Friday, December 13, 2013

Patience...

is not one of my virtues, although I think I have gotten better with it over the years.  When I was young, my Dad gave me a little sign that said, "God, grant me patience NOW!"

My patience is being sorely tested at present.  My smoke alarm is still disconnected.  There is a second alarm in my bedroom and another right outside my apartment door, so I am not totally without that protection.  The water issue was resolved the following day, but the furnace issue has not.  My apartment is the only one in the building that is cold.  The furnace man has been in and out several times, checking the thermostat and registers, but so far he hasn't found the cause of the problem.

I can't complain too much, however.  It is not like the electric was out and there was no heat at all.  The temp hovers around the 61 degree mark, so I am not exactly freezing to death.  I have warm clothes and heavy socks and I will survive just fine.  I have enough empty canning jars now so that tomorrow I will can up some pork and beef that I froze for that purpose, along with the two venison roasts my son brought to me.  That should keep things fairly warm most of the day.  Sunday I will need to bake bread again, and although it takes longer to rise, the oven heat will help.

Unfortunately for my Yorkies, I took them to the groomer about a month or so ago for their semi-annual haircuts, so they don't have the long fur they had before to keep them warm.  They have been spending lots of time snuggled down in their blankets.  I may have to break out their little turtleneck sweaters if it gets any colder in here.  (Yes, I am one of those people who buys doggie sweaters.  I hate to admit it, but there it is.)

Sometimes a person just needs to moan and groan a bit.  Doesn't do any good whatsoever, but it makes you feel a bit better.  I know that all of this will be fixed as soon as possible.  And being impatient about it will only make it worse.

There are folks who are going through some horrible times (Mystic Mud) that make my problems look pretty tiny by comparison.  I'm pretty sure that if you are of a mind to remember this family in your prayers, it would be a good thing.

8 comments:

  1. Large buildings have multiple ducts and doors that regulate the amount of conditioned air to each room, or apartment. It's that or separate systems for each apartment, operating independently.

    While the technician may find the temperature from the ducts is the correct temperature, the amount of air determines if enough air is allowed to completely change the temperature in your apartment.

    If your system uses doors in the duct to regulate the warm air, your door is probably not opening correctly, which requires removing the duct and either repairing, or replacing the door.

    If you have a separate system, with either a hot water coil, or electric coil, the problem is there and something needs repairing or replacement.

    Neither repair is simple, since the equipment is hidden in walls or small spaces. I'm thinking they hope the problem will fix itself or the temperature will rise enough for the inefficient system to allow enough warm air to heat your apartment,

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jess, thanks for the explanation. It makes sense. This is an old building (early 1900's) with five apartments on the upper floor and a bicycle shop and two small apartments on the ground floor. It had a remodel about 10 years ago. My apartment is of the shotgun variety, with the living room, kitchen and bedroom in a row. The bedroom has pretty good air flow coming from the registers, but very little in the other two rooms. Everything worked well right up to the time we had the fire last summer and since then it has not been right. Some of the duct work was replaced after that, but none of that was to my apartment, so I wonder if there is damage from the fire and they just haven't found it as yet.

    I will have a chat with my landlord and tell him what you have told me. I appreciate the advice. And as it seems to be a problem not easily or quickly solved, I will go buy another set of long-handled underwear!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Vicki darling I hope they get this fixed before it gets any colder. It has got to be hard to depend on others to fix those issues....Yes and praying for Mystic Mud and Family today....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for your concern, Mary. Outdoor temps are up, my pressure canner is going full speed ahead all day today and is generating heat, so it is comfortable in my little apartment. Landlord was here and took care of the other problems. He told me that the folks living two doors down the hall from me have temperatures in their apartment of over 80 degrees! He will be hiring a different company to deal with the heating problems as his frustration level is off the chart, as is ours. Those working on it now have been fussing with this for literally months and still haven't got it right. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

    I know that there is nothing I could say or do that would make things better for Mystic Mud and her family.......so I pray. I am glad that many others are doing the same.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I guess I'm a little obsessive.

    Thermostats are wonderful things, but they operate on low voltage and the wires are really small. Bad connections and defective internal components can lead to an assumption they're working correctly.

    Have they overridden your thermostat to see if the apartment warms, when the circuit is bypassed?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jess, I wish there were somebody a bit obsessive working on this problem.
    Nope, they have not bypassed the circuit. My landlord says as far as he can tell, they have done nothing to the furnace itself, either. What they have done is track lots of dirty snow throughout my apartment, held their hands above the registers to see about the air flow and look at the temperature on my thermostat. And then make noises about checking the ducts in the attic.

    There are no ducts in the attic because there is no attic. I hope that the new guys my landlord hires on Monday know a bit more about fixing heating systems.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Me too and I hope your landlord is shrewd enough to let the HVAC contractor know the problem may have insurance money for financing.

    If the fire contributed to the damage, the repairs should be covered.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jess, I had a long talk with my landlord while he was here this morning. The work is covered by his insurance, because whatever the damage is, it was related to the fire and he will make sure the new contractor knows that. The system worked perfectly before. I have a hard time understanding people these days. These heating/AC folks have been fooling around with this for months. The contractor that is working on the apartment that was gutted by the fire, still hasn't finished, and the apartment is just a small, basically one room studio with bath that was supposed to be finished in September. And nobody seems to care about reputation or about doing a good job. I just don't get it, but then I am old and come from a time when a man's word was his bond and folks took pride in what they did.
    I will step down off my soapbox now.

    ReplyDelete