Getting the Furnace Fixed

Our furnace is getting repaired. That's very good news, since it's about 19 below zero, Fahrenheit, outside. The wind chill is about minus 30. That's cold, even for central Minnesota in January.

We noticed that the furnace was getting temperamental on Friday. The house was alternately warmer and cooler than expected. Sure enough, a particular sequence of indicator lights was flashing on the furnace and there was a pool of water around it.

Today was the earliest a technician could come: we're probably not the only folks with balky systems. Happily, we've got procedures for dealing with this sort of thing. Even so, a circuit breaker tripped - I think that was Friday night. That was an easy fix, and now #3 daughter knows how to check and re-set the circuit breaker panel.

The obvious problem with the furnace is gunk that's collected in one of the pipes involved in the humidifying machinery. That's easy to deal with, I gather, but the tech is still here.

Related posts:

• "Cold Weather: Lots of It"
  Sauk Centre Journal Blog (January 6, 2014)
• "Break Time"
  (January 5, 2014)
• "Just Touching Base"
  (January 4, 2014)
• "Cold Weather and Me"
  Sauk Centre Journal Blog (January 5, 2014)

Break Time

It's still cold outside. My wife told me to stay put today, instead of going to church. I think that was a good idea, considering the shape my left shin is in.

On a happier note, I've been enjoying a Christmas present. Several, actually, but the one I had in mind was a book on one of my favorite topics: useless information.



A little more seriously, I've been writing posts for A Catholic Citizen in America and Apathetic Lemming of the North, and making progress on a few of my old 'back burner' projects.



It's after supper as I write this. I've got a little more 'break time' left, and then it's back to work.

Related posts:

• "Just Touching Base"
  (January 4, 2014)
• "Spilled Coffee, Reality, and a Wind Chill Advisory"
  (December 9, 2013)
• " 'Creative:' I Like That"
  (May 21, 2013)
• "My Desk: It Works for Me"
  (May 18, 2012)

Just Touching Base

A few hours after getting an automated call from the Sauk Centre Public Schools, I learned that all Minnesota public schools were closing. The Governor said they should. I'm glad that someone showed good sense. It's going to be - brisk.

I've seen a doctor about my left shin: again. The good news is that the two new open spots aren't infected. The bad news is that even when these heal over, I can expect more of the same. It's an incentive to keep my diabetes under control, and lose weight. Lots of incentive.

It's also frustrating: but I've had lots of practice dealing with "frustrating." I think having substandard hip joints helped me learn, from infancy up, to deal with limitations: not quietly, or calmly; but to deal with them.

On a happier note, there was a big family get-together today over at my father-in-law's place. A really big one. I stayed here, partly because I'm just about the exact opposite of a 'party person,' partly because I'm having more than the currently normal trouble with my legs, and partly because I had a post to get ready for tomorrow.

My wife, son, son-in-law, and daughters # 2 and 3 were there. I gather that they had a good time. For that, I am very glad.

Related post:

• "Spilled Coffee, Reality, and a Wind Chill Advisory"
  (December 9, 2013)

Wednesday: It's Cold Outside! Or, Why Minnesotans Talk About the Weather

It was -20 Fahrenheit at 8 this morning: cold even by Minnesota standards. Wind chill was -37 in the Twin Cities, -40 in Fargo, so it must have been around -38 or -39 around here.


That's frost, along the bottom of the window.

Sauk Centre schools started 2 hours late, at 10. They could have kept the places closed all day, as far as I'm concerned: but then, I'm not managing a school budget where you don't get state money if you don't have the school open. And, even with that two hour delay, today counted as a 'full' school day.

My wife and #3 daughter quite sensibly stayed inside all day today. Our son had school to attend. He and I went out together after school, to pick up groceries. Over half of the items on the list my wife wrote out were marked "ask our son." It's not that she doesn't think I'm capable: but our son knows more about what brands we get than I do.

The next stop for us was Wal-Mart. I picked up a prescription, and our son got a couple of long-sought-after Bionicles. He had the things put together by supper time.

I read Garfield to our son, as usual, toward the end of the evening.

#1 daughter was here for a few hours this morning and afternoon. She left for Alexandria about the time our son and I went our the door. She quite sensibly didn't want to be out in this weather after sunset.

She spent quite a lot of her time in the attic, sorting through books. Last year, while I was relatively immobilized, my wife started a (long-overdue) project of re-organizing the book collection up there, and elsewhere in the house.


There's been some progress made. These piles are more-or-less organized by subject. There's more, some in the new order, some piled elsewhere. This could take a while.

I've heard that Minnesotans talk about the weather more than many people do. I'm not surprised. The summers here aren't so much of a problem, apart from the occasional drought, flood, lightning storm or tornado. The winters, on the other hand, can be dangerous. An active interest in the weather, it seems to me, increases a person's chances of survival.

Sunday: Cold Air, Hot Grill, and Squirrels

It was warming up by the time the family went to church: a couple of degrees about 10 below. Happily, the van started, and ran smoothly. #1 daughter stayed in Alexandria today: a prudent move, since she was a bit under the weather.

As usual on weekends, I grilled lunch. One thing I like about cold weather is how clear the air is. Happily, there wasn't much wind. I had two birds for company, briefly. They were one of those varieties that seem indifferent to gravity as they hop around branches. This duo seemed unusually anxious to check out this family's old willow quickly, and then move on to a point north of us.


At least two squirrels were out while I was grilling. The old willow serves as a sort of condominium for them, and there's a convenient overhead connection to another tree. Convenient to a squirrel, at least.


Most years, boxelder bugs are not part of everyday life by the time January keeps December from bumping into February. This year, they keep paying uninvited and unwanted visits.

I napped part of the afternoon, enjoyed listening to my wife talk with #2 daughter on the phone, got some planning and organizing done while the rest of the at-home family was at Soo Bahk Do, and read "Garfield" to our son.

There may be a better life than this, but it's hard to imagine right now. Boxelder bugs and all.

Friday: Getting Caught Up

Wednesday and Thursday of this week were one of my less well-organized periods. Thursday wasn't particularly outstanding, except that my wife, our son and #3 daughter had a test at Soo Bahk Do class in the evening. We don't know how that turned out, yet.

My wife declared a moratorium on painting the living room walls. She's still sorting through some of the clutter that accumulated there, though. Quite a bit of it seems to be mine.

The exercise place I go to, Fitness Guru (odd name, good place), had a sign up on the bulletin board. A family is trying to get a very favorite toy back:


I hope that toy gets back to its owner.

We've been getting calls from #1 daughter and #2 daughter more often than usual. That Ave Maria Singles website seems to have been a good idea. Both are carrying on correspondence with guys they met there.

Meanwhile, our son is looking forward to a four-day vacation. Between Martin Luther King Day on Monday, and the end of a quarter, they have Monday and Tuesday off. I suspect that the school system has some sort of meeting planned: they don't always take MLK day off.

Our son told us that he hasn't gotten grades for last quarter, and may not for this quarter, either. The school is having computer trouble. They've been changing the system, and this time got buggy software.

Flags were up this afternoon, downtown, to be ready for Martin Luther King day on Monday.

I grew up across the river from Fargo, North Dakota, in the Red River Valley of the North, so central Minnesota is "down south" for me. This afternoon, I felt right at home here, weather-wise. A brisk wind, about 20 mph, blew out of the west, emphasizing the sub-zero temperature. That's sub-zero Fahrenheit.

My wife had called #2 daughter, urging her not to try driving up to see my father this afternoon. Good idea. They're both up in the Red River Valley, and her car isn't as robust as it could be.


This was an invigorating day, even by my standards.

By the time I was heading home today, the sun had set, and the thermometer was exploring the lower part of its scale. Frost was forming on the door frame of the building I was in.


That door frame is as cold as it looks.

Now that I've read some pages of a "Garfield" comic to our son, there's not much left to get done before the weekend.

I'm looking forward to grilling burgers tomorrow. If all goes well, I may talk my wife into letting me grill all four days of our son's four-day weekend.

Care, Concern, and a Cold, Damp Nose

My family looks after me.

This afternoon, one of my daughters noticed that I seemed to be very tired and listless. Not surprising, considering how much sleep I've gotten over the last few days. She felt my forehead, which was warm: no surprise, since I'd been out in the sun.

Then she felt my nose. It was cold and damp.

If I was a dog, that would be fine.

Maybe I've just come down with an acute case of Monday.