and a pleasant tomorrow!
On phone with oil company, for third time tonight:
Me: The burner just keeps shutting itself off.
Woman: Did you reset it?
Me: Yes. Three times. Each time, it blew thick, black smoke at me.
Woman: Is it on now?
Me: No.
Woman: Reset it.
Me: No. I'm not doing that again.
Woman: So, do you have heat?
Me: Uhh..no oil burner, no heat. No hot water, either.
Woman: Do you want someone to come out tonight?
Me: That would be nice.
Woman: Well, it won't be for a few hours. After midnight, for sure.
Me: That's fine.
Woman: So, ok....let me get this down - you turned your oil burner off..
Me: No, let me recap for you. The oil burner has shut down three times on its own tonight. I have reset it three times, resulting in a face full of black smoke each time. We have no hot water and we all need showers. We have no heat and it's 35 degrees out. My house smells like burned tires and I have to stay up way past my bedtime to wait for someone to come fix everything.
Woman: Ok. We're sending someone out. Have a good night!
Have a good night.
Yea.
Update: It's 2:44 am and they're still not here.
Comments
Well that sucks, Michele.
Hope they get it fixed soon.
Posted by: MikeR | January 12, 2005 10:36 PM
At least they can send someone out. When we had the ice storm 2 years ago, they had to clear trees before they could even get down our street to fix the power...
Hint: The oven makes a good temporary heater if it's working. Just keep the door most of the way shut so no one gets burned.
Posted by: caltechgirl | January 12, 2005 10:46 PM
I can't believe people burn oil for heat.
Posted by: Patrick | January 12, 2005 10:50 PM
Don't you have some DVD you don't watch that you can burn?
j/k
Posted by: Sean Hackbarth | January 12, 2005 11:01 PM
Michele, when he arrives, let him live.
At least until he's done fixing the durn thing.
Posted by: McGehee | January 12, 2005 11:06 PM
Good Luck with it. Worse comes to worse head to your parents for warmth and hot showers...
Posted by: drew | January 12, 2005 11:08 PM
Well, finally found a way in which the NYT is better than blogs:
you can burn it to stay warm.
Posted by: Allison | January 12, 2005 11:50 PM
Sounds like it's time for another phone call.
Posted by: Rodney Olsen | January 13, 2005 03:08 AM
What Rodney said and with passion!!!
Posted by: Scott B | January 13, 2005 03:32 AM
Now it's 3:35am... any luck?
Posted by: meep | January 13, 2005 03:36 AM
I burn coal for heat.
No, really.
Efficient, cost effective.
OK, dusty, but everything has its costs.
I feel for you Michele: I had no electricity much of last weekend.
Posted by: Charlie on the Pennsylvania Turnpike | January 13, 2005 07:31 AM
it could be worse...
a few years ago we had two furnaces die(we have a reconnected duplex) on Christmas eve....
Posted by: jack | January 13, 2005 04:55 PM
after having furnace trouble myself this fall, I just have to say I'm amazed that a company has the option of sending someone out in the middle of the night to fix something. I shivered for a week in a cold house because the service I called couldn't be bothered to come out even though I stayed home from work as much as I possibly could.
if the problem persists/redevelops, you can get a decent electric space heater for about $35, maybe cheaper. Sure, you have to huddle in front of it, but it beats freezing and it's cheaper than moving to a motel for the duration.
Posted by: ricki | January 14, 2005 08:30 AM