27. Yep, forecast now says it’ll be 27 flipping degrees in Orlando this Saturday morning. Or more likely 23, since it’s dropping a degree a day. As it is, we’re flirting with breaking the record low of 26 set in 1970. And let’s not forget that it’ll be a RealFeel temp of 14, thanks to the wind chill. Have I mentioned yet that next Wednesday, the day after we leave, it’s going to be 70? Of course. How could it be otherwise?
I do like the summation by accuweather.com though:
Winter of 2009-2010 Could be Worst in 25 Years
“Brutally cold conditions are gripping nearly the entire eastern half of the country, including Florida. Temperatures this extreme have not been experienced since 1985.”
Naturally. By the way, Farmer’s Almanac, who predicted a “milder than usual” winter? Yeah, you. You suck.
59. That’s the temperature in the house right now, as Kona is buried under a blanket on the couch. Though the 59 is a huge improvement from earlier, thanks to the fine folks at Williams Stoker & Heating, who I called this morning and who got the friendly and efficient Robert out here by 4:30PM. Now, in between there, a couple came over to adopt Bell, and the husband took a look at the furnace to
make sure it wasn’t just a simple matter of lighting the pilot light. It wasn’t. So at least I didn’t have to feel like a total idiot for calling the heating guys.In any case, Robert fixed the thermocoupler - for a pittance, no less - and we’re back in business, warming up steadily albeit slowly.
Thus my question for you today, my elevens of readers, is this: do I have insanely shitty luck, or is this a sign of brilliant things to come? Because yes, it sucked to have no heat today, but how much more would it have sucked if the furnace conked out on, say, Thursday? You know, the day I go out of town. And with my tenant not moving in until later this month, and only here on weekends to paint and such. (Note to burglars: this place is burglar alarmed to the hilt, so don’t even think about it.) So the earliest she would have noticed that this place had frozen over would probably have been Saturday. All while we’re in the midst of a bitter cold snap. So not only would my tenant have had to try to deal with
the no heat issue – but the pipes here surely would have frozen and burst, and I don’t even want to imagine what a nightmare that would have been.I’m so confused. Can’t the powers that be just send me a message in a fortune cookie or something (i.e. the usual way messages from the universe are passed along) so that I know what’s to expect?
And one last oddity –my horoscope for today: “Something to do with your home routine or your family situation will be a bit of a surprise today. It could be very minor, like burning the toast or running out of coffee. Unexpected company could drop by.”
Okay, so the furnace breaking down wasn’t too minor, but still, that’s just weird (cue Twilight Zone music)...
3 comments:
You know, this winter has been WAY warmer in Vancouver than the last few years (especially last year... YUCK!)
Sorry.
For future reference, the thermocouple is there just to check that the pilot flame is alight. It's a minor function... to make sure raw gas doesn't fill your house and blow it up; it's not strictly needed for the furnace to run, so if the alternative is to freeze to death, you can bypass it, run the furnace until the house is nice and toasty, then shut off the gas until it cools again.
That will safely heat your house, unfreeze your pipes, etc. until it can be fixed.
It's no longer automatic since you have to babysit it, but it'll keep body parts from falling off.
The same is true for the thermocouple in water heaters, and anything else that has a standing pilot flame.
Knowing everything about everything is an awesome burden, but I accept it humbly in service of the common people.
...John, friendly font of usually useless info. :)
Sorry I'm behind on this, but (1) I'm heading to Disney too so let's try to hook up, and (2) how did I get sucked into your life's work of proving Murphy's Law is alive and kicking?
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