Posted on by mwhybark

Gas Crisis, day 3

Still no heat, hot water, operable stoves or working dryers over here at Hard Luck Acres.

Friends of labor will be saddened to hear that three days into the bathing strike, forces greater than the massed will of the workingman (my wife) intervened to direct me to a cold shower – rimshot puhleeze!

Thank you! I’ll be here all week!

Of course, this would all go down the same week my folks are swinging by for their first visit to the house. I called and gave ’em the lowdown this afternoon. I hope we have all the mod cons up and running before they show up. My folks are tough – heatless homes and cold showers are no new events in their experience of travel – but if I recall correctly they are both over seventy and might prefer heated air and warm water.

Posted on by mwhybark

Stinker

Per Jon’s suggestion, the bathing strike plan is in effect.

I actually made a gas company phone person cry last night after she had told me there was no way for them to come out to turn the gas on (we got the repair done and it’s kinda cold). After she told me that it wasn’t possible for them to come out I pretended I was getting a hacksaw out of my toolbox as I rummaged around in the silverware drawer. I told her I was going out to the gas meter to hacksaw the gas company’s lock off the feedpipe. Then I told her I was reporting a gas leak and that would she please send someone.

She told me that she didn’t beleive me so I made more sawing noises.

In the end she told me that we needed a certificate of inspection from the plumber that did the work, something that the plumber evidently did not know, as he was puzzled why our insurance company would send him out on a gas line job.

So currently we have a new pipe but no gas to the house still. Viv is trying to get the city inspector to come out and certify it. It strikes me that the inspector can’t actually verify it unless there’s gas in the pipe, and that the gas company has told us they won’t turn the gas on until the pipework has been verified.

I did apologize to the poor woman, by the way, and I did not curse or speak impolitely to her. I still feel bad about it.