I got a text around 6:00am this morning from a fellow board member: she and her husband were out walking their dog and saw that a backflow that controls the water flow to the irrigation in our community park was spewing water. Some thieves ripped the heavy metal cage off the backflow and had tried to cut it with a Sawzall... they must have gotten interrupted, because they didn't get away with the backflow.
But, they did plenty of damage in the process.
I met Shannon there, I turned off the the valves on the backflow, but there was a lot of pressure built up in the lines - water still spewing. Shannon and I divided calling duties: I called the Police while she got ahold of our managment company on their emergency after hours line. Then, a call to Agave, the company that does our landscaping and takes care of the irrigation in our common areas. A call to Backflow Pro that did the original install.
We waited onsite until Agave got there; fortunate that they had a crew 2 miles away. That supervisor called in another guy to bring the proper tool to shut off the water at diversions valves that were located a ways from the backflow. Water spewing stopped.
The backflow will need repairs, so Agave removed it so they could take it to their shop. With that done, I went back home. An hour later, I got a call from the Police officer who was at the scene; drove out to visit with him. Nice guy; understood the situation, but didn't give me much hope on finding the people responsible.
So, a fun start to my Monday morning.
What's a backflow look like? Thanks for asking...
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Most of my morning was taken up with dealing with the above situation. The Police did come out and take the information; the officer was friendly, professional, but didn't give much hope that there would be anything they can do, since no one saw it happen. That said, a police report in our neighborhood means we may get more patrols through here.
Posts made to inform other board members and homeowners.
Joan spent some time with me, going through landscaping bids that seem like a large amount of money to me. Trying to compare things between the 4 making bids is complicated, but Joan helped me go through it all, outlining things in a way to make it easier to compare. I have now spent hours on these bids... everyone should have a Joan, who is so organized and detail oriented.
It was nearly noon before I had a chance to get in the shower. But, cleaned, shaved, and mostly ready to take on the day. Yeah, after noon. I chose to take a break and make some music: it is good mental floss for me... hard to be mulling over events and numbers when you're playing and singing. A high point: Murphy hopped up next to me on his own...
It makes my heart happy when the boy wants to sit by me... and is even better therapy than making music. And that is saying a lot.
Maybe things will settle down for the rest of the week? Hahahahahahahaha!