Thursday 01.27.2011

What a day. I didn't sleep as well as I would have liked, but I was warm. The two little heaters brought the indoor temperature to high 60's. It dropped outside to low 20's during the night. With the new insulation in the attic and crawlspace, it's very quiet, too.

I got up about 7:30, as James said he'd be out sometime after 8:00. I moved furniture around, clearing the areas where they would be working, giving them as much room as possible, and vacuumed the now-open area. James arrived about 8:15.

After a very long morning, which led into the afternoon, the wall furnace is installed and works. It kicks out the heat. But then kicks back off. After two times up into the attic (in all that new cellulose) to check the connections from the furnace to the chimney), and a couple trips outside to make sure it was exhausting, a call to Tech Support determined that we need a different external venting system. Which means that they have to come back and poke a hole in the roof. Ack. But it must be done if that furnace is going to work. So, that is scheduled for tomorrow, Friday.

The better news is that the smaller wall heater is installed out in the family room, complete with a new gas line, and that little blue flame heater really kicks out the heat, too! I turned on the ceiling fan, and within 20 minutes the temperature rose from 45 to 60 degrees. Totally awesome.

James left about 1:30. I cleaned up, finished packing, fixed food and ate, Evelyn and Bob came over, and I finally left about 3:45.

I had a safe drive home, though long, as the highway just north of Flint had started to glaze with ice, and after getting onto 69 westbound, traffic was bumper to bumper as far as you could see, with whopping speeds of 25-35 mph. The underpasses were ice, and there were some crazy drivers. I chose to get off that highway and find a different route home.

I ended up going through Rural America, zig-zagging my way south and west. So many farms. It was kind of neat; the roads were just a little snowy and I felt more comfortable "driving with the locals". Somehow I made it down to 96 and got on there, which had been salted and was wet.

Glad to be home, it took almost an hour longer. But I'm home safely, thank you God.

Dan was happy to see me, too, as he wasn't feeling too well. Hopefully he'll get better through the night.

I'm only a little stiff, but my knees are sore. That's new for me. My knees are usually ok.

We both work in the morning.

Thank you for reading. Hugs.