WWTBAM Bored

OK, shower, since that is what I take. Kinda hard to fill my tub if I wanted a bath, but that's another story.

Landlord calls last week: "There is a gas leak on the 1st floor. The people from the National Grid are coming from 9:00am to 3:00pm Saturday to fix it, & will be turning off the gas to the house. They will also be changing 2nd & 3rd floor meters as well as 1st floor's, because I told them to. They need to get into your apartment to light your stove pilot lights when they're done."

Its so wonderful to have your life planned for you this way.

But I stayed put for them, of course. Took my shower & got other gas-usage tasks done before they came. They were done by 12:30pm, luckily. They lit my stove, which I could have done, of course, although the oven/broiler pilot is tricky, so I'm glad they did it. I asked them if they had lighted my furnace & hot water heater pilots. They said "of course". The hot water heater is 6 months old (another story) & I don't even know where the pilot on it is.

My heat goes on later Saturday, for which I am thankful. So they did light the furnace. I was running in & out Saturday & Sunday, mostly out. Things took longer to get to because I "reserved" a parking space during the Saturday overnight snowstorm by being parked in it, & didn't move my car until Monday, when I needed it to get to medical appointment in Waltham that is 3 miles from the nearest public transportation. And the 1st-of-day nearest-public-transporation pulls in 50 minutes before the appointment; kind of a tight squeeze for me to hike. There supposedly are taxi cabs in Waltham, though, but for me that is always last-ditch means. (There may be a rush-hour-only bus out of a place it will take me an hour on other public transport to get to, but that's it, & even that is questionable.) Didn't have time to take a shower yesterday, either, because I woke up too late & had to scurry to get to the appointment on time through messy traffic, lotsa accidents, lotsa pullovers-by-cops, & a little extra, nothing-to-worry-about snow.

I get home late yesterday & there is no hot water. I am trying to remember when I last used it; I thought I had used it at some time after the mysterious "National Grid" crew, whose uniforms said "NStar" (the local gas co) just like I expected them to had left. But that could have been old, already hot hot water. Or something. Saturday & Sunday I was mostly eating the remains of takeout, which required heating but no cooking, & fruit. Didn't wash up the few dishes used by Sunday night because I was up worrying about the Dr appointment, & getting to it, instead.

I go into the basement, feel up the cold hot water tank, note that the temp is set in about the middle of the dial, & see no flame anywhere. I also do not see where the heck there is supposed to be the flame. Someone more adventurous than I would have pulled out the matches about then.

Considering the plumbing problems we have had recently that the landlord basically called down upon themself in my opinion by having stuff changed out that wasn't even broken (yet), my stuff primary among this, I called the plumber instead. Plumber calls me back at work today to tell me "the pilot was out", but that "there might be a sensor out too on this tank & you won't know until you get home & try to use the water". That newfangled sensor-sort-of-thing is exactly why I didn't want to commit to matchwaving. In addition to "there might actually be gas leaking"; you need a booklet with this tank, just like with a DVR/DVD recorder, & they didn't leave me one.

(You need an even better booklet with the computerized thing they put on the auto-refill for the furnace boiler, & apparently they didn't leave our plumber one, which is an earlier story. The "plumbers who are also computerized-thingie-hackers" class apparently hasn't been graduated yet.)

Just be glad you're not using wood to heat your water.

BUT WITH WOOD I CAN SAFELY SAY I KNOW WHERE TO PUT THE MATCH(ES)!!!!!!!

i intuit you are fresh like daisy

According to the book, of which I now have a copy, including all 2 pages of tiny-print instructions on the pilot alone, matches may not be used on this pilot. Instead, there are elaborate procedures that involve getting a sparker to spark in such a way that the pilot lights.

You peek at the process happening, or not happening, through a little window through which you can see absolutely nothing when the tank is not actually not only lit, but firing away.

The instructions talk about a 10-minute interval during which the instructions say you should be bleeding any air from the lines. Any air is supposed to cause the system to turn itself off. I would bet this is the step the people from the gas company cut a little short.

Are you still without hot water?

You have my sympathy.

The plumber made "adjustments" yesterday when I was at work, but wasn't sure they'd hold, because the system has sensors that will let it shut itself off (again) if it isn't happy with something. Plumber doesn't have keys to my apartment, only to the basement; too many work-people already have keys to my apartment anyway, in my opinion.

The plumber doesn't have one because frankly I don't trust said plumber not to let themselves in without giving me a chance to put TuckerMonster in seclusion 1st; with painter-people & window-person, I am reasonably sure they will not just barge in, because there are no such things as painter or window emergencies, at least not as interpreted by other people in the building. Access to my apartment's plumbing can be a definite emergency for my neighbors as well as for me, but plumber-without-key has to call me to arrange to let them in, which gives me chance to put cat in my room 1st. At least that's the general plan. So far its worked.

As recently as this morning I still had hot water. Fingers crossed. Thanks for the concern.