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Alcove Audio

Alcove Audio

Hey there, IndieTalkers.

I am now officially out of business. My studio has been flooded again. I did manage to get the expansive equipment out; it now occupies our living room. However, the studio and control room are a complete loss as are all of the Foley props and other misc. items. If the water rises another foot or so we will have water in our living room. Our cars are underwater, as are the boiler, water heater, and washer & dryer. I haven't even finished paying off the last flood, so there is no chance that I will be able to rebuild the studio. Hopefully we won't have to rebuild the house.

This flood is much worse than the one in 2007, which was supposed to be a "hundred years" incident. Back then the houses across the street were not affected. This time Ida has included them as well. I guess that makes this a 500 years flood. Ha, ha, fucking ha!

You know, it figures; I had put out a few tables in the "side room" of the basement to organize some things from the attic I wanted to sell. They're all gone now too. Oh well....

At least it has stopped raining, but they are predicting more rain for tomorrow.

So, I will probably be out of touch for a long time as we - hopefully - commence clean-up tomorrow.

Peace,

Uncle Bob
 
Damn and all this is happening to you a second time?

Holy hell

awful face GIF
 
sfoster said:
Damn. And all this is happening to you a second time?
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Yup. Just doesn't seem fair. At least this time I got the gear out. Last time it was just the computer, the hard drives and my microphone collection. In '07 I lost half a dozen MIDI modules and a whole bunch of outboard processors, the mixing console, several keyboards, speakers, TVS, etc. Total losses were over $120,000 if you include having to rebuild the studio - $25k for the initial build when I moved in and then another $25k for the rebuild after the flood. And that was just the studio. Back then I also lost my vinyl collection, about 800 albums, and my books, well over 700, plus my sheet music collection.

What really sucks is I'm going to have to once again cannibalize my retirement to put my life back together. Looks like I'll be working at McDonalds until I'm 90.

The water has gone down about a foot in the last hour or so. I can actually see the hood of my car now. However, the tide is coming in, so it's probably going to be another 8 - 12 hours trapped in the house until the next low tide allows the neighborhood to drain, although without a car I'm not going to be going anyplace anyway. At least we still have electricity.

My older daughter was trapped at work. Her car was completely submerged and water was pouring into the store. A guy who was making deliveries pulled everyone out of the store in his truck, crammed them all into the cab, and gave them rides home. She came here as the roads to her apartment were impassable, then she ended up trapped here.

In a few weeks when this is all over I'm going to get roaring drunk, sober up and then figure out what to do next.

DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Taking a break. I've got a headache from lack of sleep, and my back is killing me.

I've done as much as I can, but we're waiting for the waters to recede; River Road is still a river. There's a pump working on the basement, but it's slow going. Found our garbage and recycling cans down the street. Cleaned up the patio and some of the driveway so we've got some work space.


mlesemann said:
That seriously sucks.
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It sucks gigantic Yukon moose penis.
 
I feel for you. I am currently 5 days without power due to Hurricane Ida. I had 3 trees (100+ foot tall lodgepole pines) fall on my house, causing about 50-80K in structural damage. All 3 of the trees that hit the house were in the same neighbor's yard. I told said neighbor those trees were a hazard and needed to be removed because they would fall on my house years ago. Fortunately, I have awesome friends, great neighbors (other than the asshole who wouldn't remove those trees), and an amazing boss. In 3 days I was able to remove the trees (with a ton of help from co-workers sent over by my boss), stabilize the structure (with the assistance of some great friends), tarp the roof (with my neighbors), and provide some level of comfort for myself and my wife (because I prepare for this kind of stuff). Plus, the electric co-op we belong to says we may have power back on within the next two days. So I will keep my fingers crossed for me and pray for you. I would offer to help you rebuild, but New Orleans is a LOOOOOOONNNNG way from Connecticut.
 
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Lucky Hardwood said:
I feel for you. I am currently 5 days without power due to Hurricane Ida. I had 3 trees (100+ foot tall lodgepole pines) fall on my house, causing about 50-80K in structural damage. All 3 of the trees that hit the house were in the same neighbor's yard. I told said neighbor those trees were a hazard and needed to be removed because they would fall on my house years ago. Fortunately, I have awesome friends, great neighbors (other than the asshole who wouldn't remove those trees), and an amazing boss. In 3 days I was able to remove the trees (with a ton of help from co-workers sent over by my boss), stabilize the structure (with the assistance of some great friends), tarp the roof (with my neighbors), and provide some level of comfort for myself and my wife (because I prepare for this kind of stuff). Plus, the electric co-op we belong to says we may have power back on within the next two days. So I will keep my fingers crossed for me and pray for you. I would offer to help you rebuild, but New Orleans is a LOOOOOOONNNNG way from Connecticut.
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I hope that you have documentation requesting the tree removal; it would make a basis for a lawsuit.

At least we still have a house and power. I feel for you.

Thanks for the offer of help. I truly appreciate it.

One of our Nor'Easters came close to flooding us about 10 years ago. Because we had forewarning I had already emptied the studio and basement, but we never even got damp. However, it roared into New England. My sister and her family live on a mountain in Vermont. The rains were so intense the flooding washed out the bridges over the streams. They were stranded for a week. They actually helicoptered in food, etc. to them.

The pumping is taking hold; only about 18 inches of water left, so I'll be able to get to work on the basement soon.


I think my next house will be in a desert and I'll build it on 20 foot stilts. I'm fornicating sick of water.

Well, back to work.
 
I have hundreds of pictures and drone footage from before I removed the trees. I'm back at work today. My boss was kind enough to give me the three days off I took. I ache. Thank you for the commiserations. Ain't we a pair? It's like I've said a thousand times since my last motorcycle crash, the only way out is through, so it's time for me to shut up, nut up, and get to work. I hope this isn't the end for you, and you can recover the studio at some point.
 
Really awful to read this. It's just not right. All I can do is hope and wish for some good things to come your way.
 
Just an update as I am having trouble sleeping.

I finished emptying out the garage today; well, mostly. It's all sitting on my front lawn now. There's still an inch or so of sludge/silt on the floor of the garage. My back yard is a quagmire of silt/sludge and debris; you can't even see the grass, so it can't be used as an "organizational" space, which is why I needed to clear out the garage to store/organize/assess/clean what little can be saved.

I cleared a path into the basement. Oh. My. God. There was about five feet of water. The sludge/silt/sewage is about three inches deep and still very wet. It's like walking in a shallow swamp. Everything down there is covered with it; I doubt that we'll be able to salvage much. Our regular repair guy was here today; the boiler, hot water heater and the washer & dryer are all a complete loss. Obviously all of the studio furniture will never be reclaimed, and none of my tools (power saw, drills, sander, etc.). The insurance assessor will be here Monday. I already know what they will say; we're going to have to strip the basement to the bare walls. It stinks like a sewer down there and everything was soaking in it for half a day, so even the framework for the studio will have to go. Well, at least we won't get taxed on the extra rooms anymore.

Every "assistance" facility is overloaded. They won't be able to tow our cars until next week some time - no place top put them at the repair shops. After hearing from our neighbors who have already managed to get their vehicles assessed it looks like they may be a total loss as well. It could be up to ten days before the demolition/clean-up crew gets here, even though we called before the waters receded.

As bad as we got it, our next door neighbor had water on the first floor, as did several other families on the block. People over near the river had moved in only a week ago; they had water on the first floor and the new SUV they picked up on Monday was found on its side a half block away. I hear that there are entire neighborhoods a few towns over that are even worse.

Well, I'm going to try to sleep again. Thanks for all your good wishes and prayers.

Peace,

Uncle Bob
 
Unknown Screenwriter said:
Stay SAFE.
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We're safe enough. It's just frigging annoying. Not to mention financially disastrous.

We have yet to see the town, the county or the state. Louisiana, Mississippi, parts of NY, NJ and other places are already receiving disaster assistance. FEMA hasn't even been here yet. The Red Cross stopped by with their pathetic little clean-up kits, but they did have some good info on how to get some financial assistance.

There was an impromptu meeting of the neighborhood association earlier today. One of our neighbors has been wandering the neighborhood shooting everything, and we all had a chance to vent in front of the camera. (He does videography professionally and does independent reporting for the local news.) He'll be cutting it all together to present to the town, county and state, and promises he'll send a copy to our state senators and congressman with a very strong suggestion that they get off their asses and get us some help. As horrible as all this is, getting together was a form of moral support. You don't feel so alone in this.

Didn't get much done yesterday; it rained hard all day. I did manage to pack up some of the rescued studio gear and get it into the attic, so we have a little room to move around the house.

Found a company that is sending people tomorrow to help with the donkey work. Two or three guys will be here tomorrow to lug stuff out of the basement that's too heavy for me to handle. Not overbearingly expensive. My wife and I will clean and sort; we'll be taking lots of pictures for insurance. Hopefully with everything out of the basement I can open the sewer drain and wash a lot of the sludge out of the basement.

We have some friends who are being very helpful. They stopped by so my wife could do a few loads of laundry and took her to the food store for a supply run.

A lot of cars were towed out of the neighborhood today. I wasn't keeping track, per se, but I counted nine flat beds with two cars each, one on the bed, the second towed. Our cars are scheduled for later in the week. Not much hope they can be rescued.

The neighborhood smells like a leaking cesspool; all the silt, sludge and what-not baking in the sun, not to mention what's in our basements.

Well, the water is boiling so I can wash off todays muck. Then something to eat and some sleep.


Uncle Bob
 
Resting my back.

Two guys came this morning and emptied the basement. They did in five hours what would have taken me a week. Oh, to be young again! I supervised. The remnants of my studio now occupies the front lawn. Lots and lots of pictures for the insurance. The rest of today will be attempting to wash out the sludge into the sewer trap. Tomorrow will be cleaning the few things that we managed to salvage. It will all go into the garage as it's supposed to rain on Thursday.

That's todays update.

Peace,

Bob
 
I feel for you. I can only imagine the smell. It stinks pretty badly down here, but it has to be almost infinitely worse where you are. The "federal assistance" my area is getting has been to tell us we can apply for an SBA loan. They don't care about people, only headlines and photo ops. My town (just outside of New Orleans city limits) doesn't qualify as a disaster area, but 5 miles away it's the worst disaster ever. It looks like its the same for you. NY and NJ get all of the spotlight and you and yours are left holding the bag.
 
Alcove Audio said:
We have yet to see the town, the county or the state. Louisiana, Mississippi, parts of NY, NJ and other places are already receiving disaster assistance. FEMA hasn't even been here yet.
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Looking on from afar, I was wondering if your profile location had been allowed to lapse. If one were to believe what one sees on streamed media, only those few states have been affected ...

Sorry to hear how badly you've been hit; hope you can salvage more than it looks at the moment.
 
CelticRambler said:
I was wondering if your profile location had been allowed to lapse. If one were to believe what one sees on streamed media, only those few states have been affected
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It's always been like that. We're right on the NY border, so we're considered NY Tri-State and not really Connecticut proper. We call our neighborhoods on the south side of Greenwich Ave here in Greenwich the "Greenwich Ghetto" even though it would be considered very up-scale anywhere else (houses here go in the mid to upper six figures) All the people who live in my neighborhood do the work that keeps the world moving. The guy across the street has a plumbing contracting business (he loaned out all of his pumps). The guy who does our HVAC work is down the street, as is our trash collecting contractor and our electrician. Other folks run shops and contracting businesses - carpentry, masonry, landscaping, etc.

The rest of Greenwich is very wealthy. Lots of celebrities live here (Ron Howard, Glenn Close, Meryl Streep, Diana Ross, & Roger Glover, and a number of political families, for example), and most of the rest of the neighborhoods in the city/town are in the seven, eight, and even nine figures range, with country clubs, half a dozen private schools, etc. Doctors. lawyers, investment bankers and the like; lots of spoiled trophy wives. We even have quite a few foreign dignitaries, consular folks, UN reps, etc. Members of the presidential Bush family have a few homes here. Greenwich Ave has the reputation of being Rodeo Drive east.

CelticRambler said:
Sorry to hear how badly you've been hit; hope you can salvage more than it looks at the moment.
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Tomorrow I'll be sorting through the 5% that can possibly be salvaged. Doesn't look good.

Thanks for the kind thoughts.
 
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