December 18, 2008

  • Walking in a Winter WTF

    There is a problem with our furnace. As in, it is not turning on. Just in time for what will probably end up being the snowiest day in Seattle this year in the midst of the coldest weather Seattle has seen in many years.

    I was home all day. When I got up this AM, I turned up the thermostat and heard the furnace come on and do it's thing... but I don't think it turned on after that. When I came downstairs around 3:30pm, the thermostat said it was 60 degrees (when I had manually turned it up to 70 earlier). I wanted to rule out thermostat issues before issuing the "Crisis! Come home now!" alert to DH. Virtually any other day of the year, this would not have been a "crisis," but I knew trying to get someone out here to repair the furnace would be virtually impossible because of the weather, road conditions, and the time. Our big fear here is frozen pipes. We have a gas fireplace and plenty of ways to keep warm (heck, we could walk to a hotel if it came to that), but the small amount of heat from the fireplace isn't going to stop our pipes from freezing. Anyway, DH got home around 4:30 and confirmed my suspicion that it wasn't the thermostat, but the furnace. I just walked all the way to the nearest hardware store (uphill both ways in the snow ) to buy new furnace filters (in case that was the problem) and a space heater (which, DH just tried to plug-in and it doesn't work-- AWESOME), while DH stayed home trying desperately to get someone ANYONE who knows about furnace repair to come to our house. No one can come until tomorrow morning and changing the furnace filter didn't fix the problem.

    While writing this self-pitying blog about me and my whiny little house problems, I got an email from one of my best friends. I knew she was being deployed to Iraq soon, but apparently her plane leaves tonight. Nothing like a swift kick in the butt from Perspective. I was going to ask for prayers that our pipes don't freeze, but I'd rather any prayers go toward her safety.