Celebrating Bella with Family

I was up and downstairs just ahead of 8am. Mindy asked for a hug and then asked that I bring her coffee in short order. I stumbled off down the stairs and to the kitchen where I started a pot of Starbucks coffee. It was chilly in the house even though Mindy set the thermostat for the furnace to 62 the night before. It didn’t smell or feel like it kicked on. If it had, it would have been the first time this season. It was cloudy. I wasn’t sure of the temp.

I hand washed a few stray dishes while the coffee brewed. I was anxious to see if the Reds won their first playoff game. I went to my computer and saw that they did indeed win, 5-2. Cool! Winning the first game is big, especially on the road. It’s a best of five series, and the first two are in SF. I heard Mindy stirring upstairs a few short minutes later, or about the same time that the coffee maker beeped alerting me that the coffee was ready.

I hurried into the kitchen where I started a cup for the both of us. Mindy was before 830am and ready to get busy preparing for Bella’s family birthday party. Actually, she had streamers up and the kitchen table arranged for hosting a party the night before. Mindy shared that the furnace was blowing out cool air only despite having the thermostat turned up. Uh-oh. I went to the nearest vent to check it out. Yep, nothing but cool air. I double checked the thermostat to make sure she hadn’t overlooked the obvious. Nope. Looked right.

I headed to the basement with my LED flashlight and peered through the furnace door at the burner. No flame. I went for my mini –socket set to remove the front panel. Instantly I believed it something I knocked loose last Saturday when I pulled the front panel and vacuumed all the cob webs from inside and around the furnace. I cranked the thermostat up to 80 to and watched. The blower kicked on but that’s it. I wiggled several wires that I might’ve bumped when vacuuming last week. Nothing. Crap, I closed it up and headed back upstairs to my PC. Always something!

Mindy asked if I wanted her to text Mike O’Connell. He does heating & cooling on the side. No, not this early. It was only 9am. I knew that had a big shindig the night before. I played on my computer for another 60 minutes before heading out for my run. It was only 45 degrees when I dressed for my run. I wore my new, lighter running jacket and a long sleeved shirt. I ran 3 miles, just like I do every other Sunday. Once again, and despite taking a Naproxin the night before, my legs (quadriceps) were achy.

Back at the house near 1030am, I enjoyed another cup of coffee and a little more internet time. At the same time, Mindy headed up for a shower. Even though she tried to avoid it by grocery shopping on Saturday, she still needed to make another run to the store for the few ingredients she’d forgotten. I’m thinking that she headed out near 11-1130am. While Mindy was out, I took another look at the furnace making sure I didn’t overlook something obvious. Nope. Still no joy.

I didn’t do much of anything through late morning and the early afternoon. Much like the day before, I spent most of it napping and watching football. While Mindy prepared her signature chicken tortellini, she asked that I find time to vacuum. Yes dear. I got my rear off the sofa to take care of that around 2pm. Because the house was chilly, Mindy asked that I start a fire in the fireplace. Yes dear. At some point I asked if she ever sent Mike O a text. Otherwise, I was dreading having to call a heating and repair company. I’ve heard way too many rip-off stories. Said she did and expected him sometime later that afternoon. Cool!

Our first guests arrived just after 330pm. Within about five minutes of one another, Gloria, Joe, Lindsey and the boys, Tommy and Wally showed up. And then by 4pm we had a house full. As luck would have it, it was sprinkling rain making outdoor play somewhat unreasonable for the kids. That, however, didn’t stop Jacob and Rocky. They headed out to play football in the neighbor’s yard.

I don’t think we had seen Tommy since a summer gathering at his place, Charles’ birthday. The effects of the Bell’s palsy have all but abated, though his left eye is still a tad slow to track/follow, and his smile perhaps a smidge crooked.
With the stress of a house full, I decided to drink a beer. I opted far off the usual and poured a Southern tier Chokolat Stout. Very thick and very chocolaty. It’s sippin’ beer. Mindy laid out quite a spread. In addition to her chicken tortellini, she had 5 pizzas delivered and then a table full of snacks, dips and drinks. Mike O. showed up and quickly blended right in with his fireman peeps (Larry & Todd). After about 30 minutes he suggested we take a look at the furnace. He bumped the thermostat up to 80 before we headed down.

I was a little worried when there wasn’t a full electronic schematic on inside panel or in the information packet still stuck to the side of the furnace since we moved in. Nothing jumped right out at Mike initially. What was different was that now even the fan and blower weren’t kicking on. Earlier, the blower would run but the burner wouldn’t kick on. I was concerned that perhaps we hadn’t turned the furnace to on via the thermostat even though Mike insisted he had. After a couple more minutes of fruitless toil, I headed up to check again. Yep, we had the damn thing on off!

Back downstairs it was back to where it was earlier – the blower kicked on but not the burner. It didn’t take Mike five minutes to discover the rather simple problem. The little fan that pulls the carbon monoxide up and out the furnace chimney was seized up. And without that fan running the ignition is designed not to spark and light the burner for obvious safety concerns. After a gentle nudge of the fan fins the problem was cleared and the furnace kicked on as designed. Voila! I was very grateful.

While he was there, I asked him to look at the line running from the plenum to the AC condenser unit outside – it needs moved before finishing the basement. Without any mention, he pointed out how poorly they ran our gas line too – directly in the path of the window and far outside the path of the duct work Yes, that's a concern too, and one I was also considering having moved.

Mike said he could move both but that the gas line would take some doing since there are two other taps along its path that would need moved/extended as well. I'll consider it, but definitely need the condenser line moved first. Mindy soon hollered down the basement that it was time to sing and have cake. We headed upstairs where we sang the birthday song to Bella in her native Guatemalan tongue. Immediately after, I gave Mindy $40 to slip to Mike for looking at and fixing the furnace but he wouldn't take it.

Gift opening was next. Bella cleaned up, garnering a closet full of nice new clothes and then a handsome sum of giftcards and cash, and certainly enough to afford her that iTouch she's been eyeing for a couple years running.

Folks started to peel off around 615-630pm, or shortly after Bella did her gifts. And everybody was gone by 7pm save for nephew Joe, who stuck around helping with clean-up. Both kids ran off to play outside and next door. Joe, Mindy & I enjoyed some more drink. Joe had a couple beers while I enjoyed Jack & Coke. And unless I'm mistaken, Mindy stuck with wine.

Both kids were inside by 830pm. They hung with us having fun and joking around until about 1030pm when Joe left for home. Mindy & I were both tired from a busy day, busy weekend. Good night moon!