it's 6:37am. i think all of these monetary expenses have gotten to me. i got out of bed to pee and couldn't get back to sleep. i just lay there, calculating monthly payments.
the good news is that when i did get up it was evident that we still had heat this morning. yay!
the repairman from griles heating arrived yesterday around 3:30 and spent a good deal of time trying to un-rig my furnace. it required installing a new thermostat... one that controls the heat pump portion of my package unit. (amazingly enough, the previous thermostat --that carolina heating installed-- didn't allow the heat pump to come on, leaving me with no 'emergency heat'... which i clearly need at this point.) the repairman asked me what kind of thermostat i wanted, and i said "one of those programmable jobbies." of course, i was sorry i said that when he handed me the bill (garh!!) but it will be nice to be able to program the heat to drop down during the day while we're away at work. i made sure to confirm with him that this thermostat will be compatible with the new gas pack i have them install next month, so i won't have to spend money twice.
he's going to have to come back on monday to run some new wiring from the thermostat to the package unit. this would have also had to be done during the installation of the new gas pack, so no double spending there either.
i'm still undecided as to whether to get another estimate on the cost of a replacement gas pack & ductwork. one of my co-workers recommended bolton home services to me, so maybe i'll give them a call to see if they'll come out and give me an estimate. here's what he said in his endorsement: " This is my favorite company. I've been using them for many years and they exceed all my expectations. They're the only contractor that operates on our earth calendar and EST." FWIW, they install only trane.
in less expensive news, i've rediscovered quaker oatmeal. i have a bowl for breakfast several times a week. i've been playing around with adding things to it: cinnamon & sugar, applesauce & cinnamon, brown sugar. i think next i'm going to try adding a little of my old vanilla protein powder to it and see how that tastes.
ray bought season 4 of the sopranos on DVD recently. we've been watching several episodes a week. god, i love that show. i had no idea, though, that when we finish season 4 we'll be all caught up: i read on the hbo website that season 5 premieres in march! i just can't believe season 4 came out so quickly. anyway, i'm totally worried about adriana. poor girl! i can't remember when i last had so much sympathy for a fictional character.
i think i have my christmas shopping pretty well under control. i need to go buy a couple of picture frames for mom's gift and then i'm done. i should do that today, even though i'm slightly terrified to face the crowds.
it would also be nice to find some time to finish working on the sink drain in the new bathroom. we've had running water in there for some time now (i'm such a genius) but you can't let the water run down the drain. i ran into some problems when i last worked on it... by installing a much larger sink than what was previously in there, i now have to find a good way to extend the piping. i was hoping to avoid measuring, cutting & gluing PVC pipe, but at this point i don't see any way around it. alas.
as soon as that's done, all that remains is finishing the baseboards, tiling the tub (and completing the shower faucet), and putting shelves in the closet. those last 2 things will cost a good deal of money, though, so sadly i think it might be march or so before i can finish that renovation.
and at this point i think it's unlikely that i'll have money to go to NYC with lisa for our 35th birthdays. we were thinking of doing a blowout shopping trip in early february. given how long it's going to take to recover from this month's hellish expenses it just doesn't seem sensible to go on a splurge vacation right now. drat. let's hope that some rich relative (ha!) will come through with a load of cash for me at christmas...
Posted by xta at December 13, 2003 7:13 AM | TrackBack