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I haven't personally floated off out of Sydney Harbour yet, but I'm getting mighty tired of the rain.
(Floating off is unlikely seeing as we're 157m above sea-level - or thereabouts, anyway - and have no major rivers nearby But there's a reason they call it the Sydney Basin: Sydney topographic map. It also shows the topological chart of the state. When you look at where the lower-lying rivers are, then you understand what is happening.
And now there's a lot of people who have to rebuild - some of them after rebuiding from floods in 2011 and 2017. And the language of "once in 1000 years" that the governments and experts are using isn't helpful. It just means there's one chance in 1000 that this flood might be that bad. But with swift and extreme weather changes being exacerbated by building on floodplains, and a great deal of hard surface which the rain doesn't sink into the way that it does into soil. It's not entirely surprising either that there are floods or that people are unaware that flooding is going to happen.
And then there's the belief that we can just build more structures and make the floods go away. Which...we can but they won't necessarily protect us, and will have consequences that we might not want to live with.
eg. raising the walls of the dam above Sydney might keep some heavier rains out of the floodplains below where a hundred thousand houses have been built, but after a couple of weeks like this? It's going to fill up just as much and they'll still be opening the floodgates and the floodplains below will still be flooded. Not to mention, building the dam wall higher means more native bushland is going to end up underwater - including some significant indigenous sites.
*sigh*
I have a young friend - maybe in her mid-20s - she and her husband bought a house in the last couple of years. I have a sneaking suspicion it was on one of the 'floodplain' estates. She's been complaining about groundwater and bad building for a couple of years now. But she doesn't know about floodplains or water management - neither did I until about 6 years ago. And I got lucky with my sister in buying on high ground and a property with decent green space. Unfortunately, I have a feeling my young friend didn't get so lucky.
And all this damage costs society in ways that governments and developers don't consider and yet should. It costs in repairs, in resources, in time and energy that could otherwise be directed into community and, yes, business. In getting the economy back on its feet - and by 'the economy' I mean a lot of people who don't have billion dollar development portfolios, or a seat in parliament.
--
Do you ever wonder if you walk around with an electronic 'scarlet letter' on you? Like, people will flock and comment on everyone else's post or conversation, but yours is just [[crickets]].
--
According to the long-range forecast, two more days of heavy rain (20-40mm).
Last night, I spotted a leech in the chicken coop. ARGH. I hate slugs, snails, leeches, and slimy worm-types. As a gardener I am reconciled to compost worms, so long as I don't have to touch them too often. Slugs and snails I will sort of kind of tolerate, only not really. Leeches, though, are UGH.
--
I have restarted 'Book 2' of The Nullifae. I was writing Book 1, but I feel like it's not anything that anyone would want to read. I mean, I feel that way about all my non-fanfic writing right now. But it just doesn't have the oomph that I'm looking for. So I went back to Book 2 - with Jenna already in Crossover and dealing with Fae and Fae-borns and magic - oh my!
I got 1000 words written surprisingly easily.
--
Have been thinking about the Sel's Summer Salon which didn't happen because of COVID. Would like to run it once a month on a Friday night - preferably the Friday night when I'm not due to go away for my PDC. Next chance is the 18th March. But, oof, the prospect of enforced socialising is A Lot right now, when most of the time all I want to do is go to bed around 8pm...
--
I am looking forward to Bridgerton: it's my cheerful and fluffy light in a future of increasing exhaustion and mould-damp-darkness right now. And I don't even have it all that bad; I'm just pretty darned tired right now.
(Floating off is unlikely seeing as we're 157m above sea-level - or thereabouts, anyway - and have no major rivers nearby But there's a reason they call it the Sydney Basin: Sydney topographic map. It also shows the topological chart of the state. When you look at where the lower-lying rivers are, then you understand what is happening.
And now there's a lot of people who have to rebuild - some of them after rebuiding from floods in 2011 and 2017. And the language of "once in 1000 years" that the governments and experts are using isn't helpful. It just means there's one chance in 1000 that this flood might be that bad. But with swift and extreme weather changes being exacerbated by building on floodplains, and a great deal of hard surface which the rain doesn't sink into the way that it does into soil. It's not entirely surprising either that there are floods or that people are unaware that flooding is going to happen.
And then there's the belief that we can just build more structures and make the floods go away. Which...we can but they won't necessarily protect us, and will have consequences that we might not want to live with.
eg. raising the walls of the dam above Sydney might keep some heavier rains out of the floodplains below where a hundred thousand houses have been built, but after a couple of weeks like this? It's going to fill up just as much and they'll still be opening the floodgates and the floodplains below will still be flooded. Not to mention, building the dam wall higher means more native bushland is going to end up underwater - including some significant indigenous sites.
*sigh*
I have a young friend - maybe in her mid-20s - she and her husband bought a house in the last couple of years. I have a sneaking suspicion it was on one of the 'floodplain' estates. She's been complaining about groundwater and bad building for a couple of years now. But she doesn't know about floodplains or water management - neither did I until about 6 years ago. And I got lucky with my sister in buying on high ground and a property with decent green space. Unfortunately, I have a feeling my young friend didn't get so lucky.
And all this damage costs society in ways that governments and developers don't consider and yet should. It costs in repairs, in resources, in time and energy that could otherwise be directed into community and, yes, business. In getting the economy back on its feet - and by 'the economy' I mean a lot of people who don't have billion dollar development portfolios, or a seat in parliament.
--
Do you ever wonder if you walk around with an electronic 'scarlet letter' on you? Like, people will flock and comment on everyone else's post or conversation, but yours is just [[crickets]].
--
According to the long-range forecast, two more days of heavy rain (20-40mm).
Last night, I spotted a leech in the chicken coop. ARGH. I hate slugs, snails, leeches, and slimy worm-types. As a gardener I am reconciled to compost worms, so long as I don't have to touch them too often. Slugs and snails I will sort of kind of tolerate, only not really. Leeches, though, are UGH.
--
I have restarted 'Book 2' of The Nullifae. I was writing Book 1, but I feel like it's not anything that anyone would want to read. I mean, I feel that way about all my non-fanfic writing right now. But it just doesn't have the oomph that I'm looking for. So I went back to Book 2 - with Jenna already in Crossover and dealing with Fae and Fae-borns and magic - oh my!
I got 1000 words written surprisingly easily.
--
Have been thinking about the Sel's Summer Salon which didn't happen because of COVID. Would like to run it once a month on a Friday night - preferably the Friday night when I'm not due to go away for my PDC. Next chance is the 18th March. But, oof, the prospect of enforced socialising is A Lot right now, when most of the time all I want to do is go to bed around 8pm...
--
I am looking forward to Bridgerton: it's my cheerful and fluffy light in a future of increasing exhaustion and mould-damp-darkness right now. And I don't even have it all that bad; I'm just pretty darned tired right now.
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