Wintry Weather and a Balky Furnace

We woke up this morning - always a good way to start a day. It was a little above freezing outside, and significantly warmer inside.

On the down side, the furnace had quit during the night.

It's about 12:20 now, someone's been here to see what the furnace trouble was: and fixed our pilot light. The house is warming up to winter-normal now.

The situation could have been a lot worse. Quite a few folks in this part of the state lost power yesterday.

And, I see, St. Cloud set a new record for rainfall:

"Wind Storm downs powerlines, trees"
Jim Maurice, WJON WJON Local News (October 27, 2010)

"High winds and heavy rain moved through the area yesterday (Tuesday). The National Weather Service is reporting our highest wind gust at 58 miles an hour last night.

"The strong winds caused many people throughout central Minnesota to lose power. East Central Energy is reporting as many as 2,600 customers without power during the overnight. They say they still have 900 customers without electricity. Xcel Energy says they had over 9,000 customers in greater Minnesota without power at one time, but they are down to 3700 customers now....

"...If you have a tennis match scheduled at Gold's Gym in Sartell today (Wednesday), you're going to have to reschedule. The manager says their inflatable dome has a 30-40 foot tear in it, due to the strong winds last night, causing it to deflate. He says they're hoping to get it fixed and back up by the end of the day.

"We also set a rainfall record for the second day in a row. We officially had 1.44 inches at the St. Cloud Regional Airport. Breaking the old record of 1.33 set in 1941. We've now collected over 2 1/2 inches of rain since Sunday. And, after being dry for most of the month, we're actually .62" above normal now for October....

There was a powdering of snow on the ground in the morning, but it doesn't look like we'll get the one or two inches forecast. Can't say I'd be disappointed to miss that. For the sake of trick-or-treaters, if nothing else.

I took some photos yesterday afternoon. The folks across the street from us lost a branch that's maybe three or four inches in diameter.


Mid-afternoon on South 9th. October 26, 2010.


A closer look at that downed branch. October 26, 2010.


About 4:20 in the afternoon: brisk weather for a walk. October 26, 2010.

Busted Water Pipe, Day 32: Plumbing Progress and Regress

When this Monday dawned, the house had a working bathroom: two, if you count a lavatory. Then, briefly, we had two: or three.

Now it's back to one: or, like I said, two.

We're doing fine, really: No porta potties, and no plans to excavate for an outhouse: which is probably illegal inside Sauk Centre. I'd have to check zoning and other regulations.

The good news is that it isn't the same one that's out of commission at the moment. We're getting some overdue maintenance/repair word done upstairs.

On an unrelated topic, my wife's got a cold now. They say that it's a good idea for couples to do things together - but this probably isn't what that anonymous "they" had in mind. She says that I seem to be on the mend - which may be true. I don't feel sick, or tired, or much of anything else: and thinking isn't as easy to do as I'd like.

Oh well, as we say in Minnesota: It could be worse.

Related posts:

• "Busted Water Pipe, Day 26: Tiles Grouted, Burgers Grilled"
  (October 12, 2010)
• "Busted Water Pipe, Day 25: Kitchen's Back Online"
  (October 11, 2010)
• "Living in a Construction Site"
  (October 8, 2010)
• "Busted Water Pipe, Day Nine: Getting Back to Normal"
  (September 25, 2010)
• "Busted Water Pipe, Day Seven: Flooring, Gas Pipe, and Sparks"
  (September 23, 2010)
• "Busted Water Pipe, Day Five: Bathroom's in the Kitchen, and a Mouse Condominium?!"
  (September 21, 2010)
• "Hammers, Fans, Dehumidifiers, and Maybe Some Good News"
  (September 20, 2010)
• "Wet Albums, Loud Fans, and Grilled Burgers"
  (September 19, 2010)
• "Not So Much Water on the Floors"
  (September 17, 2010)
• "Busted Water Pipe, Standing Water on Two Floors"
  (September 17, 2010)

Busted Water Pipe, Day 26: Tiles Grouted, Burgers Grilled

Thanks to a reminder from #3 daughter and my son, I grilled burgers for supper tonight. Work in the house hasn't directly affected the outdoor grill, but we're in the habit of having fries (which we bake) with the burgers - and that wasn't happening with the oven in storage.

Also, there's now grout between the new tiles.

On an unrelated matter, the local Culligan service called this afternoon. I'd said something nice about them last year, I think it was, and they wanted to know if I was okay with their using my remark in their advertising. I said 'yes,' of course. First, they're an okay outfit. Second, I don't mind the publicity, myself.

Related posts:

• "Busted Water Pipe, Day 25: Kitchen's Back Online"
  (October 11, 2010)
• "Living in a Construction Site"
  (October 8, 2010)
• "Busted Water Pipe, Day Nine: Getting Back to Normal"
  (September 25, 2010)
• "Busted Water Pipe, Day Seven: Flooring, Gas Pipe, and Sparks"
  (September 23, 2010)
• "Busted Water Pipe, Day Five: Bathroom's in the Kitchen, and a Mouse Condominium?!"
  (September 21, 2010)
• "Hammers, Fans, Dehumidifiers, and Maybe Some Good News"
  (September 20, 2010)
• "Wet Albums, Loud Fans, and Grilled Burgers"
  (September 19, 2010)
• "Not So Much Water on the Floors"
  (September 17, 2010)
• "Busted Water Pipe, Standing Water on Two Floors"
  (September 17, 2010)