# Does anyone live near a quarry?



## Leah IL (Aug 15, 2004)

We just got a letter in the mail yesterday saying they will be opening a quarry a mile or so down the road from us. They are going to come and inspect neighboring homes and outbuildings to document foundation cracks, sidewalks, driveways, etc. so they don't get sued down the line for any problems we might have and blame on the blasting they'll be doing.

We are very concerned that this is going to change things for us dramatically. Are we going to be hearing big explosions all the time? Is our house going to be damaged by the tremors in the ground? Does ANYONE have experience in this area?

This is quite upsetting to us. We've only been here a week, and we love the house and the land so much. I can't stand the thought of our peace being disturbed


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

Are they telling you that they are going to inspect our property and huse or ASKING to do it. There is a difference. I would document whatever is there myself with my own camera and not a digital one that can be changed. Use good old film. Could be useful in court someday.

I'd be as concerned about dust as anything.


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## Lt. Wombat (Jul 3, 2003)

We have a USFS quarry 8 miles driving distance or 4 miles as the crow flies from us. Only when near it will we hear the blasting. The dust put out is pretty incredible when theyâre blasting also but again only when weâre near it..

The big issue is all the truck traffic and the damage they have done to the road. The last thing you want to do is follow on of those trucks onto the highway as they will pepper you with gravel and destroy your windshield within minutes.

The only other issue is radio usage. Because of the blasting they have regulations regarding the use of 2 way radios, cell phones and ham equipment. There is usually a USFS law enforcement person sitting on the road checking people over (visually) when they are blasting.

Just my observation but your real estate agent and /or the sellerâs agent didnât do a very good job regarding disclosure if they didnât know a quarry was going in right next to you. I would be all over them for that one!


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## OD (May 25, 2004)

Another thing to think about is possible damage to your well (if you have one). A few years ago, there was some seismograph testing done near here & the blasting caused my MIL's well to fill up with sand.


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## mtman (Sep 2, 2004)

Lt. Wombat said:


> We have a USFS quarry 8 miles driving distance or 4 miles as the crow flies from us. Only when near it will we hear the blasting. The dust put out is pretty incredible when theyâre blasting also but again only when weâre near it..
> 
> The big issue is all the truck traffic and the damage they have done to the road. The last thing you want to do is follow on of those trucks onto the highway as they will pepper you with gravel and destroy your windshield within minutes.
> 
> ...


i agree with you i would put that in the same place as a flood zone they would have to tell you


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## Billie in MO (Jun 9, 2002)

I grew up just a couple miles from a quarry and my dad, now lives even closer to this quarry. I went to school with the kids whose farm land is now the quarry. That farm house still stands with no problems. The area is not heavily populated, tho. On occasion we would hear the blasts and we could barely feel them. My dad has had no problems with his house from blasts and none of the neighbors, right near him, have either. There are 5 houses less than 1/4 mile away from the entrance to the quarry and they have all been there over 60 years and have no problems. Could be that we are the exception to the rule.

This has been our experience but I would certainly inquire further since you mention they are sending people out to inspect. I don't remember that being done in our case. The road was the only thing that got annoying because the big trucks would just tear them to pieces.

Wishing you luck that you have no problems.


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## Leah IL (Aug 15, 2004)

I am just sick about this. The more investigating I do, the worse it looks. We were told about the quarry by the agent, but she made it sound like it was going to be much further away than it really is. It looks like it will be a mile or so down the road from us. The thought of the traffic increase is really the worst of it. The thing we love about our new home is how quiet it is.


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## breezynosacek (Nov 7, 2003)

Leah IL said:


> I am just sick about this. The more investigating I do, the worse it looks. We were told about the quarry by the agent, but she made it sound like it was going to be much further away than it really is. It looks like it will be a mile or so down the road from us. The thought of the traffic increase is really the worst of it. The thing we love about our new home is how quiet it is.


Leah,

I can totally understand your concerns. When we came to look at our place, the real estate agent said, "see how quiet this place is?"

We had gone in the middle of the day in the summer. Not one car went by for the whole hour that we were there.

After we moved in we found out that "our road" was the ONLY cross over between to sections of sprawling country lanes.

We get everybody trying to get somewhere, but mostly, we get all of the dump trucks going to the dump for the entire area, we get all of the county road crew trucks for half of the area and in the winter when they are salting roads, we are the last to get salted for some reason.

It used to irritate me to no end but you sort of get used to it after awhile.


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## Jodi (May 5, 2004)

It's so funny I read this post as just a split second ago the quarry that is about a mile from me just blasted. You don't so much hear the blast as you feel it. It's quite unnerving at first. You'll hear a deep thump sound outside and a split second later the house will shake.

Now, with your quarry being new you may hear the blasts. But, the quarry by me is pretty deep..so I feel more then hear the blasts.

Not sure how long the quarry has been there, we just moved here in April. But, our home was built in 1910 so I figure it has cracked about all it's going to with the quarry blasting.

Jodi


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## Leah IL (Aug 15, 2004)

Thanks everyone, especially those that offered some encouraging words (Billie, Jodi and Breezy)- that helped a lot. I called the number on the letter we got and spoke with the guy that is in charge of the quarry. He was very nice and we got to talking about how it was going to affect us. After talking with him, I get the feeling that the traffic is going to be our main issue. The trucks will go right by our house, which is not right on the road but isn't too far from it either. Right now we have very little traffic and it's so quiet- one of the things I treasure about the place. So that's going to change I guess. They do have a mandatory wheel wash that the trucks have to go through before they leave the place, so that cuts down on the dust and debris a bit. They run 6 days a week from 6am-6pm  

Apparently this has been in the works for 5 years. They got turned down by the county and appealled and got it overturned in December. They plan on beginning to blast at the end of this month.

So about 3 weeks of quiet paradise is all we get. I can't help but feel so sad. I'm going to have to just try not to let the noise of the trucks get to me- maybe I'll get used to it.


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## homebirtha (Feb 19, 2004)

Is there anything you can do with your agent. If she misled you into believing it was going to be much further away from you, that seems like grounds for some kind of reparations. To be brutally honest, if I were in your situation, I would be looking for some way to get out. The quarry is going to hurt your property value A LOT. 

I think the blasting noise will be the least of your problems. The dust is awful. It coats everything within a mile or two. The traffic would be a huge problem for me too. But the other scary thing, at least in this part of the country, are all the sink holes the quarries can cause. It may take a few years, but as the water table is effected, they'll start. 

This really is awful for you. I'm so so sorry. But I would be contacting a lawyer and looking for a way to get out while you can.


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## EasyDay (Aug 28, 2004)

I have to agree with homebirtha.
Suppose it ends up even worse than you're imagining and you find you just hate it. You'll never to be able to get rid of it... at least not recupe'ing the money you invested in it.

Also, do you plan to have animals? They may react differently if constantly disturbed. Animals are like that sometime, and their senses to outside stimulation are MUCH keener than ours. (e.g., hens won't lay, cattle gets nervous, etc.)


Any attorneys or paralegals out there that might wanna jump in with legal info?


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## MorrisonCorner (Jul 27, 2004)

Um.. do you have a tree line between you and the road? Down below me is someone who bought the perfect piece of property, built a home on it (ok, a million dollar trophy home, but it doesn't change the story..) and has just discovered that she's not the only one with a million dollars to spend on a dream home... there is a whole development of them going in past her house. The truck traffic is horrendous.

She wanted us (as long time residents) to protest the construction, but it doesn't impact us. We suggested she bring in trees, preferably firs, and plant them three offset rows deep. They won't stop all the noise, but they'll collect some of it, and the dust.

It seems to be working for her. She bought "mid-sized" trees from a nursery, but if you had to you could probably find someone who would let you dig up wild ones for transplanting.


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## Jodi (May 5, 2004)

I'm not sure if sink holes will be a problem. We are in Indiana and the quarry by us has been there for 50 plus years. It's a limestone quarry and there are no sink holes anywhere around it. I lived by one in Illinois near Chicago...not as close as I am to this one and never heard of any sink holes and that quarry was HUGE!

The quarry by me is small. Don't have any dust problems, but it depends on the size. Perhaps sink holes are not as common here as they are in other areas.


Jodi


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

The next time you talk to a quarry rep get free stone for life guaranteed if you do not balk at the quarry going in. He already is going to get approved anyway so you will not be compromising.


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## pumpkinlady (Sep 3, 2003)

We have a quarry right across the road from us. It is rather large and extends for miles. Yes, you can feel the blasts more than hear them. No we have no trouble with dust. Trucks use only main entrances and have the quarry has to have a road agreement with the township to to maintain the road they use. 

We too had someone come and take photos of our house. This protects both parties in case of problems in your house shifting or foundation cracking. They gave us copies of the photos and a list of what was wrong with our house at the time.

They also did a test of our water so that if we had trouble with it going bad or if the well went dry it too was on record. Our neighbor lost their spring and the mining company had water buffaloes in place in a matter of hours and the next day they started drilling them a well with a water treatment system free of charge.

We have been given free limestone for our lane when ever we went to buy.

Honestly, I have to say that it is an eyesore to see the land tore up, it does getting noisey at night with the trucks running and all (they do stop around 1:00 AM and start back up at 6:00).

But... all in all they really make an effort to be good neighbors and contribute a lot to the community.

I hate to admit that if and when the time comes that they ask to lease or buy our farm we would strongly consider selling (never lease). Our neighbors are getting close to a million dollars for their farms the size of ours. I like our land and our quiet life but early retirement looks pretty good....Laurie


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## bulldinkie (Nov 12, 2003)

Some friends of ours live near a quarry they had my husband come in to do work thier foundation walls were caving in.Dom all the blasts etc


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## insanity (Aug 22, 2004)

We lived with in a mile from a small quarry here.Thats the big question is how big will it be.Are they going to just blast and haul out like here.
Or are they going to install a rock crusher? Crushers are very loud and a constant racket.So is the heavy equipment that loads the rock if theres not a wood line between ya.In a small quarry most likely all you'll notice is the truck traffic which also want be that bad after you get used to it.They will blast at almost the same time every day or every few days depending on the size of the out fit.Our quarry had walls over a 100ft high so they only blasted about 1once a week.The blasting is nothing.And will not spook live stock after they get used to it.If they notice it at all.You'll feel it indoors only, most likely.We have tons of sink holes and caves in this area.So im sure it was even worse for us.The explosives now days are so much better that they dont need to make such a big boom any more.Well most of the time anyway.

If you put up a noise break like said,trees.Or a fence.Privacy would work best.The truck traffic will hardly be noticed either.After also liveing with in 30ft from a major two lane high way i can tell just about any thing put out will stop some noise.A cute little picket fence or row of hedges only 3ft or 4ft high would turn back around 40percent of the sound if its above or even with the tire hieght of the trucks.Considering they are already up to speed if there still changing gears by the time they pass nothing will help to much.Gotta love them jack brakes that sound like they drooped about three gears to low to slow down.We trimmed our little 4ft high row of hedges back to around three ft one time wow what a deference.We will not be doing that agin.6ft is sounding better.LOL
How is your house situated up hill from road or down? And is there any hill side/bank by the road(biggest plus would be a bank,they tend to deflect the sound up and away).All of this will factor in how loud they will be.Most dump trucks arnt that loud anymore either.So im guessing it will not bother you that much regardless.

We now live next to a military base.LOL id much rather be near the biggest rock quarry here,with crusher.Want to trade homes.Sence 9/11 there is always two choppers in the air over head to with in two miles away all day and night(those poor guys have to be as sick of flying in circles as i am of listening to them).Add a blast or 4 of god noes how big of a bomb about once a month that is ten fold worse than any rock quarry.And also the constant little explosions that happen.And you'll have the un godly racket we put up with every day.With in the four years ive lived here they have fired/droped two booms.With a blast that sounds as if it was atomic/nuclear.Im sure they weren't but good lord the ground shook.Didn't damage anything.But i still dont no how it didn't.Wonder if the government would have paid up if it had.Humm what big boom we dont shot any thing that big over here.Yea right! Not supposed to and doing it seem to be two totally different things,when there involved.Id atleast like to have seen the size hole they blew.Should have looked like a monster quarry all in one blast. :no: 
We are not in a flight path thank god.Well other than the scout coppers.And id guess there not supposed to be this far over.Just breaking up the circle a bit.I guess id do it to if i where them.Got do something to stay awake.Hey lets go buzz that house. :yeeha:


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## Jen H (Jun 16, 2004)

There's a limestone quarry about 1 1/2 miles up the road from me. Honestly, I don't even notice the blasting. Sometimes in the winter when the wind is blowing right and the leaves are off the trees I'll hear it, but not usually. There's lots of trucks on the road, but they keep to a sane speed, and their great about helping you out of a ditch when the road's gotten icy. I don't notice any dust from the quarry. This area's heavily wooded and hilly, so I've got all sorts of natural sound and dust barriers between me and the quarry. I haven't had any problems with my well or foundation - the critter barn is 40 years old and nothing is wrong with the foundation on that building. No problems with any of my animals.

On the really bright side, we get gravel for 1/3 of the going price. Of course, I give the quarry owners free apples and other goodies.


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## Billie in MO (Jun 9, 2002)

I agree you can feel the blasts and the sound is more muffled than just a loud bang. We never seemed to have any problems with dust, either. When they were thru with an area of the quarry, they would grade the slopes and seed with local grasses and then fill with water. No sink holes, either. It is a large quarry and the area is now dotted with small ponds/lakes and they attract ducks and geese galore! Sometimes you can hardly see the water there are so many!

Again, just my experience.

And I agree with insanity, I'd rather live next to the quarry instead of a military base. Hubby was AF for 23 years and I hate planes! When we lived in England we were right across the street from the flight line and when an F-111 took off it was awful. The house shook like an earthquake and you couldn't hear even if you shouted at the top of your lungs! No matter what base we were at it seemed the flight path was right over head, on or off base!


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

Anything to do with the quarry is out of your control meaning that you are at their mercy. Hopefully, they will be good neighbors. But you have no guarantee of that and, if you stay, basically agree. Decision time was before you bought the property. If you feel that you were not fully informed, then I would be contacting a lawyer pronto.


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## Leah IL (Aug 15, 2004)

soulsurvivor said:


> Anything to do with the quarry is out of your control meaning that you are at their mercy. Hopefully, they will be good neighbors. But you have no guarantee of that and, if you stay, basically agree. Decision time was before you bought the property. If you feel that you were not fully informed, then I would be contacting a lawyer pronto.


Right, there really isn't a decision to be made here. I was just looking for some folks with experience. It sounds to me like those who actually live near a quarry don't have much of a problem with it, maybe a few inconveniences. Those who don't live near one seem to think I will be experiencing Hell on Earth  Time will tell. The man in charge of the operation is a very nice man who wants to be a good neighbor, so that will help. It's out of our hands. Thanks to those of you who answered with an informed opinion. You really helped us out a lot!!!

Leah


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## DAVID In Wisconsin (Dec 3, 2002)

We're about a mile and a half from 2 quarries. We have no complaints at all. If you're lucky, they'll let you know on the days they blast. You can bring your binoculars and watch. It's fun!


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## Leah IL (Aug 15, 2004)

My husband talked with Mr. Quarry Guy again today. We found out:

1. He is trying to purchase farmland to make his own road in and out of the quarry which would deter most of the traffic from my house.

2. He has a train line that runs right by him, so he will ship a lot of his product by rail.

3. There WILL be a rock crusher. :waa: 

4. He is trying to find out about the beeping noises from the trucks backing up. He wants to disable it but doesn't know if this is possible legally. Whatever.

5. Life expectancy is 25-50 years.

6. When the quarry is finished, he plans to fill it with water and make a nice lake. So when I'm 83 I can go fishing. Yahoo.


Those of you that have quarry neighbors, did they have rock crushers? Can anyone tell me what to expect realistically as far as noise goes? Thanks for answering my questions. As you can imagine, we have a million of them, and I trust you more than I trust Mr. Quarry Guy to be honest. Please, only those of you that actually live near a quarry answer me about the rock crusher. I can't bear to read speculation with no experience- makes it much harder to sift out what's true or not 

Thanks.
Leah


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

So sorry,the traffic noise is a big issue with me.Our place has gone from vacation homes to the retirees,now to family residences.In just 10 years the traffic has really increased.Not that that isnt bad enough,but the drivers bring their speeding,tailgating,aggressive flatlander driving up with them.Our roads are 25 miles/hr,frequently spots where 2 crs can barely pass,and its fast fast fast.Not a good change,but as population increases,so does the rest.I sure miss the quiet,we are moving to a simpler place. :waa: 
BooBoo


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## insanity (Aug 22, 2004)

The back up beeper noise doesn't carry very far.(Dont worry if OSHA(sp) doesn't come by to inspect there safety very much the drivers will pull the wires on them.(I used to drive front loaders for a saw mill)The truck beepers if equipped are much quieter than the loaders.

The monster quarry is in town here.I didn't live by it but i can hear the crusher for a mile in either direction when im around there.But it is on a river bank,so that helps carry the sound.I have been working off and on in a subdivision just a 1/2 mile up hill above it.I remember other workers there asking what in the world was making all that racket down town.Yep there that loud(sorry!) but remember this is above it,almost literally.I cant believe there building houses that close to it(there for i also wouldn't think foundations would be a problem?Never heard of such around here.But i can say foundation do crack sometimes,usually due to insufficient footers).Nor could i have imagined that people would be buying these houses like hot cakes,but they are.But now they do only crush during business hrs.While most people are at work.But remember this is a monster quarry so I'm sure they also have monster crushers and most likely more than one.They supply all (or almost all?) the gravel for this area now.Population well over 100tho. And really growing.Clarksville TN. Anyway i cant say i no of any quarry's around here that still dig down and could be filled with water.There are some here like that but there old and not used any more.(wondering where the crusher will set.Hopefully somewhere that blocks the sound alittle)The two quarrys i mentioned are open in hill sides.Dug in the shape of a horse shoe.The small one had caves dug into the back of it.The quarry's ive seen dug down.Are always small here.Humm maybe this is a small out fit.Maybe thats why it will be running for so long.With a smaller quieter crusher maybe.  

My mom, grandparents,and great grandparents use to live within an 1/8mile from the small one i later lived by.In houses set on cemented rock pillars.So the blast arnt that bad.Would have been dynamite back then. And lots of it judging buy the size of the dynamite sheds there.  When i say small i mean it was like 2acers.150ft or so high bluff.

On a side note" i wasn't saying the sink holes where caused by the quarry blasting.Just noteing that the sound should have traveled threw the ground better where we lived do to the fact of the many sink holes and caves in the area.

Cheer up! Im sure it will not be that bad.Might not even notice it at all.  The surrounding terrain will be the desideing factor.


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## insanity (Aug 22, 2004)

Oh yea! By them inspecting homes in the area.There just trying to cover there butts.I would to!  People will sue you at the drop of a hat now days.There just trying to stop people from blaming there existing cracked foundations on there blast.(Bet theres some houses there that are to). If your a mile away i wouldn't worry any about that.Mines not cracked and im sure near buy blast from Fort Camble has jarred the ground harder than any quarry blast ever would or will. :haha: 



I just thought of another quarry here.This one is just tunnels/caves dug into the side of a cliff.Have heard they go back a good ways in the ground.But the funny thing is theres a house built directly over it,on the cliff.My grandfather said it was the owners house at one time.But it was there when they where blasting under it.It sets about a 100ft or so up.Not more than 20ft from the edge then its straight down.Scary looking even with out thinking about the caves under it.
But still safe id assum considering how much rock its setting on.


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## ed/IL (May 11, 2002)

They often like to turn them into a landfill when they are done.


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

ok, then I'll share what I actually know about living by a quarry. Depends on the quarry and the owners, like I said before. Our present neighbors and good friends had a quarry next to their last farm that decided to expand by buying the farm that was between. It took our friends 5 years to get their farm sold because of the quarry neighbors and had to take a loss at that. Course this was back in the days when they used dynamite. They had all kinds of problems keeping their dairy herd milking and finally just gave that up and turned part of the acreage into a pig farm. The said quarry is still there. There are no homes close by, only industrial types. And it's for a good reason. They're loud, noisy, gritty, grimy, working to make a profit and not working to please any neighbors. Good luck.


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## Christiaan (Mar 13, 2004)

We are about 1 1/2 miles from a small quarry. They seldom blast, so its an experience each time, but none of the animals seem to mind. There are forrested ridges between them and us, so dust has never been a problem. They got turned down for a rock crusher last year as too many SF homes have been developed near the quarry. Truck traffic goes mostly the other way so we don't get too many trucks out our way. We do get logging trucks, maybe ten a day. Again, we are buffered from the road as we are on a dead end spur. 
To help deflect noise from the road rather than just muffle it you might landscape with some berms in front of the house. These will direct the noise up and over. Of course anyone living 1/4 mile or so behind you will get the noise. Life is full of choices, idn't it?


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## jillianjiggs (May 13, 2003)

Billie in W. CO said:


> I agree you can feel the blasts and the sound is more muffled than just a loud bang. We never seemed to have any problems with dust, either. When they were thru with an area of the quarry, they would grade the slopes and seed with local grasses and then fill with water. No sink holes, either. It is a large quarry and the area is now dotted with small ponds/lakes and they attract ducks and geese galore! Sometimes you can hardly see the water there are so many!
> 
> Again, just my experience.
> 
> And I agree with insanity, I'd rather live next to the quarry instead of a military base. Hubby was AF for 23 years and I hate planes! When we lived in England we were right across the street from the flight line and when an F-111 took off it was awful. The house shook like an earthquake and you couldn't hear even if you shouted at the top of your lungs! No matter what base we were at it seemed the flight path was right over head, on or off base!


We're about a mile away from the end of the runway at McClellan. It's not even active, except for the Coast Guard and private planes. It's still pretty loud, and we have DC10's coming by all day. Sometimes they fly so low that you'll feel vibration in your body. We even saw a fighter jet flying so low that I could make out his face in the cockpit. Probably no more than a 100-150 feet in the air! You get used to it.

I used to live right next to a railroad crossing, and the vibration and noise you get used to. Every night at 9 and 12 the train would come by and sound it's horn. The whole house would rattle, and I'd jump up scared to death. Eventually you get used to that too...


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## Leah IL (Aug 15, 2004)

Thanks for all the input. Soulsurvivor, I hope you did not take offense to my comments. I certainly wasn't singling you out at all.

Well, let the blasting begin  We will take it as it comes, one day at a time. I know that the Lord brought us out here, and He isn't going to just leave us to misery- He can work all things (even rock crushers, Lord?) for good. So we're just going to sit back and watch Him work.

Thanks again.
Leah


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