Disaster Averted by Chance
When Charles emailed the final chapter of his new book The Annotated Turing
to his editor, he wanted to take a day off. We considered spending Tuesday in a New York museum or catching up on all the movies that populate our “to see” list. Instead we decided to combine two things into one.
I happen to own a 2005 Toyota Corolla. I bought it in Manhattan, but usually get it serviced in Monticello. (The Manhattan Toyota is fine, but it’s way over on 11th Avenue, and they make you leave it and come back later.) I need an oil change so we decided to make an appointment in the Catskills and spend one night in our house up there.
Everything seemed to be great. We brought a Netflix. We had plans to eat at the local and “famous” diner. We looked forward to stoking up the wood stove for a nice cozy evening.
However our oil furnace had failed. The house was a chilly 33 degrees! After trying to reset the burner, we called for service, started a fire, and turned on an electric heater to warm up the basement pluming.
Because I have had visions of this sort of disaster, I installed a cold alert module that is SUPPOSED to call me if the temperature in the house falls to 45 degrees. The thing failed because the phone jack splitter I plugged it into was 1/2 dead. Duh! Why didn’t I test the thing for a second time when I adjusted the plug?
Luckily it wasn’t an expensive lesson. None of the basement pipes froze (due, I suppose, to the warm weekend). The only thing that happened was that the traps for the kitchen sink, toilet, bathroom sink, and shower froze. The only one to burst was the one for the bathroom sink.
I’m so happy that we decided to forgo the museums, movies, and other Manhattan delights. Last night the temperature was in the teens in the mountains, so coming up to the house today or next weekend (as originally planned) would have been a disaster.
I’m feeling lucky, perhaps I should buy a lottery ticket!
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