Wednesday

I spent a very restless night and probably only had four hours sleep by the time I woke up. I kept getting up to check that the heater was still working and then being unable to fall back asleep.

Unfortunately, when I finally got up at 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, the propane was, in fact, empty. So, I ran out to the garage, grabbed the second tank and swapped them out. I fired the heater back up and made a cup of coffee. I finished the Blog entry and then watched the news.

I took a shower downstairs and found the water in the shower wouldn’t completely shut off! Note to self: 2014 sucks so far! So, I dug everything out next to the laundry tub, took off the access panel, and shut off the water going to the shower.

I was able to repair the shower light, however. I replaced the stripped screw with a little bigger self-tapping one. One problem solved!

I waited until 8:30 a.m. and then called the HVAC company that’s supposed to rescue me to see just when they are coming. I got their voicemail. Okay, so maybe they don’t start until 9:00 a.m. Voicemail again. I called at 9:30. Same thing! So, I called DTE. The lady their told me that, because of the weather, everyone is so backed up, they just write the voicemail names and numbers onto a list. Right now they are already scheduled out to next Monday!

Well, that ain’t gonna work for me, sister!

So, I called around to find a place that sells furnace parts. I found one not too far away (on Joy Road between Inkster and Middlebelt). I took in the part that broke and got a new one ($36.00). On the way home, I swapped out the empty propane tank for a full one, just in case.

Sidebar: When I later told Scott what I had done, he was amazed that they had even sold me the part as I am not a licensed contractor. I explained they never asked me about that…

Back home, I installed the new part and then figured out what Scott was trying to tell me last night. I did that and then turned the furnace on… Nothing!

I got the trouble code and tried to figure out what else might be wrong. Then I called Michelle at work and asked if she thought Scott might have a minute or two to talk. She said to call him, so I did. He said he was going to be in Livonia anyway and would swing by to see me around 12:30 p.m. So, I washed up the dishes and tried to make the place look a little more presentable.

Sidebar: I am sick to death of hand-washing dishes!

So, Scott and his partner Keith showed up. I apologized for the house (it really is a disgrace) and led them to the furnace. I explained what I did and they took it from there.

It turned out that it really wasn’t me (although I did screw up that igniter). But, the draft inducer motor was bad. Note: Scott did say that it was a good thing he didn’t come over late last night as he wouldn’t have been able to get the part and fix it then, anyway. So, they called around and found one. Then they left and went to pick it up.

It took a while, but they were finally back and replaced it. They turned it on and, lo and behold, the damn thing fired up. And, the furnace was quiet for the first time since 1999 (when the DTE people replaced the same part!) I gave them $200.00 for the parts (they refused to take money for the service call or labor, which made me feel bad) and they put everything back together and left. It was 2:30 p.m.

I set the thermostat for 73 degrees F. (it was 63 degrees in the house), turned off the propane heater, covered up with a blanket and went into the front room and read a book for a while. When I got tired (I hadn’t really slept for a while) I got up and took off my jacket (I’ve been wearing a jacket while up standing since yesterday) and went in to take a nap.

I woke up at 5:30 p.m. and it was, in fact, 73 degrees F. in the house!

I was hungry (having missed lunch) so I went out to make a comfort meal. I cut up a package of mild Italian sausage links into one inch sections and cooked them in the 12-inch skillet. While that was going on, I thick-sliced an 8-ounce package of crimini mushrooms. When the sausages were done, I added a half stick of butter and the mushrooms.

Meanwhile, I put water on to boil in my pasta pan. When the water was ready, I added a pound of mostacholli. When the mushrooms had lost most of their water, I added four cups of my homemade pasta sauce I had thawed. I let that get happy while the pasta cooked. Finally, I finished my sauce with some good olive oil, added the drained pasta and topped it with Parmesan cheese.

I plated some and ate dinner watching the news. It was excellent! The pasta, not the news…

I was chillin’ when my Brother Carl called, to ask about my heat. Social media is a double-edged sword. If you write a Blog, people cannot seem to wait to see how the day turned out the next day. They want to know NOW!

So, I explained everything I am writing now and thanked him for the offer to bunk at his place while my furnace was out (I explained that I was not all that excited  about making sure I was warm while leaving the house to face frozen pipes).

I watched a couple of taped shows until bedtime. Then I stripped down naked (my preferable choice of sleepwear) and went to bed.