Friday, March 30, 2018

Day 3018

The house was cold this morning when I woke up. The thermostat said the heat was on, but no air was blowing through the vents. Yep. On probably the last cool day of the year, the furnace broke. I was actually surprised that we made it through the winter with no problems. I looked at the furnace and the fault alert LED was blinking seven times. Hmm. I think I've seen this before. I unplugged the furnace and laid out my tools on the kitchen counter. When I returned from breakfast, I would have one more thing to fix.

Breakfast was actually pretty decent this morning. I gambled on Eggs Benedict and for once it was prepared correctly. I was surprised at how crowded the restaurant was today. I guess a lot of people had the day off. I picked up groceries after breakfast and the store was even more crowded than the restaurant. The deli section featured braised brisket, matzo-ball soup, kugel, and other Passover favorites. I still wanted an Easter ham, but I wasn't going to get it here. There is a great little store in our neighborhood that smokes their own meat.

When I returned home I disassembled the furnace to gain access to the flame sensor. I suspected that this was the problem. I've spent a fortune on furnace repairs over the years before a friendly technician took pity on me and showed me how to clean the flame sensor myself. If the flame sensor is not very clean, it will not send the signal to turn the main burners on after the pilot light ignites. Occasionally components break or wear out, but most furnace problems have something to do with the flame sensor. Sure enough, when I cleaned the sensor with fine grit sandpaper and reassembled everything, the furnace worked perfectly. Let's hope the air conditioner works as well, because we're going to be using it very soon.

Dash's new boots arrived today. Janet and I had been looking at this well known Dalmatian on Facebook wearing these fancy Ultra-Paws boots all winter and finally decided to try a pair ourselves. The boots were a little pricy, but they do seem to work. I can get them on myself and Dash doesn't seem to mind them at all. He's been test driving them all evening.

I think I've found a new use for Shoe Goo. After Superglue failed several times, I used the Shoe Goo to repair the silicon strap on my fitness tracker. I let the repair dry for 24 hours and so far it's been holding up pretty well. Ordinarily, I would have just bought a new fitness tracker, but the Jawbone company has gone out of business. I think my choices are Shoe Goo or nothing.

Dash got me up twice last night to go outside and poop. I try my best to get Dash to do his business before we all go to bed, but Dash just thinks I'm crazy. He's just not going to go before he's ready. Things were easier when Dash ate dry food and didn't take so many pills. I'm not sure what to do at this point, but naps during the day are certainly an option. I'm definitely not very busy anymore.

The roof is drying out, but there's an ugly rust colored stain in the sheetrock. I've left several messages for the roofer, but I'm sure he's got his hands full with bigger leaks than mine. I hope I don't have to go buy more of the messy elastomer material myself, but it may come to that. I'm always fixing something.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day
Watch of the Day