Wednesday 10.06.2010

I woke to a pale, muted yellow orange stripe above the tree line reflecting on a mirror surfaced blue lake. Absolutely beautiful. I watched a bit, as the ducks and seagulls came out onto the water. The rain of acorns and how loud they are when the hit the roof or the deck or the overturned rowboat indicated that the squirrels were active.

I saw that it was after 8, and was going to get up shortly. I did, and after washing up and getting dressed, etc, I was surprised to see that it was almost 10. What?? I must have fallen asleep again. That's ok--I feel rested.

I called Colvin's Heating & Plumbing, and the nice lady said Chuck would be out before noon. He was--he showed up about 11.

He looked at the "guts", then took off the cover to the fan, then took the cover off of the middle. Steve hadn't taken that cover off. "I'm going to have to red tag this," he said. "The heat exchanger is cracked."

He went on to explain that the heat exchanger has something to do with the carbon monoxide and the venting process. And that the pilot is being pulled out because the crack is altering the air flow. I showed him our carbon monoxide alarm thing, and that it works, at least by the test button. And I don't feel drowsy or "sick" or anything when the furnace is running. But he advised me not to use it, and I had to sign a statement that I was informed of the carbon monoxide hazard and his advisement. Shoot.

Fortunately we have the radiant heater thing, which works fairly well. I'm not prepared to buy a new furnace at this time.

The sun was warming the 41 degree morning very nicely. I was in a not-so-good frame of mind after he left, and I decided that I'd better go out for a walk and look for a different attitude.

It really was a beautiful day. I wandered down Grace Street, ending up at the GC, and sat on the neighbor's swing. I just love watching the lake.

Since it was later than I had wanted it to be, I didn't do anything by way of projects today. I picked up my things, washed dishes in the bathroom sink (because of the broken kitchen sink drain), and got ready to go. Before loading the car, though, I cut some of the baby spiders off of the spider plant and put them in cups of dirt to either give away, or sell for the Relay for Life fund. And as I was closing up, I saw the chipmunk bucket, and went out to take care of chippy.

He wasn't in there. And the seeds were gone, too. Just a bucket of cloudy water, and a small handful of sunflower seed shells. So, something came up near the deck, went fishing in the bucket, ate the seeds, and the dead chipmunk?? That's weird.

I had a phone call while I was getting ready to leave, and after the call was done, I loaded up and left, around 3:45 or so. It was 76 degrees going down Rose City Road, or Jupiter Road as my GPS calls it. (it almost feels interplanetary when you get to the tops of a couple of those hills and see the view)

I finally got to talk to Daniel on the way home. I was pretty bummed out about the furnace, but he talked about solutions, which lifted my spirits. Thank you Baby.

An uneventful drive home, thank you God. Daniel helped unload the car, and he had food for me. What a guy!!

We spent the evening talking about options and looking at different heaters/furnaces on the internet. He ended up purchasing another of those radiant heaters that we have, though the new one is a higher output. So I/we will be able to go up in the winter and still be comfortable.

Tomorrow is a workday for both of us.

My left hand/forearm is definitely developing a tendonitis. I can feel it all the way from my knuckles to my elbow. Ah, pharmaceuticals.

Thank you for reading. Hugs.