Shhh...Dragon Sleeping

Last night the heat went out again. Fortunately we are having a warm spell so the house was chilly when I woke up instead of unpleasantly cold.

I called in (boss said ‘good luck’) and headed over to the office to leave a note for my landlord as I don’t have his number. The office doesn’t open until 10am and closes at 4pm. He makes banker’s hours seem like a 12 hour shift.

Then I waited. And waited and waited (I got up at 5am so I had a good long wait) At 11 I went back to the office and the wife met me on the porch. Apparently they are afraid I’ll go postal because she wouldn‘t let me in the office. Was informed that the landlord himself wouldn’t be working on anything today because he threw out his back (convenient) A handyman would be over at some point.

So I wait.

Finally one shows up. They never listen to me. The pilot is out and won’t relight. Of course he tried 25 times before he conceded that I may be correct.

He leaves and I began the wait for handyman #2.

During all this waiting I cleaned my kitchen cabinets and the stove. I got a bill straightened out. I walked the dogs four times. I made the bed. I washed dishes. I checked my email. I called Fierce Leader (my boss) and gave him an update. He wished me more luck.

Handyman #2 shows up around 1ish. He admits to not knowing much about furnaces. But he does clean it. There was a big nasty pile of rust, dirt, and dust in the bottom. He vacuumed all of it out and eventually got the pilot relit. He also discovered the source of one rattle (loose bolts) and fixed it. He gave me his cell number in case it goes out again.

Handyman #2 also identified the Bottle Tree Thief. Landlord’s wife thought my tree was tacky and sent handyman #3 to remove all the bottles. Handyman #2 told her not to do it because it was unique art. Handyman #3 was reluctantly did as he was told. 2 told me everybody else in the neighborhood liked my tree and that makes me feel better. But I wish she would have just told me so I could have taken it down myself instead of wondering what awful thief steals ghost repellent.

So now the furnace is very quiet. It still wants to cycle on and off several times before it finally makes up its mind. But I think, for now, that the dragon is sleeping.