There's some question how long the condo residents will remain civil when their building foundation repairs are delayed. AGAIN. We thought we had a date certain, but received a vague notice of postponement from the homeowners association board of directors.
I believe that the foundations will be repaired about as much as I believe in leprechauns. The community has known the repairs were needed for nearly a decade. My building has four condos in a row. At its midpoint the building is twisting the way you would twist open an Oreo cookie.
If the Spanish conquistadors had known about foundation problems and termites, they would never have considered Texas suitable for human habitation. Termite elimination requires divine intervention. Foundation repairs require "hand-digging 2'x2'x3' holes then using small hydraulic equipment to install piers directly under the perimeter grade beam of the foundation". I have no idea what this means, but understand that residents are not to allow small children to fall into the holes.
As the daughter of two engineers, it's probably inexcusable that I don't understand hydraulics. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with fluid pressure, similar to having root beer shoot out your nose when a seventh grader tells a really good joke.
Once or twice a year I drive through Wichita, Kansas, and wonder about the exit signs for Hydraulic Street. Why is this major north-south road named "Hydraulic"? I asked a friend who grew up in Wichita, but she had no idea. I spent an embarrassing amount of time this week wondering about the history of Wichita.
The street already had its name by 1886, but I'm stuck. Does the street name relate to the city waterworks? The March 6, 1879 Wichita Eagle reported that the Wichita Water Mills burned down the previous Sunday. The cause was a mystery. There was hope the water mill would be rebuilt.
Wichita was a booming young city in 1879. Its Turner Opera House was constructed that year. Was "'hydraulic" just a buzz word for all things technologically up-to-date?
© 2009 Nancy L. Ruder
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