Warming Up

Warmth II
Originally uploaded by Raymenie.

Our furnace is on the fritz. Not a good situation when the outside temperature is –4 degrees F.

I’ve taken to layering these days. In the morning I wear a tank top, turtleneck, and wool sweater on top, and long underwear, jeans, wool socks, and fleece slippers on the bottom. I sip a cup of hot tea to keep my hands warm. Strategically placed fleece blankets strewn around the house come in handy too. So does sitting close to the roaring gas fireplace.

Even so, don’t you think it’s a bit of overkill? I shouldn’t have to go to such extremes to keep warm, should I?

Fortunately, the coldest our house has gotten is about 64 degrees. There are five separately wired heating zones in our house, and only one of them isn’t working. Bruce suspects there is a malfunction in one of the valves controlling the outward flow of scalding water leaving the pump to the nonfunctional zone.

Tomorrow the heating-guy is coming out to take a look. I’m bracing myself for a $3,000 estimate. Hopefully it will be far less than that. But if I keep my expectations low, then I can only be delighted when the final bill is only $1,500. So much for Thanksgiving in Hawaii.

The furnace thing is an inconvenience, but it’s got me to thinking. I’ve been thinking that my life is a bit like our furnace. Eighty percent of my life is chugging along pretty good – doing its job; staying warm. The other 20% maybe isn’t doing as great as it could. It’s a bit chilly in that zone.

I thought that no one, including myself, would much miss the 20% absence of warmth. Surely, it could be compensated for by the other 80%. But the truth is, this just doesn’t work. If one piece is malfunctioning, the whole thing goes to shit.

(It’s getting chilly in here.)

Fortunately, the heating-guy is just a phone call away. He’s been alerted to the situation, and I trust his ability to help work the problem.

Before too long, I look forward to removing some layers.

In the end, it may be a fix requiring substantial resources, but in the long run, well worth it.

It is better to be poor and warm, than rich and cold.