Thanks

[Paul_H]

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for us here in Pemberton.The flood waters left us tuesday or wednesday.All the days seem to have lumped together.

We managed to keep the water out of our nieghbour,Glen's basement,by vacuuming up the water that the sump pump couldn't handle.That kept us pretty busy.He is building a shop with a suite above it,and he had several lifts of lumber float away.We managed to round it all up with a boat and tie it up on the sides of the foundation.I prefer rounding up lumber,to chasing cows.

There was a lot of damage to property around town,and four lives were lost when the highway bridge swept away.But I am impressed by the way the community has taken it in stride,and pulled together.The dykes held pretty well,but were filled up with gravel,and over topped in some places.Every piece of equipment in the valley is working right now to remove the gravel,and construct catch berms at the base of the mountain at Miller creek.That is where I have been since wednesday,driving our Cat wagon(it broke down yesterday afternoon)

My oldest daughter has been stuck down in Squamish since last Friday,and won't be back til the bailey bridge is put in (tomorrow,maybe)
My wife,opened our house up and cooked meals and babysat for the neighbours,with the help of my other daughter.My son Tom,has been out helping farmers clean up,and doing the same around the neighbourhood.

I'm proud of them,and our small town.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Paul, I think I can vouch for most here, and say, we are proud of you and yer neighbors for helpin each other in a time where it seemed bleak. Glad everyone (nearly) is safe and making a stand for the future.

[Paul_H]

Harold,
What I like about this forum is, it's a small community in itself.We care about what is happening in others lives around the country,continent,and around  the world,whether it be flood,fires,drought,hurricanes and tornados.

I often wonder how things are going on the East coast,West,North and South with our members here.Is their mill going again,is their sander coming along,did they find a customer for their wood? It's easy to tell that everyone else here feels the same way.

Over the past week here in Pemberton,we have had many people phone or drop in to see how we are making out.Scores of people showed up at the community hall in Mount Currie,with hot,prepared food to drop off for others in need.It wasn't organized at first.It just happened.
 
WOW

If you don't mind,I will post a few stories later,about some of the folks here in Pemberton.

[Frank_Pender]

Well, I reckon re can start callen' ya the "lumber wrangler" ya, Paul?  ;D Way to go you folks. 8) 8)  Ya gave me shivers there for a while. :-/  Thought I would have to meet ya in a house boat or something.. :D  I amm glad all are safe and sound.  Keep us posted, please? :P  I am sure that we all are looking forward to some of your stories. ;D

[Norm]

Glad to hear things are getting back to normal for you folks Paul. Figured since we hadn't heard much from ya you were keeping busy. Looking forward to some of your stories.

[EZ]

Hi Paul, glad every thing is going well. With all the garbage that is going on in the world, it sure is great hearing about good people helping others. Great to have folks likes you all.
God Bless Ya.
EZ

[pappy]

Paul_H
Glad to hear all is pretty much OK on your end. Looking forward to those stories and maybe some pictures.

I got a good idea how it is to go through a flood. Every spring the Saint John river which runs right by the town I grew up in used to flood every spring. Some places down town would get 6 to 8 feet of water with ice.  It doesn't happen any more cause the town built a dike about 20 years ago.  

[Gus]

Nothing like a good old fashion crisis to bring out the good in folks. Hope everything comes together for all of you. I'm sure it will. The human spirit is hard to put down. The power of the many putting their hands and heads together is nothing short of miraculous.
Let us know how it's going.
Gus

[Paul_H]

There are two grocery stores in town.One is owned by a councilman,and the store is newer and the prices are high.

The other is owned by a family by the name of Lee.Quiet,keep to themselves,and hard working.

The Lee's were hit hard at their home when the waters came.Their property,barns,everything was underwater.Meanwhile,the roads into Pemberton were cut off,and no food was brought in for three or four days.Perfect conditions for price gouging.
Carla and I went into Lee's store to pick up a couple of things,and were amazed and overwhelmed to see that they had rock bottom sale prices,comparable to Vancouver sale prices.
These people have quietly supported youth groups in fundraising,by donating all the food and condiments for hotdog sales,as well as the tent to cover them the past few years.

Another family came home to find that someone unknown,had dug a trench,and built a small berm around their house with a backhoe.Saved the family alot of grief,but they havn't found out who to thank yet.

My son told me today that our freind and neighbor,Bob,who is 78 years old,and has bad shoulders,was helping another neighbour strip ot gyproc and soggy insulation.

Bob is a retired missionary from Washington State.A WWII vet and a ex logger.He told me the other day that he was to "feeble" to be of much help to anyone anymore.

Looks like Bob was mistaken ;)

[Scott]

 Paul, glad to hear your all ok. It's been a rough year for you guys first with the fires now the floods. I'd love to see some pictures from that job you were working on as well as anything else for that matter.

[Paul_H]

Scott,
I'm not on the project now that our truck is broke down,but I have gone there and checked it out a few times since Saturday.I will do my best to get some pics tomorrow.

I was standing on the dyke today and there were 6 excavators all working in the creek.I think it would make a good picture,looking upstream.

I've been thinking about what EZ and Gus said about good folks,and I want to get a couple of pictures of the Talbots place.They are real pioneer stock,and a close knit 3 generation logging family that live on both sides of the dyke(is that how you spell dyke,or is it dike?)

Anyway,I doubt they would pose for a picture,and probably would wonder why anybody would be interested in them.

Mr and Mrs Talbot moved to Pemberton in the late 50's and bought property along Miller creek and set up logging.They had a small quota and worked side by side in the bush.Mrs was a good operator and also set chokers behind the Cat.A logging accident broke her hip,and Mr didn't want her in the bush anymore because they had young kids,so she stayed around the sort and loaded trucks with the frontend loader.I have heard from many people that she was smooth and efficient on equipment.
Eventually the boys grew up and helped out in the logging and did it well,working alongside both parents.Quiet,and efficient and hardworking.

The other day,as I was driving along the dyke at work,I saw the Talbots cleaning up flood damage out back,and falling right of way for a catch berm.Mr,now in his 70's,running bulldozer,his son,in his 50's running the hydraulic loader,swinging logs,and the grandson,in his 20's,bucking them.

When I drove out past their homeplace,there was mrs,in her 70's,running an excavator cleaning up the yard around their house .

Really cool people.

[Scott]

 Paul, I've heard of a company called Pope And Talbot and i think its a logging company from out your way some where. have you ever heard of them and if so are they of any relation to the people you know?

[Paul_H]

I don't think so Scott,but I'll ask Weldon next time I see him.

I failed you on getting some shots of the dyke today :-/I'll go put the camera by the coffee pot and leave a note to muhself.
They are getting ready to wind it down this week,so I better smarten up.

[Paul_H]

This was taken on the Miller Creek dyke,facing West to the base of the hill.My planer is in the shed in the next picture,taken from the same spot.It had a narrow escape from flooding.





This is the end of the catch berm that we put in the other day.It branches of of the main dyke and should pick up any overflow if the dyke fills at the top end

Looking across at Talbots bulldozer and logloader,at the North end of their airstrip.

[Tom]

The shed with your planer in it reminds me of Roy Underhill. :D

[Paul_H]

And,the reason I aint working on the dyke the past few days :-/

[Paul_H]

Tom,
is he that guy that is always bleeding on his projects?

[Tom]

 :D :D Yeah, That's him. :D  The one that builds everything using axes, hatchets, old automobile springs, sticks, and hammers. :D :D

[Paul_H]

Sounds like my Dad and him went to the same school. ;D

[Scott]

 Nice pictures Paul. What exactly is it thats broke on your truck? I hope everythings going good for everyone out there.

[Paul_H]

Scott,
A wheel bearing let go and took out the planetary.Most everything has to be replaced in it and we'll check the others while we're at it.

[Scott]

 Ouch! do you deal with Finning for parts or do you go elsewhere? Do you have an excavator or dozer to complement the truck?

[Paul_H]

All the parts are ordered from Finning,and should be here this morning.They are who we mostly deal with,and some of the parts,like the ulnus gear will be used parts.

The truck is usually working with a Cat 330,a D7,and a old Traxxon tank drill.

[Mark M]

Hi Paul

Were they taking oil sample on that wheel? Bearing problems are pretty easy to spot and usually show up before a failure occurs unless it's a sudden failure.

Mark

[Paul_H]

Mark,
There wasn't any taken on the truck.George was taking samples on the newer machines on a regular schedule,but the older ones kind of get forgotten :-/

The truck was rented bare bones to a highways contractor and when it came back,there was oil sitting in the tire rim.We should have pulled it then,but the dyking district was screaming for trucks and we decided to run it.

Cat has a good oil program.We wouldn't have had this failure if we had used it