Thank Buddha for wool socks. The only way to get a gas flame around the DogHaus today is to light one’s own farts.
Happily, it is October, not February — which means it’s about 55 outside and 65 inside as we speak at 10 a.m. Bibleburg time. That ain’t bad, though I confess I miss our old Weirdcliffe wood stove. It, unlike our rooftop solar unit here, worked even on cloudy Sunday mornings like this one.
Meanwhile, Friend of Dogpatch Larry T. sends word of his raviolipalooza. Watch and weep as you nibble your shredded wheat.
Mad Blog Media 
Breakfast was actually Irish steel-cut oats this morning, topped with Trader Joe’s maple syrup and strong brewed coffee. Now, with the dogs walked and the mountains a little warmer courtesy of the Great Orb, I’m outa here for a few hours.
It’s about 1pm here in the PetroMetro. Just finished cooking up a pot of cannellini bean soup. You know, you gotta have some warm hardy food for these cool nights at 65F (sometimes it gets cool enough that our A/C cycles off).
Heading out for a couple of hours (maybe 2 1/2 hours?) of road riding. Right now, it’s a warm 82 degrees Fahrenheit with a slight breeze of 5mph out of the south. (Smells like money, or is that benzene?)
Larry T: Regarding your raviolipalooza, molto bene! I wish I’d been there.
John (from your previous post): You can get hired in Houston but never actually live here. I know of two geologists who live on a compound in Nigeria. Deeelightfullll!!!
Trader Joe is coming to Omaha so we’ll soon be able to drive “only” 100 miles south instead of a lot further north (to Minneapolis) in the future for that wonderful, real maple syrup at a reasonable price! Some of their Italian vino is pretty good too — generally a great store for those of us who like to eat well but pay less than what it costs at Whole Foods. I’m down to one in Santa Barbara twice a week when we visit the in-laws and Heather’s taken over their kitchen for the holidays. In the old daze when we drove the car all the way out to California we’d come back with it fully loaded down with cases of wine since Iowa is so backward when it comes to having decent Italian vino at a reasonable price. Jeff — dried beans are soaking now for something to go along with the lambchops in tonight’s dinner.
Furnace trouble sucks, but sucks less in October than February. It’s karma, man. Like Micheal Douglas appearing at your door in an Acme Heating coverall.
Been in the mid to high 80’s here in Wisco for 4 days. I took off Friday aft and drove West to check out the Kickapoo Reserve south of Wildcat Mountain State Park, no single track but tons of MB riding choices, even 20 some miles of asphalt to skinny on. Next I want to check out the Levis Mound area up by Black River Falls, singletrack, tho I fear it is way over my head skill wise. I’ll get the will in legal order first.
Today we went to Middleton and rode easy hybird trails – started out with the Pheasant Branch Conservancy, then jumped on the newly completed link twixt Madtown and the Badger Trail. It’s open, but watch out for the gravel. October in the Midwest – probably snow next week!
Arrghh,
Little riding for the Dog today. Had to pull a morning shift in the VeloBarrel, then slipped out for a quick 45 minutes of cyclo-cross that was bollixed by a front flat (feckin’ goatheads) before hitting the showers and taking the sis and bro’-in-law out to a late lunch. Now I’m back in the barrel, editing stories about ’cross instead of doing it my own bad self. Sheeyit.
O’G ya gotta pay the piper my brotha…..pay the piper. So they fixed there “issue” at Competitor Worldwide Undershirts? That’s nice. Running on a Mac GS now, eh?
Damn Patrick…it’s like a yearly ritual with that furnace. Send me a photo of the unit and I’ll do my best to help ya. I have a Heil furnace and my igniter gets fried every year or two. It already sounds like that could be what’s going on with yours. The fan runs and runs, but no heat ever comes out. If that’s all it is, you’d be in luck, because the part typically isn’t that expensive- if you don’t mind learning your way around a gas furnace. They’re actually pretty simple machines when you figure out how they work.
Meanwhile..I finally got to see Larry’s photos from Raviolipalooza and I’m jealous. I’ve not fully committed myself to pasta manufacture…yet. On another note…whatever you do, hang onto that door behind you. Those are quintessential mid-century architecture that are going away just as quickly as Victorian gingerbread fretwork went away when bungalows became the flavor of the month.
Hey, Barry — a thousand thanks for your generous offer, but we got the old beast back up and running courtesy of a local independent furnace tech recommended by our most excellent independent plumber, who is a fine Irish lad from up Woodland Park way. The pilot and igniter both were fine, but the “smart” gas valve was defunct. It was a pricey little bastard, but not as dear as a new furnace.
For the price we got the balky part replaced plus our first solid, comprehensive explanation of the ins and outs of our Honeywell programmable thermostat. The last couple guys to deal with our finicky furnace just shook their heads in bafflement when they stared at it, like the “2001” hominid eyeballing the black monolith. He confirmed our suspicion that the big-name outfits we’ve been dealing with are little more than landlocked buccaneers.
The prognosis as of today is that the Heil has another decade in it, assuming it gets proper care and feeding, and barring vengeful acts of a malicious God.
Ahh…I’ve been fortunate to not have problems with the gas delivery system. At least you had a tech that could and would explain how it works to you. I was in your boat until a friend and his brother that had taken some classes on HVAC repair were kind enough to look at my furnace several years ago. With a little help from them, I was fianlly able to understand how the thing worked. Since then, I’ve replaced the igniter several times (now I keep a spare on hand in case the working piece decides to cross over to the other side) and the exhaust fan one time. Hopefully, mine will go another several years before replacement seems a better option.
Owning an old house (built in 1923) I’m coming to appreciate the value and inherent “green-ness” of keeping the old stuff usable and serviceable- rather than replacing with even more-disposable stuff like our consumer culture would have us all do. The mantra in historic preservation goes thus (and I think should apply to any homeowner of any architectural era): Repair, restore, and -finally when those two options fail you- replace. Sounds kinda like bike parts now that I think of it.
Barry, right you are. Being a brooding Celt I automatically assume the worst and thus minor crises assume epic proportions (just ask Herself, who has endured my bullshit for more than two decades now). Fixing definitely beats replacement, especially when one is talking hundreds versus thousands of dollars. There’s a reason I keep hanging new parts on old frames.
Our place was built in 1939. As we understand it, the original family lived on the corner and built this house and the one next to it for their two sons, to keep the family all on the same half-block (as a consequence we share a garage with our neighbor to the east).
It’s a nifty little joint, about 1,200 square feet, and we were extraordinarily lucky to find it. The neighborhood joke is that ours is the Irish ghetto, as at least the three previous owners were all Micks — Kelly, Kinney and O’Grady.
Ahh the steel-toed boot of kharma has kicked me squarely in the ass today! First I have a sore throat changing over to stuffy-headedness and now my clothes washer quit on me after thoroughly soaking a load of my blue jeans.
But all this is a trifle since I still smile with victory (at least until Nov 2 when I’ll likely be reminded how wrong-headed my fellow NC citizens are) at having my question put to Richard Burr and the other US senate candidates during their debate last night.
seeing him squirm on TV was a little more gratifying than reading about it though