Oh, come on!
Last night, as those in the area already know, was seriously f*cking cold.
So of course . . .
Jendaby and I decided to relax and watch some Black Books after the kids were finally asleep. On the way down to the basement she clicked on the heater. On the way back up she checked it, because the house felt a bit cool.
No heat.
So, being a wonder-worker, my lovely wife went down and fiddled with the furnace. I’m good at some mechanical things, she’s good at others—we make a good team. She understands the furnace. To me it’s all a mystery except that there’s flames and gas and stuff.
An hour or so later, she called me to come downstairs. No luck with the furnace. The pilot light wouldn’t stay on—it’d light but went out as soon as she let go the starter button.
Great. It’s past midnight. It’s freezing cold. And we have no heat.
Jendaby thought it was the thermocouple, which we had already had replaced once three years ago. She was pretty sure she could replace it herself if we got a new one. Home Depot carries them.
Home Depot closes at eleven. It doesn’t open again until five.
We then spent the next hour and a half or so digging out every blanket we have, piling them on the kids’ beds and our own, dragging the dehumidifier up from the basement and putting it in the kids’ room—it puts off a fair bit of heat—and then bundling up under the covers. We got to bed around two.
I get up a little after six. Dragged on clothes, got in the car, drove to Home Depot, bought a new thermocouple for ten bucks—it’s amazing how quiet that place is at 6:30 in the morning on a weekday!—and drove back home. My lovely wife then got up, went downstairs, and installed it (with a little help from me, just because the plumbers had screwed the old one in really tightly). And Voila! Heat! Yay!
Now I am at work. I was only as few minutes late, amazingly enough. And the short sleep has not yet hit me, though I know it will, probably after lunch. But at least my wife and kids are snug at home, and I will be able to return to a warm house tonight. My wife rocks.
So of course . . .
Jendaby and I decided to relax and watch some Black Books after the kids were finally asleep. On the way down to the basement she clicked on the heater. On the way back up she checked it, because the house felt a bit cool.
No heat.
So, being a wonder-worker, my lovely wife went down and fiddled with the furnace. I’m good at some mechanical things, she’s good at others—we make a good team. She understands the furnace. To me it’s all a mystery except that there’s flames and gas and stuff.
An hour or so later, she called me to come downstairs. No luck with the furnace. The pilot light wouldn’t stay on—it’d light but went out as soon as she let go the starter button.
Great. It’s past midnight. It’s freezing cold. And we have no heat.
Jendaby thought it was the thermocouple, which we had already had replaced once three years ago. She was pretty sure she could replace it herself if we got a new one. Home Depot carries them.
Home Depot closes at eleven. It doesn’t open again until five.
We then spent the next hour and a half or so digging out every blanket we have, piling them on the kids’ beds and our own, dragging the dehumidifier up from the basement and putting it in the kids’ room—it puts off a fair bit of heat—and then bundling up under the covers. We got to bed around two.
I get up a little after six. Dragged on clothes, got in the car, drove to Home Depot, bought a new thermocouple for ten bucks—it’s amazing how quiet that place is at 6:30 in the morning on a weekday!—and drove back home. My lovely wife then got up, went downstairs, and installed it (with a little help from me, just because the plumbers had screwed the old one in really tightly). And Voila! Heat! Yay!
Now I am at work. I was only as few minutes late, amazingly enough. And the short sleep has not yet hit me, though I know it will, probably after lunch. But at least my wife and kids are snug at home, and I will be able to return to a warm house tonight. My wife rocks.
posted by Gryphon Rose @ 7:11 AM
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