The
Squamidian Report – Sept. 24 / 11
Issue #487
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Wow, I almost missed it. I guess I blinked or something. We apparently had a week and a half of summer. It was spread out throughout the last week of August and the first week or so of September. It was a bit hard to tell because any nice weather this year has been very October-ish with single digit nights. But there were a few days there that got warm enough to be considered hot by this year’s standards, warm enough that some of last winter’s snow that was still way down below the tree line was able to melt. Warm enough and dry enough that we actually had some forest fire activity. BC had less than one tenth of the usual amount of fires this year. The Okanogan Valley which has been deemed a desert for centuries was lush and green all summer. But now any summer type weather is over, just like the summer calendar season is over. After a very cold wet few days last weekend were we had to cancel our riding plans, the sun came out for two days. With the sun out we could see the mountain tops. You guessed it. New snow. The top halves of most of the higher mountains in the coastal range sported a bright fresh coat of white. The Whistler mountains were covered right down to below the mid way restaurants.
The return of cold and wet has inspired the local bears to step up their eating frenzy. We were puttering around the house doing something the other day when we heard the neighbour screaming and basically putting up quite a fuss. Turned out she was trying to scare off a bear. She had been working in her front flowerbeds when she heard a noise behind her. A bear had climbed a small apple tree a few feet away while her back was turned. It wanted the apples, she wanted it out of her yard. I’m not sure which one would be the more scarier, or the more scared. But I guess she was the scarier of the two because the bear retreated back into the forest.
And then the real rain hit the west coast. The jest stream has been picking up the tropical Pacific moisture from those typhoons that have been blasting Asia and has been pumping the stuff right into the BC coastline. The rains continue with no end in sight. All of a sudden we have mud slides and flooding and so on. The rivers are high and the clouds are low. The bikes are hiding in the garage.
And speaking of the garage, the rock-room projects if done. We now have organized storage in there. We can now get to the organized storage. There is a shelf for winter boots, a coat rack for ‘out-of season’ coats, hooks for helmets, places for snow boards and snow shoes and bins. We pulled everything out and only put back the stuff we wanted to keep. The rest was donated to the re-use-it store, or the recycle bin, or the dump. We even vacuumed the dirt and dust off the rock that was left there when the house was build. We only ran into one small problem during the construction faze of the project. The Wife’s dog Willow was quite interested in what we were doing and was jumping up onto the landings I was building in order to see what was going on. Once the landings were finished she was able to get in as far as the back wall and at that point she somehow managed to scramble up onto the rock. That was cool for her as she could run around up there checking the whole area out. But she couldn’t get back down. After several unsuccessful attempts at calling her down the way she went up, I had to lift her down. That dog weighs almost 100 lbs and I am not near as strong as I once was. Once I had her over the edge, there was no turning back. However, I was able to lower her down onto a landing and she happily jumped down the rest of the way herself. My poor back survived with minimal lingering discomfort and all is well. And, Willow is not allowed to repeat her explorations along the top of the rock.
Oh, almost forgot. Here’s something I just have to pass along, and it points out why I have such a low opinion of local customer service and knowledge…. I went into our local Source store (used to be called Radio Shack) and asked if they carried contact cleaner. The kid behind the counter looked at me with a totally blank stare and then suggested I try an eye doctor or drug store. I told him that if he were smiling I’d be willing to assume he was trying to make a joke, but because he was obviously serious, he had no idea what he or I was talking about. I then pointed at all the shelves full of ELECTRICAL switches, jacks, plugs and components and repeated, “CONTACT CLEANER, ELECTRICAL CONTACT CLEANER”. He still had no idea what I was talking about. I guess in his small and youthful world, anything that might require cleaning or repairs is simply tossed away in favor of the next newest and best model. The only ‘contacts’ that a kid working in an electronics store could think of was the kind of ‘contact’ that some people stick in their eyes. And just think, people go into stores like that asking for advice. Wow.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello Everyone!
Hey, guess what, it’s Fall as of yesterday and from what the experts say we’re supposed to have warm weather right through until late November! Environment Canada this year agrees with the “Farmer’s Almanac”, that our Fall months will be akin to summer climate in that we’ll continue to have sunny days and warmer than usual Autumn temperatures! What a lovely Fall we’re in for if the “experts” are right! So, enjoy the next few months and make good use of the time to get your winter items set for the snow that’s supposed to hit us this Winter. For example, change the spark plug and oil in your snow blower before you find yourself doing it on a cold and blustery day in early December! At least if you do it in the next few weeks, your oil will drain better at a warmer temperature. Make like a Boy Scout and “Be Prepared!”
It’s not exactly time yet to get all of the garden and patio stuff put away but it wouldn’t hurt to start thinking about doing it! This thought hit me as I was backwashing the sand filter on our pond this afternoon and shocking the water to get rid of a little bit of green algae that’s formed on some of the river rocks I have lining the bottom of the pond. It forms every once in a while and I have to hit the water with a dose of “shock” chlorine to clear it up. It sure has been a lot better maintenance-wise to be treating the pond with chlorine like a swimming pool than to try to keep scum from growing while pretending to like the live fish we used to have in the pond. I was just thinking back to those early days when we had so many problems with algae etc caused by a combination of a cheap filter system and sludge that the gold fish produced in the pond. Since changing to a better filter system and “plastic” fish the pond has been nothing but enjoyable. A little work, yes but enjoyable none-the-less!
I’m not looking forward to winter but I am going to make sure that I’m ready for it well ahead of time so I don’t have any last minute headaches!
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In the spring of 2010 I got to thinking about the age of our furnace, which is original from when the house was built in 1975. It’s a 120,000 Btu Lennox furnace and has been working like a clock for all those years. Since we moved into this house back in 1998, the only thing I’ve had to do to the furnace was install a new gas valve in it. Luckily I have been in the heating and air conditioning business since 1969 and still have some contacts for parts and assistance to fix these units if I find myself in need. I decided to purchase a new “Mid Efficiency” furnace from the wholesaler that I still buy the odd part from now and again. I found out that as of January 1, 2011 “mid efficiency” furnaces would no longer be manufactured in favor of “high efficiency” ones. Our house has the heating system smack dab in the center of the basement and it would be very difficult to do away with the “B vent” style chimney used by the standard furnace and run 2 ½” ABS or PVC plastic vent piping out horizontally to one of the outside walls of the house, especially since all of the rooms surrounding our furnace room are finished living spaces! This is why I opted for a “Mid Efficiency” furnace because it still uses a conventional “B vent” style chimney and to install it in place of the original furnace would be a much easier feat!
So, five days ago I decided it was time to install the new furnace that’s been sitting in the garage since the Spring of 2010. Now, I did say it would be an easy feat but, hardly a snap of the fingers in any case! I started by disconnecting the old furnace from the wiring and tin- work and the gas piping. Once this was done I was able to slide the old unit out of place. Then all I had to do was wait until Adam was home so he could help me remove it from the basement. As luck would have it, the removal day was also the evening before garbage day. We placed the stripped down furnace on the boulevard out in front of the house and before I walked back into the garage, a fellow with a pickup truck and trailer pulled up to the curb and asked if he could take the furnace for scrap! I of course was happy to see it gone immediately and I didn’t even have to help him lift it into his trailer, he did that himself! I guess he’d get himself a quick $5.00 for the furnace at the scrap dealer. You don’t get much for scrap steel these days but if you pick up enough of it it can add up!
The new furnace is smaller in height but is larger across the body. I spent the next couple of days getting it in place and hooking it up to the “return air” duct, gas pipe and wiring. Now all I have to do is take some measurements and make a quick drawing that I can take to a local sheet metal shop and have a new plenum extension made up to connect it to the existing duct work. The new furnace is a tad larger front to back and side-to-side so it’ll take a pro to make the new duct in the right shape and size. This furnace is 6” shorter than the old one, hence the need for the extension to connect it to the old duct! No big deal, just a little fiddling around to make it work. At least when I removed the old furnace, it gave me an opportunity to look up into the duct and clean the “A Coil” for the Air Conditioner. I was surprised to see that it was very clean already! I guess it pays to keep a good filter in the furnace at all times! A good filter catches all the dirt and dust in the “Return Air” of the system and keeps it from plugging the air conditioning “A” coil which is usually quite inaccessible! So, one more day and I should have the new system installed and ready for this coming winter! I’m looking forward to seeing how much difference the new “Mid Efficiency” furnace makes in our gas bill this coming year. This model of “Mid Efficiency” furnace is 87 to 90% efficient compared to a “High Efficiency” unit at 94 to 97%. I had thought about buying a “High” unit but the cost was about $1,000.00 more and it would have taken a lot more to install it effort and cost-wise and the savings benefit was not that much greater. I figured it would take about 8 years to get that difference in initial cost back in gas savings. I guess I’ll find out when we go through this coming first winter! The only other part of the installation of this new furnace that was a bit of work was the fact that I had to move the new water heater that I installed last year over 5” to accommodate the width of the new furnace. That in itself was an afternoon’s work! I’m just happy that I’m able to do this sort of work myself and don’t have to pay anyone to do it for me!
I’m sure all the effort will pay off and it was wise to make this change before something major happened in the middle of the heating season to our thirty six year old furnace. It’ll be interesting to check the gas bills this winter for sure.
There’s always something that needs upkeep around a house and this has been one of the major things that can cost big money. I’m just happy to have it finished before having to do it as an emergency in the middle of winter! That sort of situation always costs more than preplanning such a major change! It’s always wise to be pro-active!
That’s it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… Greg.
PS: Something To Think About>
Christmas is coming!
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Have a good one..
the doug
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