It’s Thursday, January 16th, and Dan Antion gave us our prompt word, “experience,” today. Thank you, Dan! You can find his Just Jot it January post here. Go visit him and say hi, and give him a follow if you haven’t already!
It all started between 5 and 6pm yesterday. I was sitting in my living room, getting colder and colder.
I made tea: I was still cold.
Checked the thermostat: the room was at the temperature the boiler is set to keep it at. I was still cold.
So I tried rolling my sleeves down: still cold.
Checked the radiator. Cold.
Went back to the thermostat: one degree below what it’s supposed to be.
Oh oh, the boiler’s not working. Turned it off and on again. Didn’t help.
So I called my water-heater rental company, with whom I have insurance on my boiler. They’d send someone out between 7 and 11am … at least 13 hours with no heat. Great. But hey, it was only -4 outside last night. Could have been worse, right?
So there I am, sitting on the couch in my living room with my sleeves rolled down, trying to figure out where I was going to come up with more blankets when I realized I was warm.
The boiler was working.
Yay!
So I called the water-heater company back to let them know. We decided it would be a good idea to get it checked out anyway, but the guy would come between 10am and 2pm the next day (today) instead. Fantastic. I wouldn’t have to potentially get out of bed and dressed and answer the door before coffee.
Moving on to today. 11am. Get a call from the water-heater company technician to say he’d be here in 15-20 minutes. Excellent. I put Winston in his crate and wait for the guy to arrive. Ten minutes after the call, there’s a knock on the door.
Technician guy: Hi. Am I at the right house?
Me: Er, yeah, I guess so.
He comes in and I take him down to the basement and start to explain what’s going on.
Technician guy: I was told I was here for a water heater.
Me: No … I called for the boiler.
Technician guy: *shrugs* Okay, I can deal with that.
He starts fiddling around with my boiler and looking at the owner’s manual. Meanwhile, Winston is barking upstairs.
Technician guy: Are you sure I’m not here for the water heater? Is the boiler what the (Local Housing Rental Company(let’s call it LHRC)) said I was here for?
Me: LHRC doesn’t own this house, I do.
Confused Technician guy: *frowns* Well this is weird. I was told to come to this address for a water heater.
Me: That’s not what I said when I called the water-heater company last night.
Wrong Technician guy: *over the sound of Winston’s barking* I’m not from the water-heater company. I’m from the gas company.
Me: Just a minute. I’m going to see what the dog’s barking at.
There’s someone at the door. I open it to find a guy in a water-heater company uniform.
New Technician guy: Hi, are you Linda? I called fifteen minutes ago …
Wrong Technician guy: *emerging from basement: to New Technician guy* Oh hi. Fancy seeing you here.
On his way out the door, Wrong Technician guy thanked me for the tour of my basement.
Turned out it was a loose wire in my boiler.
And quite the experience without ever leaving my house.
I have heat.
This true story is brought to you by Just Jot it January! Click the following link and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/16/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-16th-2020/
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