Hail..ashis clean-up begins

Thursday began like so many others. And as a matter of fact, there was little to distinguish it from any other work day save for the aftermath of Wednesday’s big storm. I was up with plenty of time to spare but sped through my exercise routine anyway so that I could get outdoors and further survey the damage located around the subdivision while at the same time walking Ykraps. The most notable side effects I saw this morning were the blankets of leaves left behind on all the sidewalks and all the leaves stuck to the western side of most homes. I went through my morning progression just as I would any other day. By the time I finished packing my lunch and making and eating breakfast it was 7:15am. I hugged everyone goodbye and then headed for a shower. The day’s weather was expected to approach 60 degrees and the skies were expected to be cloudy all day. Sounds like I’m “home on the range”. Work was uneventful but busy. We held another round of interviews today which took about 4 hours of my day. As soon as the interviews were over I left for the gym. I grabbed an extra t-shirt out of my desk drawer since the temperature at run time was only 53 degrees. I needed it too. I still ran in shorts but needed the three light upper layers. I finished my run and was back at my desk eating some tuna fish by 2:05pm. I worked through several dangling issues before leaving for the day. I left the building at 5:10pm eager to get home and on with my primary role in life. As I approached my leaf stricken car, I surveyed closer for hail damage. I first thought I had amazingly avoided any of the tell tale damage often associated with a large hail storm, but on closer inspection I was wrong. I had hundreds of small pock marks left behind by the hammering of hail. They are most evident from an angle on the passenger that bore the brunt of the storm and the hood. This was nauseating. I talked to a couple friends who said it’s almost impossible to fix too. As I drove for home I was un sure how I would handle the problem or whether to involve my insurance company or not. When I pulled in the drive, I was surprised to see Mindy out in the yard blowing and seeping the leaves from the walk, drive, and lawn. The lawn that looked so lovely just 24 hours earlier now looked war torn. After initiating some chores and changing my clothes I went out to help. Mindy went in to begin dinner (salmon patties). I stayed out taking in more of the carnage. I carried several dead branches back to the mulch & debris pile. Upon closer inspection of the house I realized that all of my west facing down spouts look the same as my car except even worse. They look like someone took a ball peen hammer to them. Also, my A/C coil had very noticeable hail damage to the cooling fins. I’ll have to inspect the gutters and roof much closer over the weekend before deciding whether to file a claim. Before dinner was ready I sat at the computer and finished Tuesday’s blog. Soon, Mindy beckoned me to the kitchen to help with dinner. I had never had salmon patties. We had added some habanera and chili peppers as well as red onion. I liked the kick. They were OK, just not my favorite.