Almost Like Home

Don't think just because you live south of the Mason Dixon line that the north has a monopoly on winter fun. While I'm sure folks in the northern southern states regularly enjoy winter splendor, i.e "Appalachian Christmas" ect. But what about us in the deep south? Must it always be about heat and humidity? No, every once an a while a cold air mass from the arctic makes it's way as far south as coastal Georgia. Middle Georgia will have snow every now and then, maybe not every year. Even if it doesn't snow, you might have a few days of freezing temps, so why not build yourself a home made skating rink like I did? I got off to a rocky start and squandered the first 2 cold evenings. I can't afford to squander any cold evening, because they won't last long. Here's what you need to make yourself a decent little rink. Or here's my recipe:
12x24 tarp
logs, 2x4s, or what ever you can use to prop up all 4 sides at least 3"
And of course a hose, der
From what I've read you need at least 3" of ice to support a grown up skater.

Just What I was Prayin' For

No not more money, or a job, but a large sinking cold air mass from Canada, or even better, a permanent change in the weather patterns which would bring regular cold temperatures, freezing, and snow to the south. sure southerners hate me, but now they can hate me even more. Still, the forecast calls for some of that brutal midwestern weather to sink our way. It's already in the 20's tonight, and the high tomorrow is near 40, and low over night temps around 20 for the next few days and high day temps of around 40. I was hoping if I could flood the yard or some low spot, maybe by tomorrow I would have a nice little ice rink. Well the hose was too short, and the house doesn't have a spigot, so I had to run the house from the pump house. There are a few low spots in the front yard that pool water when it rains, but I couldn't reach them. The best spot in my estimation, would be the low area behind the barn. It's always colder there than any where else on the property. Again, the hose couldn't reach. I need to come up with a temporary, portable rink. Maybe plywood, and a tarp? I also don't want to drain the well dry trying, in vain, to recreate  winters of my Wisconsin childhood. It's what I really want. I'll just see how my first attempt looks when I get up tomorrow.

Many Still Being Left Out of Obamacare

Do you make less than the $23,500 as a family of 4 or are you an individual making less than $11,500  a year, or are you like us a family of 3 with no individual breakdown, but make less than $23,500 a year. Are you a family of 2 with no income breakdown? Is your state not expanding medicaid this year? Well get ready to be left out of any and all market place tax credits. Oh, you'll be exempt from paying a fine when you file your taxes, but what about that health coverage you needed? Unless you want to pay full price, you probably can't afford it on your $15K yearly income. Welcome to life below the board walk, where millions of people are still falling through the cracks, despite having re-elected the self proclaimed people's president. The Volkswagen of US politics, at first her appears unique enough to fit what you need, but within a few years his shorty workman ship makes itself known. So what is going on here? Why of I not qualify for any tax credits.
Here's the words from healthcare.gov:

If your state isn’t expanding Medicaid in 2014

Some states aren’t expanding their Medicaid programs in 2014. If you live in one of these states, you may not have as many options for health coverage. It will depend on where your income falls.

• If your income is more than 100% of the federal poverty level -- about $11,500 a year as a single person or about $23,500 for a family of 4 -- you will be able to buy a private health insurance plan in the Marketplace and may get lower costs based on your household size and income.
• If you make less than about $11,500 a year as a single person or about $23,500 for a family of 4, you may not qualify for lower costs for private insurance based on your income. However, you may be eligible for Medicaid, even without the expansion, based on your state’s existing rules.

Why this coverage gap exists

When the health care law was passed, it required states to provide Medicaid coverage for adults between ages 18 and 65 with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level, regardless of their age, family status, or health.

It also provides tax credits for people with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level to buy private insurance plans in the Marketplace.

Under the law, the federal government will pay states all of the costs for newly eligible people for the first three years. It will pay no less than 90% of the costs in the future.

The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that the Medicaid expansion is voluntary with states. As a result, some states are not expanding their Medicaid programs in 2014.

Many adults in those states with incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level fall into a gap. Their incomes are too high to get Medicaid under their state’s current rules. But their incomes are too low to qualify for help buying coverage in the Marketplace.

How I Spent my New Years Eve

Ran in the woods
Cleared the lot line path of debris
prepared a fire bundle for a new years fire
went to target to get discounted Christmas candy, lights, and decor
Ran away from a weirdo that was following me in Target
Listened to the entire Oceania album to and from Athens
Struggled to get my fire started
Coaxed and messed around with my fire for an hour
Listened to the coyotes wish us an early Happy New Year
Watched the New Year's ball drop
Kissed my husband and daughter
Kept going back out to the fire to put it out but couldn't bring myself to do it
Played Super Luigi World
Went back out side and called back and forth to the coyotes nearby.
Burned prices of paper with things I wanted to move on from in 2013
Welcomed 2014
Put the fire out.
Went back in to play Super Mario with my family.
Happy New Year

More Adventures in Vermiculite

I've been doing a little research, trying to find out who was the last person to know that there is vermiculite up there. I suspect it is the previous owner, who checked "I dunno" on the asbestos question. Now, how do I go about proving negligence or liability? I guess first things first, I need to have it tested. If I'm lucky, it will come back negative, via the "Cincinnati" method. Then I can have the results certified and everything is fine. But, if it comes back positive we might have a big expensive problem on our hands. Does liability fall with the home inspector who should have known that in an older home there is often a mix of insulation types and that some may not be visible? Or does it fall with the previous owns, who most likely knew since he was having the home renovated and did a lot if the work himself. Is it the contractor he hired? Or the insulation company? It becomes a game of, "I didn't see it there" but some one did. I need to put on my Ms. Marple hat and get to work. It's a small town, but you can't screw this Jew. Just kidding, I'm only Jewish in distant ancestry. Maybe no one knew, or just didn't know what the stuff was. You know, true ignorance. It's hard to say, and unfortunately for me, even harder to prove. I know what to look for next time. And, yes, you need to be there for the entire home inspection. You really need to baby sit those guys. There isn't a regulatory board for home inspectors, at least not in Georgia, so there's no QC for them either. Basically anyone can be one. I know they are only human, but this was a big mistake. Bigger than the  not up to code broken drain pipe for the laundry room, and bigger than the leaky toilet basin. No, this is a potential hazardous material, costly clean up, mistake. So yeah, I'm a little perturbed.

Rain

Woke up today to rain. I looked out the mud room window and saw a bird lying on the ground. It's neck broken from flying into the window. In the shrub above, his mate sat waiting for him to get up. I put him in a box and placed it under a holly bush to stay dry. Just incase he's only knocked out. I think he's dead. No rain while we we're gone. But torrential the day before we left and then of course rain the day after we get back. The nights are long and dark, no snow to reflect the light. When it rains or is dark, this house is suffocating my small. Perhaps literally suffocating, what with the vermiculite in the attic and all. 

V is for Vermiculite

One may say I'm particular even fastidious, or picky. I just like things done right and preferably up to code. Well, I made the mistake of trying to brush off the bathroom exhaust vent and it started to pop out and re-pop out. Each time it did little flakes of what looked like mica fell out too. I wasn't sure what it was and though it was something to do with the sheet rock. Now I'm watching "Holmes Makes it Right" and they are redoing the insulation in a porch roof and he found vermiculite, which looks like mica, turns out it's an old form of insulation which, yay, contains asbestos. So I'm really excited about how much more of that is up there. You know, I paid a lot for the home inspector that came out, with all his glowing reviews. His first mistake, he didn't bring the radon test I requested. And even said it wasn't worth his time to come back with one another day. He also missed a lot of big issues, like the leaking toilet, the broken and no conforming washer drain, the wasp nest in the chimney, the nails sticking through the shingles and the roof boards and into the attic, the loose un-boxed wiring in the attic, the mis-matched note up to code circuit breakers, oh yeah, and the vermiculite. The realtor was right, why pay more for an inspector, they apparently miss the big things. This guy was supposedly an air force mechanic. Sure.
So what is vermiculite?

Vermiculite is a mica like mineral that puffs up like popcorn when heated. It was used in homes as insulation between 1920-1990. Most of the vermiculite insulation came from a mine in Libby, Montana which contained a significant amount of asbestos contamination. If you find vermiculite in your home, it's very likely that it came from the Libby mine and it's probably contaminated with asbestos. About 80% of all vermiculite insulation produced between 1920-1990 came from Libby, MT. 
So now what to do? There's no reliable testing methods, so you're best to just assume that it is contaminated and do the following:
Limit trips to the attic, stay off the insulation, and try not to store anything up there.
So now my attic is a useless toxic waste zone?
Where a properly fitted mask rated for asbestos if entering the attic.
Seriously? I've already been up there and the stuff is falling into my bathroom!
Seal around penetrations in your ceiling such as attic the attic hatch, cracks, holes, light fixtures, ceiling fans, and heating vents.
Well this is getting funner by the minute.
If planned remodeling will disturb the vermiculite, have it removed by a trained , certified, and properly trained asbestos abatement contractors.
Should this have been on the disclosure? Can I sue my home inspector?
If the vermiculite has been disturbed, have an accredited asbestos testing firm come and test the air for asbestos fibers.
I'm sure the bathroom exhaust is blowing it all around.
So this concerns me. We have a goofy bathroom exhaust situation. It basically just blows in the attic and directly onto the cellulose insulation. So all that stuff in the attic is just blowing around every time we turn the exhaust fan on. No that vermiculite has fallen out of the celling when I was cleaning around the exhaust fan, I'm worried about how much is up there, and how much is being "disturbed". I'm feeling disturbed to tell you the truth. There was a lot of incorrect information on the disclosure from the owner, and a lot of stuff left off the disclosure that the home inspector missed. Is there any sort of remediation, financially, or legally for this? Or with homes, is there no legal recourse? Next stop, Legal Zoom. 

I guess the insulation in the attic was previously vermiculite until they replaced it with the annoying, every falling out of the attic, cellulose. At least cellulose has a good R value and no asbestos.
While cellulose, when installed correctly, does offer superior insulation options. I question if the guy installed his right. It's not in a smooth consistent layer, it's in lumpy piles, and the roof above the front porch, which has a gable that opens into the attic, isn't insolated at all. I'm not sure if that matters, since cold air falls.

So everyday it's something, isn't it. More than I had anticipated. I wonder, a lot, if we should just sell, before we find more things. Plus, to be honest, this house is really damn small. A good agent, which I question ours, wouldn't push a tiny house on a family of 3. It's 2 bedrooms, one tiny bath, and 1082 soft. Most of the time I'm about to start screaming from the noise. And ever since we moved in my daughter has been acting really weird. Making a lot of weird noises, stumbling around, whining, crying, unhappy, bored. 10 acres to run on and she's bored. I'm am too. It's like she's having a nervous break down, and the wood floors and small rooms only amplifies the noise. I can't send her outside because people come down the road at 55mph even though we are 100 feet from the stop sign, there are fire ant beds, a gully, and probably snakes. I guess I'm not in Wisconsin any more. What the hell am I doing here anyway?

But I'll try not to complain. Too much

But let's he