Small town living

My wife and I live in a small town community of roughly 4000 people.  It's an old borough of Western PA, where 100 year old buildings and homes are the norm.  Our favorite restaurant has been around since 1903.  The local Masonic building has been up since the late 1800's.  Many of the roads are brick.  Like I said, it's an old town.  The town is so old that it is the electricity and water supplier.  You pay your bills to the city each month.  They refuse to accept credit or debit cards, leaving you with cash or check as your only options of payment.  

Being an old town, it has old town mentality, which we enjoy.  Neighbors look out for each other, often times feeding the elderly at least once or twice a week, if we don't see their family doing it.  We take care of each other, expecting nothing in return for out efforts.  It's nice.  It's quaint.  

Recently we decided to upgrade out electric service from the 60 amp glass fuse panel to a larger, much better designed 150 amp circuit panel.  Everyone we asked suggested that we use a certain local company.  The family owned company has serviced the borough since the first electric line was strung in the borough limits.  I called them, and was given an estimate that was much less than some of the companies outside of the community, so I hired the guy.  He was in his late 60's, and did a great job.  However...It took him a week and a half due to his contract with the borough.  any borough outage or issue, he was called away.  Also, the town's fall festival was in full swing, which meant he was going to put the job off a bit more so that he could partake of the festivities.  Hey...he's been doing this for years, and it's how he works, and everyone loves the guy.  So, a week and a half later, the job that should have taken only a day for a normal company, was completed, and passed both the building inspector's, as well as my own, critical sets of eyes.

The following week, I decided to have our furnace checked before the cold season really set in.  I contacted a local guy that came well respected.  He, too, gave me an estimate that beat the pants off of other estimates I received, and since he was recommended by many, I hired him.  

He came out last week on Monday to have me sign the contract and to pick up the down payment.  He said he would be out on Wednesday to begin the job.  Wednesday came, and he arrived with a small crew of two guys, and set them about the task of removing the old furnace that was installed in 1956.  This thing was huge, heavy, dusty, and mean.  It took them 6 hours to get all of it out.  I was told that this furnace most likely replaced the old coal burner that was originally installed back in the 1910's.  I assumed that the crew would be back to install on the following day.  Thursday came and went without a crew.  On Friday, I got a call stating that the crew was unable to make it out due to an emergency job with the borough.  On Saturday, the owner came out to deliver the new system, and bring it in the basement.  He stated that his crew works on the weekends at their pleasure, and that they didn't return his calls, so he would be back on Sunday with a few family members and friends to install the furnace.

On Sunday morning, he shows up with his crew, and they began the task of modifying the existing ducting to accept the new furnace.  8 hours later, the furnace was installed, plumbing for the new 5-ton A/C system was run, and the furnace was made operational.  He said that he would call me the next day to let me know what day he would be out to install the A/C unit...which will likely be Thursday, if all goes well.  Thursday...two weeks from the day I first called him...10 days from the day that I signed the contract and gave him the down payment.

So...here I sit in a warm and comfortable, 115 year old home, waiting for the guy to call to let me know when he'll be back to complete the job.  Once installed, I'll have to wait til Spring for him to put freon, or whatever it is they use now.  He said he would pressurize the system with nitrogen, but that I'll have to wait til next year for the job to be finished completely...and that I can pay the last $250 of the job on that date, whenever that will be.  It's a good thing that A/C season is over for the year.

Yeah, living in a small town means you live in a town where people are kind, know you by name or car, know who visits you and when, and where businesses take their time to service their customers. 

It may seem that I'm complaining about the two companies above, but I'm not.  The jobs they have done are flawless in every way.  They are the most professional I've ever dealt with, and have shown themselves to be people I would like to have as friends.

I think we'll add them to our Christmas card list, and bake them some goodies from our kitchen for the holidays this year.   

Lessons learned through financial set-back...

I went to bed with a 37" television in my living room. Woke up with a 32" television in my living room. Apparently my son needed to unplug the BluRay player (don't ask) and knocked my television off the stand and busted the screen. He temporarily replaced it with the television from his room. He's going to buy me a replacement television.

It's brought memories of my brother and I breaking the back of mom and dad's brand new, not even a month old, sofa in 1990 when we were fighting. It cost my parents about $700 back then, and was the first new sofa they had ever had. My brother and I had to cough up the money to replace it. Plus we went months before we were even allowed to sit on the sofa. We were forced to sit on the floor or carry a dining room chair into the room if we wanted to watch a program. It taught us to respect other people's property, and to not act or move around like a damned ape.

It upsets me that the lesson must be taught this way, but many lessons are learned when there is a financial set back...and this one is going to hurt his car fund.  

Luckily, Amazon had a close enough replacement that can be delivered tomorrow.  It had to be slightly larger since Vizio no longer makes the same size.  Pricing isn't too bad...basically the same that I paid 4 years ago for a display model at Costco.  The new one will be able to stream Netflix, Vudu, Hulu, etc., which will be nice.

Now, getting to the BluRay player and the cause of the whole issue.  Since the latest software update, it locks up while streaming YouTube videos.  The only way to get it to work again is to unplug it, forcing a reboot.  I have told my son repeatedly that he must unplug the tv and set it on the floor prior to reaching behind to unplug the BluRay.  However, him being 16, and me being the dad, I'm stupid and don't know what I'm talking about.  He decided he didn't have to do it my way, since I was in bed asleep, and that he knew better than me.  

He just learned a lesson here...He should have listened to dear old dad.  It would have saved him some cash.

At it again...

Being physically disabled, I'm highly limited to what level of home improvement I can do.  Living int he county I do in PA, I'm even more limited what I can do due to codes.  So when it came to repairing portions of the plumbing, I had to hire a licensed plumber.  That was an expensive job...replacing years of shoddy work, popped soldered joints, and leaking drains.  Then came the terra cotta main drain line that collapsed...now all new from the back of the house to the street.  

After that came the big upgrade in electricity.  The 60A glass fuse system was unable to power what I needed to operate in my home.  If my wife was using the vacuum, my daughter was unable to use the microwave.  If the window A/C was turned on, my son couldn't use the hair dryer.  And if I was trying to use the saw to cut a piece of lumber, nothing else could be used.  It was a mess, and hampered household daily production.  So, I hired an electrician to upgrade our system to a 150A breaker box.  I now have plenty of space to add more circuits for future projects my wife can find for me to make happen.  

I helped my wife and daughter get the basement back in order on Saturday, only to have it torn up again later today. It seems that my furnace finally decided to give up the ghost, so to speak. I can't blame it, really...it was installed in 1956, and was well past it's prime.

59 years in service. 59 years! That's a testament to the quality of items made in America. I'm sure the furnace was serviced and maintained through the years, and the gas valve replaced in the mid 60's with an updated and safer one...everything must be serviced at one time or another if you expect it to last, but I'm surprised that it lasted 59 years. My parents replaced the furnace in their house in the mid to late 1980's, and again a few years ago.

While I know my old furnace wasn't efficient, it was reliable. The new furnace is extremely efficient...95% efficient. This will be a huge welcome to our monthly budget.  With the new furnace comes central air conditioning.  I'm very happy to know that heavy window units will no longer be lugged up and down the stairs each Spring, and my wife won't have the fear of me or my son dropping one out of the window on the second floor of the house.

I doubt it will last 59 years, but I hope it lasts long enough to see true savings.

...

These are interesting times, indeed.

With yesterday's mass shooting in Oregon by someone I refuse to name, our government is once again on the warpath against legal gun owners.  Our POTUS, in yesterday's speech, praised Australia's gun registration and confiscation system.  Comparing the US's culture and problems, with a population in excess of 113M people against a country that has roughly 25M citizens is ludicrous, to say the least.  Australia does not have the over crowding and urban sprawl that the US does.

Our problem isn't the guns, it's the mental health issue.  When you pile too many people on top of each other, you're bound to have some loose cannon go off and create a problem.  It's created a situation where people feel they must be medicated to deal with having contact with so many others.  That medication they take comes with some rather harsh side effects.

I yearn for the days when we locked our crazies in state operated asylums, instead of releasing them into the general population and hope for the best.