Dan--You're my Hero!

I want to thank everyone who sent me thoughts and prayers for a warm winter!

One of my friends has made a significant part of his money every year installing and fixing air conditioners and heaters of various sorts. When the heat went out, he was (inevitably, it seems) out of town.

Looking at probably having to replace the boiler, I called him and we talked, and he offered to do a bid for putting in a new one with My Angel and me as his assistants. So he came over today to look at things, see where we'd have to vent a new boiler since the new ones aren't designed to vent through a chimney.

While he was here, we discussed what the repair guy told me, and what he told My Angel, and he looked at the old boiler. "That doesn't make sense," he said, elaborating that part the guy told me I need isn't that expensive, and isn't the one that My Angel said he said needed replacing, and even that one shouldn't cost as much as we were told. There are other parts that cost that much, but those appeared fine. So he went out to get his tools and do some diagnostic tests while I held the flashlight at increasingly awkward angles so he could see what he was doing, testing the electrical innards of the part in question.

And in short order, he found the problem--the transformer in the part had shorted to ground, the loose wire probably due to vibrations caused by our recent 36-hour windstorm, since the boiler was working fine before the storm.

Except for going back for the tools he didn't think he would need, the whole thing took less than half an hour--and no new parts!

Dan's diagnosis--the young man who showed up while he was out of town didn't have the necessary training. Since there's not very many people who fix oil boilers in the city, and these people are the ones I've been happiest with when Dan's sick or out of town, this doesn't make me happy.

But overall, this is a wonderful Halloween present!

And now My Angel can't argue she should stay home from the Halloween party!

Dan--You're my Hero!

I want to thank everyone who sent me thoughts and prayers for a warm winter!

One of my friends has made a significant part of his money every year installing and fixing air conditioners and heaters of various sorts. When the heat went out, he was (inevitably, it seems) out of town.

Looking at probably having to replace the boiler, I called him and we talked, and he offered to do a bid for putting in a new one with My Angel and me as his assistants. So he came over today to look at things, see where we'd have to vent a new boiler since the new ones aren't designed to vent through a chimney.

While he was here, we discussed what the repair guy told me, and what he told My Angel, and he looked at the old boiler. "That doesn't make sense," he said, elaborating that part the guy told me I need isn't that expensive, and isn't the one that My Angel said he said needed replacing, and even that one shouldn't cost as much as we were told. There are other parts that cost that much, but those appeared fine. So he went out to get his tools and do some diagnostic tests while I held the flashlight at increasingly awkward angles so he could see what he was doing, testing the electrical innards of the part in question.

And in short order, he found the problem--the transformer in the part had shorted to ground, the loose wire probably due to vibrations caused by our recent 36-hour windstorm, since the boiler was working fine before the storm.

Except for going back for the tools he didn't think he would need, the whole thing took less than half an hour--and no new parts!

Dan's diagnosis--the young man who showed up while he was out of town didn't have the necessary training. Since there's not very many people who fix oil boilers in the city, and these people are the ones I've been happiest with when Dan's sick or out of town, this doesn't make me happy.

But overall, this is a wonderful Halloween present!

And now My Angel can't argue she should stay home from the Halloween party!