Valley Forge Seems Nice...

Ugh.

'Twas a windy, wet, cold October day.  It rather reflects my mood right now.

No, it has nothing to do with the Vikings getting shellacked by the Packers last night.  I was expecting that.  I was prepared, and being prepared is a good thing.

That leads me to my news of the day.

Over the last couple of winters, we've had a few problems with our furnace.  It has had several parts replaced, including last winter.  In fact, it was one of those brutal -35°F nights last December when our furnace simply stopped working.

Luckily, a technician came out in the middle of the night and fixed it.  All seemed to work fine during the remainder of last year's painful winter.

Then a couple weeks ago, after running for a day or two when it was chilly outside, the furnace went kaput again.

This time we weren't so lucky.

Two days, two technicians and five hours of diagnostics/processes of elimination/new parts later, including checking the vents for dead squirrels and birds, I was dealt the bad news.

The conclusion was finally reached that our heat exchanger is cracked.  It gets worse.  There is a 20-year warranty on the part, and it was manufactured on the 29th week of 1994; a quick look at the calendar reveals that it is the 40th week of 2014.  You do the math.  Obviously this is a conspiracy.

So we are left with two choices: replace this very expensive part (it makes buying a new 60" flat screen HD television seem like chump change), or simply replace the furnace with a new one.

They say if your furnace is old enough to vote, you are probably better off replacing it with a new, higher efficiency one; the idea is that you will recoup your cost in less than five years.

Also, the life expectancy of a furnace is 15 to 20 years.  True to form, our furnace seems to have been slowly dying over the last couple of years.

See this?  I call it "That which was going to be my childrens' Christmas presents."  

So, this is not necessarily the news I wanted to hear on this dreary Friday, as I watch $$$ float away into the gray October sky.

But we are prepared.

It's called: lots of blankets, hot chocolate for the kids, and plenty of Jameson for the grown-ups through the winter months.  I mean, who needs a stupid furnace?  Honestly?!

If times get too hard, we can always huddle around the fire pit outside with hats and mittens and pretend we are Washington's army at Valley Forge.

I mean, it wouldn't be that bad.  What's a little frostbite?  Builds character, I say.  And best of all?  No mosquitos and none of those nasty frickin' gnats.

Heck, it would be fun and educational!  One of those two-fer-one deals.

I jest, of course.  Maybe.

The good news is this was the worse-case scenario for our furnace woes.  Things can only look up.

Quite honestly, it's nothing a few cold beers can't handle.

And yes, I know beer can't solve my problems.  But neither can water.  So mind your own damn business.

However, with all said and done, there was a silver lining to today's cloud.   This afternoon the Boy had his very first program at his school.  It was "Grandparent's Day" and I had the pleasure of accompanying the Wife's husband's mother-in-law to the program.

The Boy was very excited and happy his grandma was there.  He had a great time on the stage and knew all the words to the songs.

He's my guy.

The Boy and his grandma at Grandparent's Day.  Oct 3, 2014.

Meanwhile, the Girl had a Scout function tonight, which the Wife chaperoned.  I was sent this picture on my fancy phone communication device thingy...

They call this "edible fire."  Judging by the Girl's face, she's not convinced.

Okay, time to find that cold beer.