A Long Week…

This has been a heck of a week, a really long one.  You know, one of those where you say “Looonnnnngggg…”.  It had its humorous moments, but none I saw at the time, of course! 🙂

I woke up Thursday to a cold reception.  I sleep in shorts and a T, usually, so in Winter it is not unusual for me to be a bit on the chilly side.  I keep the thermostat at around 64F.  Most people find that downright cold.  All I can usually think is how good it would be to live somewhere in which 64 was the low and 75 was the high…(singing) “In Camelot”.  I don’t care for the really hot days of June-August.  88-95+F is just not something I care for.  My saying has always been “you can always put more on, but you can’t always take more off.”  Not entirely true as I watched a radio personality don a record number (actually) of T-shirts and when the layers got big enough he was having trouble breathing so they had to stop.

Anyway, I sat down with breakfast and my computer and began my normal day.  The furnace man (okay, Heating & Cooling Tech) had been in on Tuesday to check for winterization and had found that a part of my secondary heating unit (the catalytic converter of the furnace) was in bad shape and needed to be replaced.  This was something Carrier had expected as they had found the part was not lasting as long as it should and were replacing it free and paying a portion of the labor involved, too.  Danged nice of them.  So, the tech had pulled the part and said he would be back the first of the week to replace it.  He assured me all would be fine till then and left.

So, I knew it was a bit too cold in the house, so I went to check the thermostat.  It was set on 64F and it was 54F in the house!  Problem solved!  I got on the phone and called the tech office.  He would be in later that day to check it out! The tech arrived and, after a bit, came to tell me that it was not going to work without the part and they would have to emergency order it and repair it tomorrow!  Tomorrow!?  I asked my wonderful Alexa what the weather was for tonight.  She told me it would be down to 22F with a high of about 45F the next day!  Okay, I love my house and I don’t want to leave my house.  So, telling Mom I would be fine and then getting prepared for a rather cold night in my home.

I had a small space heater by the computer, so no problems there.  I wore a sweatshirt.  I did go out to eat with a friend and stayed in the warm restaurant until a bit late.  I got home and played on the computer and then, finally, decided to go to bed.  Before playing on the computer, I had gone into the bedroom and checked it out.  I found a brand new space heater, still in the box, that I had purchased on sale a number of years before.  I opened it, read about it, and was pleased that it had a thermostat, timer, and energy saver on it.  I did not like leaving something on all night, but knew I would have to so I was even happier to find that it had a tip-proof safety control.  I accidentally tipped it about 1/4 inch and it shut off immediately.  Good unit!

I put it up on top of my dresser on top of a rather old and heavy DVD recorder.  The multi-plug extension cord was heavy duty rated at over 1800W, which is what the heating unit called for.  I checked behind the dresser and found the plug was 1/2 out and covered in the webs of spiders past as well as dust bunnies.  I needed to move it out and clean first.   This was the beginning of hell day.

I pushed on the dresser which did not budge.  I swung it out from the wall and, eventually, one sore hip and back later, I had it moved enough from the wall.  I had survived, however, the old glass lamp I had not taken from the top of the dresser did not.  It lay in pieces at this middle-aged diabetic’s socked feet.  I managed to clean it up, cutting only my finger and back to the task at hand.

I unplugged the extension cord and thoroughly cleaned the plug, cord, outlet and surrounding wall with an old t-shirt.  I replaced the plug and found I could not move the dresser back into its proper place now; it would not move.  I resorted to taking most everything from the top of the dresser, took out all 4 drawers (they were heavy!), and then moved the dresser back.  I replaced the drawers and the top belongings, and then tested the heater.  It worked like a charm.  I was in business.  I set it for 66F, which meant it shut off at 68F and turned on at 64F.

I went to bed later, sat the alarm and then the heater timer for 8 hours and went to bed.  To say I didn’t sleep well that night would be an understatement.  I slept, but just not hard and not long.  I woke up tired and grouchy.  I had the appointment scheduled for 2pm and had to cancel my PT appt for my surgery work on my hip.  We had rescheduled it for Friday at 1.  I had called my Mom and she was coming at 12 noon to house sit until I got back. At about 3pm, I got back home, sore and very tired and grouchy.  Mom told me he was still working and left.  He finished about 4pm, we settled up, and I decided I had had it for the day!  I stayed home and went to bed at a reasonable hour (well, for me, anyway).  Saturday was a new day and I did so much better!

Now, I am realizing those days are the ones you remember.  They must be part of the good life.  Just the parts you really don’t want to repeat!  Have you had any similar tales lately to fill your memoirs with?

Namaste,

Scott