It’s amazing how close lie the emotions of triumph and despair when one is a homeowner. A problem asserts itself, and you think, holy CRAP, what should we do about this? How much is this gonna cost us?
Whether it be water pouring from our kitchen ceiling, eventually fixed with an 88-cent overflow valve (once we diagnosed the problem), or waking one morning to a 57-degree house in the dead of winter … It’s exciting business.
That’s what happened Sunday morning. We got this huge electrical bill, you see, and I said to Matt, ‘we could really save some money by getting a programmable thermostat. Or at least one I could read (digitally).’ So he went out and got the very best Lowe’s had to offer, and installed it himself Saturday night. His big mistake was in handing me the booklet after installation, and saying, ‘here – you program it.’ I wasn’t super clear on what sort of system we had, and fed the thermostat the wrong information. So we had no heat from about 6 p.m. to noon the next day.
Hence some Sunday morning panic: ‘What’s wrong? What should we do? How much will this cost us?’ until the combined Maisel brain trust of Matt and his dad figured out the type-of-system dealio.
As I result, I’m all the more grateful for a warm house. And a home improvement-savvy husband. I shudder to think what a home would be like if it were solely up to me to do everything.
Oh, wait, that’s right – I’d be renting. :) But I’d sure be missing out on all the fun.
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I totally identify with the elation and despair comment. Our fickle dishwasher died again and jason & I were contemplating replacing it. The people who fixed it a few weeks ago came out for free and just tightened up a loose wire. It felt like someone gave us a few hundred dollars.
ReplyDeleteI'm almost having too many flashbacks to even respond. Just before Christmas, Sam went to replace a toilet (a 2-hour job, supposedly . . . he figured it would take 4 hours, and I figured 8). He ended up having to rip out and reconstruct the bathroom wall and floor.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. We have a digital thermostat. I didn't know we could program it. I think I'll have to try that tonight. Thanks Kate!
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