Boonie Stomp to Fonte Dam

Julie and I did a short hike to Fonte Dam. The dam was built in the early 1900s, and the spillway was actually brick. You can see the spillway behind us in the first photo.

Allergy Issues, Part II

So many months ago, I blogged about having the allergy problems. I finally got the housing office to have someone come out and clean the ducts. The guys that cleaned the ducts said that everything looked good to go, and they didn't find any mold. After that, I began thinking I was crazy and that maybe I had just developed allergies the exact same time we moved into this house. So, I went to the doctor, and now I keep sinus problems and sore throats at bay with daily claritin and flo-nase.

Well, it is now the rainy season, and Super Typhoon Choi-Wan has been around dropping tons of rain on us over the last couple of weeks. I woke up last weekend and the first thing I thought was, "it smells like mold in here." I always think it smells like mold in here, but it was very strong that morning. I was cleaning and noticed that the cove base (plastic base board) was coming a little loose from the wall. I yanked it out and there was mold behind it. Not only that, but the gypsum board felt moist and the screws were totally rusted out (another sign of moisture). The wall in question is an concrete exterior wall with interior walls furred out (with metal studs and gyp board). Concrete is very hard to get a uniform/smooth finish for interior walls, so they often fur them out. My suspicion is that the entire space between the concrete (concrete is porous...) and the gypsum board wall is covered in mold. I don't want to tear too much stuff up, because Brian would have to fix it when he gets home! I am going to go to the housing office tomorrow and see what they say. In the meantime, I guess I will start sleeping in the guest bedroom...

I wonder if the problem is localized or widespread?

Keep your fingers crossed that the housing office is as concerned as I am!

Here are some photos. If you can't tell what is what, click on the picture for a larger view!

more 'stache

Brian ran into this guy while deployed...he too was stationed in Minot while Brian was there.

Murky Diving at American Tanker

Last weekend, my friend Julie and I braved the waters to do a little scuba diving. There was a really high surf (9-11' swells) due to a storm off shore, so we dove in the harbor. The water was really stirred up, and as a result it was silty and created poor visibility. A guy on our scuba boat had a super nice camera, and he took the above photo. Surprisingly, it turned out pretty well despite the poor conditions. In the photo, the driving room of the American Tanker (I don't know the proper terminology) was right behind me at about 60 feet deep.