An Otherwise Perfect Day

Today is the kind of day my life needs a whole lot more of.

Engine light status: STILL OFF! This, after the mother and I drove roughly 90-100 miles this afternoon. Keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

It was almost like the mother and I were sharing a brain. (I can hear the collective groan from all those already involved in the collective brain-share with me.) There is a boutique she really likes that is going out of business and it seems the owner is sloooowly putting out new merchandise every day. We've been there three times this week! (And come home with new goodies each time, too.) Retail therapy has been heavenly! She wasn't going to go today but changed her mind at the last minute.

We started our afternoon there and then ... drove to the historic home that houses the restaurant that my godparents bought at the end of December. It was our first time to see it in person and it was a lot of fun. (Photos and more info in another post.)

We did some more household shopping on the way home. I ran over to do the daily check on Uncle Bill's house. I got the first assurance that I've seen so far that the sump pump works. The water is definitely coming from the washer hook-up, so no mysteries or new problems there. Everything was fine downstairs. But once I opened the upstairs door...

It was like being hit with a high-powered blast from a toaster oven. The kitchen counter and stovetop were so warm that it felt like the oven was on! Apparently, the thermostat had gone nuts. It was perfectly fine yesterday. Today -- completely and totally schizoid! I tried everything to get it to turn off. This went on for nearly 30 minutes but nothing worked. The furnace raged on.

I was afraid to start flipping breakers, not knowing what kind of havoc I might wreak. (Not to mention, I had NO clue where the switchbox even was.)

While relating this story to my godfather via telephone, I had a brilliant thought: doesn't the furnace have some kind of a master switch? I know our furnace does. Why, yes, it does! my godfather confirmed. Try that.

Of course, I had already gone home by this time. So back I went. (Thank God it's only about 3 blocks or this could get monotonous in a hurry.) I found the switch with no problem, flipped it and viola! The furnace is off. Whew!

Luckily, it's not supposed to be nearly as cold as it has been recently and the water is already shut off, so ideally there won't be any damage to follow. And, the plan is they'll be able to get someone to come out tomorrow and look at it.

I feel a little guilty (visualize the inch or so of distance between thumb and forefinger) for not getting anything done in the house on a three-day weekend. But sometimes you really do have to hold out for the joy of it all. Right?