So yesterday I had the pleasure of dealing with a bum waterheater thermostat and (what I thought at the time) a bum heat pump. I took a cold shower, washed my hair in the sink with the help of some water I heated up on the stove, and spent roughly two hours dragging wood to the house, so I could make and maintain a fire in our woodstove and heat the house that way.

I was having an utterly Alaskan moment.

This morning, the nice man from AirTech came by, serviced our heating system, and declared that all worked great. Nitwits that we are (and not used to crazy weather like this), I guess we weren't aware that in super-cold temps like these, the heat pump simply can't get up to the desired temperature, and that we need to switch to all emergency heat instead. Duh.

Hubby went out too and bought a waterheater repair kit, and fixed the thermostat problem there. So technically we were supposed to have hot water again this morning.

I say technically for a reason though.

As it goes when the Universe seems pissed off and punishes you for no reason, our waterpipes were frozen this morning. This has never happened before, as our basement (which contains all piping) is heated. The insane wind however managed to push the door open and flood the room with artic air. Ergo - frozen pipes, and no water for us.

At this very moment of writing however, the pipes have come unfrozen, there appear to be no waterleaks (halleluja), and I'm determined to kick back this weekend with a long, hot bath.

That is of course unless the electricity goes out due to the wind, making the waterpump and heater useless, putting the fridge out of commission, and of course preventing me entirely from working or even playing on my PS 2....

Why wouldn't I be surprised though?

What would be worse, having no heat, or no internet access?

Heh. Is this a trick question?

But you want priorities? hmmmm... let's see.

Well, i'll never have no heat. There's always the wood stove. A pain in the rear to operate, as I have to schlepp wood into my house - but, it's heat.

So I guess the internet access would be worse. Although - I can (and have done so) live without that too.

The worst would be if the electricity went out - no PS2.... and *that* would indeed be a problem ... ;-)

I'd survive w/out my furnace. Hell, I've been looking forward to getting rid of it anyway (we primarily use firewood this time of year). It's just a piece of power-hogging crap.

But you take away my 'net connection, somebody's getting and ass kicking.

ever try replacing a broken pipe while the water is running through it under a house with no basement, because it's -32 F out because your afraid if you shut the water off for a brief moment it will freeze somewhere else... :-)

yah winter really really sucks sometimes...but a nice warm wood fire is an upside.

hey, i'm jones'n here, haven't seen any new posts in a while.

b