Out with the Fire Meany!

It's me Christina! Bryan's hand isn't fighting the good fight that well, so I have a story to tell you ....

So for the last few weeks we have been battling random plumbers to get the heat actually on in this house. We had plans with 4 different guys to actually do the work. Started with 2 guys who seemed interested, then never returned phone calls (I was beginning to feel like a girl without a date to the prom). Then came the company who showed up twice, never to do what they said, and then to tell us the work we had done by our old plumber was wrong, and that we would have to pay for all of it to be ripped out and redone, at a super low price of $1400. Mind you it was 45 degrees outside for the high that day, and being a blonde woman at home alone, obviously I was going to get out my check book and pay him immediately. Needless to say, later that day I was on the phone with a 4th plumber, Kevin!

Kevin over last week and got here a bit late, as he has a day job and this was side work. He and another guy got the 2 new Runtal radiators installed on the third floor, with minor installation issues (like Bryan having to pry off the apron of a window for the radiator to fit) along the way. But still, they began to fill and bleed the system about 9:45pm which worked for us.

There is apparently a pressure reducing valve on the system, with an adjustable screw. Of course this comes loose, water sprays out, and all the water drains into the basement. Due to our previous experiences my response is, "At least it is the basement". So the guys takes off for the night before he collapses from starvation and exhaustion, and a bit defeated by the house. It was then 10:30 PM.

They return on Tuesday to try again. Filling the system, bleeding radiators, then our pressure release valve decides to release; water sprays out, and all the water drains into the basement. The guys replace the valve, fill the system, bleed the radiators, and try to light the boiler. Alas, it won't fire.......the guys take off after a late night as neither of them know much about boiler controls. What can you do?

So Kevin promises to find someone who knows controls to come over, I think he was more upset that the heat wasn't on than me. The hitch: yesterday, we get home go down to the basement, and find all the water has drained out of the system; for those playing at home this is 3 full systems of water in the basement. Apparently the problem was that the pressure reducing value (that reduces water pressure from the street pressure of 60 psi to a "boiler friendly" 30 psi) was stuck on. I'm sure you're all saying "well what does that mean?" at this moment. Well I'll tell you: It means that the system doesn't know it's full and KEEPS TRYING TO FILL FOR HOURS AT 60 PSI. For those who aren't plumbers and who haven't lived through this, it means that you get water shooting out of a little valve deal. And it won't stop until your husband has Kevin on the phone and figures out how to shut the valve. Super.

So today, Kevin and a "control friend" show up, and replace what I think is the only remaining old piece of our boiler and promptly re-fill the system. They bled the radiators, and miraculously CREATED HEATED!!! It has only been 6 weeks since we tried to schedule the first guy...don't forget that. Only 6 weeks.

I am not sure if we need both a water idol and a fire idol at this point to bury in the backyard? I guess all this plays into the fact that we are about to go back to Indiana for T-Day, and the last few trips right before we left something water related has decided to crap out. First the water heater exploded, then the washing machine, and now the boiler has all new parts! We did replace the dishwasher, check out our first ever blog for the highlights, so we hope we're covered there.

So we are almost ready for our trip! As long as Bryan's hand is healed enough to drive.....

Which is a whole different (and expanding) story....

"I'm Back in the Saddle Again"

So it's officially been 1 week and 1 hour since I had my "incident" with the chop saw, and I'm 80% back in action. First, off many thanks for the nice messages and emails from family, friends, and stranger in the interwebs, it helped out immensely.

I won't rehash all of what Christina wrote last week. On a side note, when we got back from the ER she ran upstairs to document what happened before I even know what was going on. I mean she had her post started within 30 minutes of walking back in the door and helping me get situated. Part of me secretly thinks that her and the chop saw conspired to get more blog hits for 3 days. I wouldn't put it past her...but I digress.

So I cut my hand with the saw. I preformed the "wiggle your finger and pray hard they're there" thing in the car to the ER a couple times to myself as to not panic Christina any more than she was. 5 fingers to start with, and 5 in the end. The ER folks said I was FRIGGING (I'm trying to keep this post PG) lucky that I missed my thumb and forefinger tendons. They did tests before stitching me up to make sure that I had full movement. That was a huge relief as I'm a software development manager by day, and I need my fingers. That's 2 for 2 baby! Without posting any of the gory pictures I've been keeping I have one of where my cut was with a little (bad) photoshopping to illustrate where I did the damage.

The small line on the top is where I got my finger, and the one on the bottom is where I got my thumb knuckle. Think the start and end of the saw blade...without getting too graphic.

So that's that. I would say my hand is healing really well, but then I'd be pretending to be a doctor. So...I'll say that it doesn't hurt anymore, but the stitches are TIGHT since the cut was wide and really jagged. So I feel a "pulling" sensation when I make a fist or something equally stupid.

On Saturday I had the idea to work/finish the baseboards this weekend so that it was all out of my life for good. Needless to say I was a bit gun shy yesterday morning with the first few cuts, but I just went slow and really made safely the priority over "gittin' er done". Of course that's how it should be EACH AND EVERY TIME anyone uses any saw, but after so many times it's just white noise.

Anyway, I wrapped up the base caps yesterday and I bit today (I couldn't work more than a couple hours without a break since my hand would ache a bit). I took a couple pictures tonight of the baseboards just for a bit of reference. They ended up blurry for some reason, so I apologize. (note to the Boss: time for that new SLR right?!?!).

The base caps proved to be hard to cope for me. I think with the limited range of motion I have in my left hand right now and my utter lack of patience this weekend, it just didn't work out. So I reasoned that since there are only approx 5 inside corners that aren't in a closet, and the real work are the 14 some outside corners...that I'd just miter the base caps and pray for the best. Well Jeebus was listening to my sinful self because the insides worked out perfectly for the most part. The two that have small gaps were fixed when I caulked the baseboards today. VIOLA! The picture on the right shows a span of baseboard with the base cap and the caulk applied to hide the curvy walls. I'll touch up the wall paint after the trim is all painted. In like 2 years I'm sure.

The picture on the right shows one of my lingering buckets of joint compound. I actually used that today to fill in some unsightly gaps in the window trim. It's really hard to explain, but rest assured that none of it was my doing. It was a combination of how the ex-contractor installed "the box" for each window and that the Boss wanted the curved part of the window trim to be flush with the bowed edge of the boxes (thanks to the install...meh).

Well that means there's a gap. My solution: lightweight joint compound. The pictures below show the windows with the first coat joint compound applied just a bit ago. I'll sand them tomorrow after work and apply the second coat. Hopefully it all looks seemless, but who knows.

I have no clue why that last pic on the right (two windows) has "spots" on the walls. Part of me wants to race up there to see if they are in fact mysteriously on the walls or not. The other part of me says "why on EARTH does it matter at this point, plus you have chips and french onion dip". I think the second part of has the sound reasoning at this moment.

I guess that's it for now. Christina is at a baby shower far away, so I'm settling in to watch the Colts play tonight. So if you're the church going type, light a candle for them. They need it. Oh, also I celebrated the Phillies being WORLD F*#KING CHAMPIONS (my homage to Chase "I'm druuuuunk at the parade" Utley) for a few days last week which was great. I missed the parade because of you know...having a job...but since we live a block off of the parade route, the party was all night Friday.

Good stuff. Thanks again to everyone for the messages last week.

- Bryan