure about Steve’s comment, but the epicenter is 2 miles from where we lived until four years ago on a fairly large lake. No serious injuries, but some chimney collapses, cars fell thru the ice, and lots of cupboard and counter clearing. If you live in southcentral AK, you expect frequent earthquakes. Ones like this are obviously rare. Even this one with the damage it did cause was thankfully nowhere near the severity of the ’64 quake. Glad everyone is safe up there on the Hillside Paul.
All I can say is that I am glad you are all ok. Makes me think of the two years we spent in the US Virgin Islands on St Croix. Twice we boarded up the house and huddled for days in candle light when hurricanes went thru. This was around 1965, and as a kid, it left an impression that I won’t forget.
Thanks for the great write-up Paul… so glad to hear that you, the Goddess, Samson AND both Jeep and Trailer survived in tact :-).
On a different note,as a carpenter of a bunch of years,I noticed the interior side of your garage door because I haven’t seen anything like that. Extra insulated or just the manufacturer style up there?
The earthquakes have calmed down so I spent Saturday straightening up the house and crawlspace. The garage was in better shape than I’d expected so the Goddess and I celebrated by ordering a pizza. She tried to order a pizza Friday evening but the pizza place was closed so they could clean up the mess the earthquake made at their business. Saturday evening a winter storm moved thru the area bringing 45 mph winds, temperatures in the mid 40’s and rain. We had a couple of gusts powerful enough to rock the neighbor’s car and activate their car alarm. By 8:30 am today (Sunday the 2nd) I was back in the garage riveting the left side panel to the floor flange of the M100 trailer. Another storm is forecast to hit us this evening bringing a rain and snow mix but should be gone by Monday morning. Joe, I forgot to reply to your question concerning a possible tour of the US in the little Willys. My body doesn’t like the idea of being folded like a pretzel for the time necessary to drive south for a visit so my plan is to get some good photos of the little Willys here in Alaska and make them into posters. Having posters made would be way cheaper than driving south and then back north on a tour of America. Not as much fun though.
Dave, this little house was built in the late 70’s for pocket change so the garage door is a molded plastic piece of crap. I added 5 inches of styrofoam on the outside of the original door held by 4 four foot by seven foot sections covered with 3/4 inch plywood painted white with small black painted rectangles that look like windows. It was a cheap and easy way to keep the garage warm in winter. That’s all …Paul
‘my actions resembled a drunk opening a door while on a ship in a storm.’ I can actually imagine that since I was born in Manila and earthquakes are a thing there. Dancing fridges and furnitures are scary. I was also in an open field when a good size quake happened and the same feeling, surprised, fear and hopelessness. Glad all if you are ok and of course the jeep and trailer.