Heat On

It was getting to be a regular comedy of errors over here, though I wasn't laughing much.  I had to call a few times to make sure that I actually was getting a technician over (after the part was delivered all on its own in the morning), so that we didn't go one more night without heat.  I was definitely getting more than a little cranky and short with anyone who called on the phone (particularly if they were trying to sell me anything that wasn't furnace-related).  Then we got the furnace guy back, and it didn't take him that long after all that anguish.  But then the water heater guy showed up 10 minutes later and they kind of got in each other's way a bit.  At any rate, the nightmare is over.  At least I hope so.  I keep listening to see if I hear any unusual sounds from the furnace, though I think for the moment it can all be related to needing to run for close to an hour straight just to bring the temperature back to normal.

I may have mentioned before that I went three winters (not three days) in Newark, NJ essentially without any heat.  I was living in what were essentially leftover cold water flat tenements, though they did have hot water (and indoor plumbing).  It was a weird place, where tenants had to buy their own refrigerators (I kid you not).  I remember hanging a fair number of clothes on a clothes line between the buildings, but I also had to walk to the laundromat.  So did I only partially dry them and bring them back to dry outside (in the summer at least)?  I can't imagine walking back with a bag of wet clothes, but perhaps I did.

But back to the heat or rather lack of it.  In one case, I was offered some rickety-looking space heaters, but I decided not to risk it.  In the other apartment I rented, there was some gas heater thing in the kitchen, but I couldn't really figure out how to use it, and it wouldn't have blown the hot air into the rooms I worked and slept in anyway.  I certainly can't imagine doing that today, so I have gotten much softer in my middle age.  I did quasi-hibernate a lot, getting under the covers with my cat and reading when it was too cold to type, which was most of the time over the winter.  It's definitely not something I have any intention of repeating.