The Furnace Guy

The furnace guy came, as expected, at about 11;30 a.m. I let him read the note EJ left for him and then took him down to the basement where he looked at the old furnace and the ducts. The people we bought this house from had had the furnace installed just before we moved in as a condition for us buying the house. The furnace guy said that the ducts were too small for the furnace so it hadn’t operated efficiently and was probably the reason it died as soon as it did. He gave me an estimate of how much a new furnace would cost. He said he could install it in about two weeks, that it would probably only take a day, and that he works on weekends. That is a relief because I prefer that EJ be here when the furnace is installed. I did my best to answer the furnace guy’s questions about the ducts and cold air returns and gas line, but EJ knows the answers a whole lot better than I do.

Some friends have suggested we not worry about getting a new furnace and just decrease the price of our house but we didn’t want the lack of a furnace to scare away potential buyers. People are funny, and I’ve heard that some won’t buy a house simply because the walls–which can easily be painted–are a color they don’t like.

My foot didn’t hurt much for a week after I injured it on the exercise thingy, but now it’s beginning to hurt. There should be warnings on exercise machines that they can cause serious harm. I’m hoping I didn’t break any bones or anything. Yes, I know that I should have it looked at, but besides the fact that I really don’t have time, there’s no guarantee that I would get an appointment this week (although my doctor is good scheduling us in when we need her), and she’d probably send me to get an x-ray. Our doctor is in the City an hour away–and I have no idea where the x-ray place is and I would undoubtedly get lost. I don’t have EJ or Viki (our GPS) to help me find my way. I thought about going to Emergency at a hospital in the next town, but that costs a lot of money. So I figured that my best option is to wrap my foot and take Ibuprofen for now. If I have to, I will go to a doctor up north. We have several foot wraps, but I sent them all north with EJ in the boxes marked “bathroom.” Of course, I did. So after the furnace guy left, I drove to the grocery store to buy a foot wrap.

Since I was at the store, I bought a few other items as well and I was able to get six empty boxes from the produce department for moving. Yay! I had written a list before I went to the store, but I forget to look at it, and I had all my items on the checkout counter waiting to be rung up before I remembered that I had forgotten to buy the foot wrap–which was why I went to the store in the first place. I drove to a pharmacy a couple blocks away rather than go back into the grocery store. Hopefully the wrap will help my foot.

When not meeting with the furnace guy or going to the store, I packed. My bathroom and kitchen cupboards are mostly bare now–just a few more cupboards to go–although not everything is in boxes. I packed away most of the dishes and plan to use paper plates and bowls for the rest of the week. I’ll be glad to get up north and stop living in a chaotic maze of boxes.

I had left the door of a upper cabinet opened after I emptied it, and Timmy jumped onto the middle shelf inside. I was busy packing a few items and told myself I’d get him out when I finished. I was in the living room taking a break a while later when I heard THUMP! THUMP! I went to the kitchen to investigate and realized that I had absent-mindedly shut the cupboard door with Timmy inside. He was trying to open the door and get out! I scooped him out of the cupboard and closed the door.

After work EJ had to drive to our bank and drop off my Power of Attorney so he can sign on my behalf at the closing. Our mortgage officer said she has requested a rush and just needs the conditions to be final approved. I’m hoping we can schedule the closing this week–otherwise some of our plans will have to be reworked. It might even mean that I have to stay down here another week, since I can’t move north with the cats until the house is ours, and I don’t want to try transporting seven cats and a dog by myself.

EJ said the traffic in the Emerald City was terrible and it took him a long time to get back to the hotel room after he went to the bank. EJ picked up JJ and dropped him off at work and it took him another hour to get back to his room. With the construction and tourist season beginning, the traffic is getting worse. EJ said it reminded him of the gridlock scene from Doctor Who. He said that the traffic won’t be so bad between our new house and his and JJ’s places of work.