The Trouble Started…
…when Trish and I finally installed a wood stove we’d bought about a month ago. A friend and contractor helped us get the stove all plumbed in and ready to go just before the recent spat of rain storms hit us. The timing couldn’t have been better and we’d scrounged up enough wood to keep the house nice and cozy while the weather howled and spun around us outside. The wood stove is a thing of beauty. No longer constrained by the fear of a monumental PG&E bill, we were now free to crank the heat up as high as the metal behemoth would allow us, and crank it up we did! For three nights we lived in total comfort, sitting around our newest appliance and reading or conversing and generally feeling that life had become just a little more livable.
Well that has come crashing to a halt. Clearly the other appliances grew jealous of the attention and favor that our woodstove was garnering and so they staged a revolt of sorts. Yesterday morning I woke up and scratched the sleep out of my eyes before doctoring myself up a cup of instant coffee. I added a splash of milk, and then when I went to put the milk back in the refrigerator, the refrigerator let loose a horrifying thumping groan. I was already late for work but I figured I had to do something, so I pulled the fridge from its niche and opened up the back. This is when I figured out what the problem was, and also that there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. The compressor was vibrating something fierce. The thump resided after I re-affixed the back plate to it and I left for work, but it started up again and Trish ended up turning it down to a point where it was essentially off.
That evening we went to do some laundry and the washing machine ejaculated water all over the laundry room floor. This turned out to be an isolated incident and the washing machine, for the time being, seems to be working fine; but clearly a balance had been upset.
R.I.P. Refrigerator
The fridge is another story. After a 55$ diagnosis the verdict is not good: Dead compressor due to a build-up of dog hair on the intake grate. Who knew you had to vacuum those things?
As of this writing we are living out of our freezer and using blocks and bags of ice to keep a minimal amount of perishable items cool. Take that PG&E! Between the wood stove for heat and good old-fashioned store bought ice for refrigeration our billable energy usage (though not our “carbon footprint” so much) should be going way down.
The Story of Pseudo-Hairy
Aside from our two Labradors, a stone Cocker Spaniel, and a stuffed Panda Bear, we also have a pet spider named hairy. He is a dime-sized multi-colored wolf-spider, predominantly black but speckled with white and even some bright shining green patches. Hairy would generally hang out on the ceiling, in the corner by the television. But he was a natural rover and on occasion he would go cruising all over the ceiling in search of food I suppose.
At some point we lost track of Hairy. We assumed he may have moved on, literally or figuratively. Then when I was tiling the enclosure around our fireplace I discovered a spider I thought was Hairy. I didn’t want to hurt him, but he wouldn’t come out of one of the cracks in the tile I had yet to grout, so I thought I might try and suck him out with the vacuum cleaner. I did so – but I believe this proved too much for the vulnerable little guy because when I pulled him out of the vacuum he appeared to be dead. Still, I doused him in a little water and set him on my work-bench, thinking he might resuscitate himself. Unfortunately I forgot I’d put him there and then I squished him unceremoniously under a bucket of grout. At this point he was surely dead and I put him out in the yard where nature could take its course.
Well it turns out that may not have been the real Hairy! Since that spider is gone, Hairy has returned to his old stomping grounds and now is hanging out having a grand old time in the gauzy curtains that hang in our front window.
R.I.P. Pseudo-Hairy.
Madbob@madbob.com
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