Soup Sandwich
So, whose karmic Cheerios did I piss in? I’d have to say that, whomever it was, we are most assuredly paid in full.
I was driving home from work the other night, just as the ever-present afternoon monsoon was starting up. I pull out of the driveway at work and ‘errrrrk’ my windshield wipers stopped working. Twenty fretful minutes later, I arrived home alive, somehow. I think it’s a fuse (at least I hope it is, ‘cause otherwise I’ll have to replace the wiper motor, which promises to be a great big load of “not fun”. I haven't even had time to check it out, as my few spare daylight hours have been spent on other matters, as will soon become clear.
Sheeps has not landed a job yet, but the prospect is there. The one job that we really want is still in process. It pays well, and will be great for us, but it is taking soooo long. She has a 2nd interview on Monday; more of a info session with one of the directors she’ll be working closely with. This is a very good sign, but it still means 2-3 more weeks of processing. Damn university jobs! We have a small nest egg set aside to get us through this period, but it is getting tight.
That's about when we discovered that the foyer was sitting in about an inch of water. It would seem that the water heater finally gave up the ghost. It was 25 years old, so it most assuredly had done its duty, but still… Why now? Water was leaking out of the top of the thing and dripping down the sides. Not good. We couldn’t even turn it off, as the valve just spun. It was “live with the water dripping ‘til we can get it replaced' or turn off water throughout the entire house. That wasn’t an option, so it was 'multiple sponges in the hall' time. Oh, well, the parquet floor needed replacing, anyway.
It is a gas heater, so the change-out is beyond my meager mechanical skills. Lowe’s advertises that they install appliances, often the same day, so we decided to let them do the dirty work. We looked on the website to price out heaters and check for installation, and, sure enough, they replace water heaters. We called the 1-800 number and after verifying that it was a gas heater, the clerk tried to “ring us up” right then and there for the $300 heater and installation fee of $300. We said that we’d prefer to do it “in store”, and she cautioned that they only had 1 left. We decided to chance it and go in the next morning. Oddly enough, they had plenty in stock. We even decided to upgrade an extra 10 gallons and go from a 30 to a 40, as it was only $10 more.
We weren’t sure if they delivered when they came to install, or if we’d have to drag the thing with us to the register. We hit the friendly “need help?” button, and shortly 2 associates appeared. We asked how to start the process of purchasing installation, but they both firmly denied that they installed gas heaters. “But the clerk on the phone said you did, and wanted to take our money there.” “She must not have known it was gas.” “She specifically asked if it was gas, propane or electric.” “Well, she was wrong.” “It says right here on the box ‘Installation guaranteed’.” “We’ll call our installation team and check.” They walked around the corner, and were back in less than 30 seconds. There’s no way they could have called in that time. “No, they don’t do it. You need to call a plumber.” So, grumpily, we carted the heater with the message on the box that they did install and guaranteed it, and headed for the check out counter. “Do you want to purchase a 5 year warranty on that for only $50?” “Uh, no.” I don’t think we’ll need that, as the box says it is warranted for 6 years… I am not at all happy with Lowe’s right now.
To make matters worse, I got food poisoning from lunch at Subway, and spent a good portion of the early evening at work, painting the walls of the bathroom a particular shade of used roast beef. I couldn’t even go home, as a certain “short timer” decided to call in sick that day (yesterday). I had to pick up some of his slack, in addition to my already full workload. There was no way I could go home early. I barely managed to get out “on time” as it was. I should have taken today off and rested, but I knew in my soul that he was going to skate out on today, as well. And I was right. There is a disgruntled co-worker in his very near future...
So, in the meanwhile, we call the plumber who has done work for me before, and he can’t get there that day. He said he’d come by the next morning (today) and give an estimate. Well, he estimated, all right. The turn off valve at the heater was broken and needed replacing (we knew this, as we couldn’t shut it off), and the gas vent to the outside was too small and out of code, and also needed to be replaced. I didn’t know that, but am not surprised, as the house was built over 50 years ago. All told, the bill came to $700. The $600 repair that we really couldn’t afford is now over a grand. Sigh. It was something that had to get done, and at least I know it was done professionally. Did I mention that Lowe’s really pisses me off?
Well, we may be poor, but we're poor with hot water!
And to top it all off, we get to travel to Tampa again this weekend, to finish the work on the townhouse, and get it ready for sale. Joy. At least we had last weekend off to relax.
Now it’s time to tighten the belts, and hope UF wants Sheeps for the job, and that they can get their act together and get her working before another month rolls around…
I was driving home from work the other night, just as the ever-present afternoon monsoon was starting up. I pull out of the driveway at work and ‘errrrrk’ my windshield wipers stopped working. Twenty fretful minutes later, I arrived home alive, somehow. I think it’s a fuse (at least I hope it is, ‘cause otherwise I’ll have to replace the wiper motor, which promises to be a great big load of “not fun”. I haven't even had time to check it out, as my few spare daylight hours have been spent on other matters, as will soon become clear.
Sheeps has not landed a job yet, but the prospect is there. The one job that we really want is still in process. It pays well, and will be great for us, but it is taking soooo long. She has a 2nd interview on Monday; more of a info session with one of the directors she’ll be working closely with. This is a very good sign, but it still means 2-3 more weeks of processing. Damn university jobs! We have a small nest egg set aside to get us through this period, but it is getting tight.
That's about when we discovered that the foyer was sitting in about an inch of water. It would seem that the water heater finally gave up the ghost. It was 25 years old, so it most assuredly had done its duty, but still… Why now? Water was leaking out of the top of the thing and dripping down the sides. Not good. We couldn’t even turn it off, as the valve just spun. It was “live with the water dripping ‘til we can get it replaced' or turn off water throughout the entire house. That wasn’t an option, so it was 'multiple sponges in the hall' time. Oh, well, the parquet floor needed replacing, anyway.
It is a gas heater, so the change-out is beyond my meager mechanical skills. Lowe’s advertises that they install appliances, often the same day, so we decided to let them do the dirty work. We looked on the website to price out heaters and check for installation, and, sure enough, they replace water heaters. We called the 1-800 number and after verifying that it was a gas heater, the clerk tried to “ring us up” right then and there for the $300 heater and installation fee of $300. We said that we’d prefer to do it “in store”, and she cautioned that they only had 1 left. We decided to chance it and go in the next morning. Oddly enough, they had plenty in stock. We even decided to upgrade an extra 10 gallons and go from a 30 to a 40, as it was only $10 more.
We weren’t sure if they delivered when they came to install, or if we’d have to drag the thing with us to the register. We hit the friendly “need help?” button, and shortly 2 associates appeared. We asked how to start the process of purchasing installation, but they both firmly denied that they installed gas heaters. “But the clerk on the phone said you did, and wanted to take our money there.” “She must not have known it was gas.” “She specifically asked if it was gas, propane or electric.” “Well, she was wrong.” “It says right here on the box ‘Installation guaranteed’.” “We’ll call our installation team and check.” They walked around the corner, and were back in less than 30 seconds. There’s no way they could have called in that time. “No, they don’t do it. You need to call a plumber.” So, grumpily, we carted the heater with the message on the box that they did install and guaranteed it, and headed for the check out counter. “Do you want to purchase a 5 year warranty on that for only $50?” “Uh, no.” I don’t think we’ll need that, as the box says it is warranted for 6 years… I am not at all happy with Lowe’s right now.
To make matters worse, I got food poisoning from lunch at Subway, and spent a good portion of the early evening at work, painting the walls of the bathroom a particular shade of used roast beef. I couldn’t even go home, as a certain “short timer” decided to call in sick that day (yesterday). I had to pick up some of his slack, in addition to my already full workload. There was no way I could go home early. I barely managed to get out “on time” as it was. I should have taken today off and rested, but I knew in my soul that he was going to skate out on today, as well. And I was right. There is a disgruntled co-worker in his very near future...
So, in the meanwhile, we call the plumber who has done work for me before, and he can’t get there that day. He said he’d come by the next morning (today) and give an estimate. Well, he estimated, all right. The turn off valve at the heater was broken and needed replacing (we knew this, as we couldn’t shut it off), and the gas vent to the outside was too small and out of code, and also needed to be replaced. I didn’t know that, but am not surprised, as the house was built over 50 years ago. All told, the bill came to $700. The $600 repair that we really couldn’t afford is now over a grand. Sigh. It was something that had to get done, and at least I know it was done professionally. Did I mention that Lowe’s really pisses me off?
Well, we may be poor, but we're poor with hot water!
And to top it all off, we get to travel to Tampa again this weekend, to finish the work on the townhouse, and get it ready for sale. Joy. At least we had last weekend off to relax.
Now it’s time to tighten the belts, and hope UF wants Sheeps for the job, and that they can get their act together and get her working before another month rolls around…
posted by Turtle at 3:12 PM
3 Comments:
The joys and sadness of homeownership! Of course, the hot water heater would do that, especially right now when money is tight.
I have some great recipes for filling, low cost meals (Beef Barley Soup & Chicken stew).
Maybe I'll try to get by and visit with you guys while you are down this weekend.
Dude! Major suckage. I regret that all of yesterday was spent enjoying the thrill of driving, or should I say submarining to Tallahassee and back to pick up the kid, or I'd have been there to help some more. And today is my anniversery so I kinda need to stick around. I hope that things start an upswing immediately.
I prithee, shooteth unto me an email. wihtgar at gmail dot com
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