I can't believe all that has happened in this past week! Just last Sunday we were freezing in our own home and hoping for a repairman on Monday and for our home warranty to cover the cost. We did see a repairman from Appliance Repair Clinic on Monday afternoon but it wasn't Marcello - it was Don who was supposed to come between 9 and 12. Well, he didn't show up until after 2:00! He said he had a flat tire and he didn't have our phone number!!??? He diagnosed the problem as a bad igniter and he had to return to his shop to get the part and didn't return until almost 5:00 that afternoon to put it in. The heater came on which was a good thing but it couldn't get the temperature up to 69 degrees where the thermostat was set. It hardly kicked on at all throughout the next 24 hours - it was clearly struggling. When I called to report this, Don suspected it was a "thermostat" at the heater that was bad. He also said the heater was dirty and that he had cleaned it. So, we told him to bring a thermostat on Tuesday and install that. Which he did - maybe. Because after he left, the heater was still not working up to capacity. This repair company was so terrible and we told the home warranty people to not use them again. We looked up their Google rating Tuesday night and they had 8 reviews - all horrible! Speaking of warranty - evidently the home warranty we purchased does NOT cover pre-existing conditions. So, because the heater had not been maintained for many years (very dirty), they would not pay for the two parts or the labor. We were so angry. What was the purpose of a home warranty which we were led to believe at the time we bought our house would take care of problems just such as this one? We called them Tuesday afternoon - were on hold for over an hour - and asked for a refund. We had purchased 3 1/2 years worth of warranty! Thankfully, they agreed to reduce our coverage for just one year and will refund the rest of our money - which will almost cover the cost of the two visits from Appliance Repair Clinic - a tender mercy. In the meantime, Wednesday morning, we still didn't have a well-functioning heater. Tuesday night, when we were learning the awful truth about Appliance Repair Clinic, we also looked up HVAC repair companies in our neighborhood (Appliance Repair Clinic is based out of north St. Louis - way north) and we looked at who was certified by the Better Business Bureau (not Appliance Repair Clinic) and what their reviews were and settled upon a particular company who we called Wednesday morning and they had a serviceman at our house by 10:00. He worked on our heater for two hours (Don was at our place three times and all those visits equaled maybe 45 minutes?), he said the heater was filthy (Don said he had cleaned it), he did note the new igniter and his cost quote sounded about right for what we paid Don, but he did not even know what I was talking about when I mentioned a thermostat at the heater. So, either Don called the part by the wrong name or maybe he didn't install anything. We have no way of knowing. The company won't even give me an actual invoice for the parts and labor (I have asked two times). All I have is an email receipt from some card payment company. But, after this new serviceman from Vitt Heating and Air Conditioning left, we have a heater that now works. He did say it was installed in 1996 so we should be thinking of eventually replacing it. And, I know who we will NOT be hiring to do the job. Don contacted me on Wednesday to see when he could return and I said "no thank you - we will not be needing your services any longer". Ugh! So frustrating and so embarrassing that we made such a dumb mistake with the home warranty. On a happy note, our home is warm again.....
Our handyman, Neal, on the other hand, is marvelous! He installed closet doors downstairs and fixed another closet door. He converted an unused light switch in the basement to be an outlet. He tried to fix our exterior light but he says it needs an actual electrician. And, best news of all, he came up with a work-around for our leaking basement shower. He said it was installed improperly but he has sealed the drain with two levels of silicone caulk and told us to wait a week to let it totally dry and he believes it will solve the leak without having to tear out the entire shower and start from ground up. We will test it out this Saturday and cross our fingers and toes!
Medical update - I saw a physical therapist for the first time on Monday and again on Thursday. Apparently, my gluts and abs need to be stronger to support my body because my back muscles are being overworked and that is why they are spasming and causing all my pain. Since my visits, I have had good days and worse days of pain. I am hoping the next four PT visits will bring some relief. The heating pad is still my friend. I wore a Holter monitor for 48 hours Monday through Wednesday and I guess I will find out what was found when I see my doctor later this coming week.
After months and months of hardly any musical activity aside from teaching two cello students, I had a rather busy musical week. Our ward is still meeting virtually but they wanted to provide Christmas music for the December 20th sacrament meeting and I am in two ensembles. One is with harp and violin and cello and we rehearsed Thursday afternoon. The other is a violin and two cellos (I played a viola part). We recorded both pieces today after this week's sacrament meeting and it will be broadcast next week. The other cellist is REALLY good - he just graduated in cello performance last spring - and his younger brother, the violinist, is also amazing. And, I think I mentioned I was in a string quartet - we are calling ourselves the Carondelet String Quart - and we rehearsed for the first time Friday morning at a nearby church where we could practice safe social distancing. The violist was one who played with the other string quartet I was in back in the fall and he lives in my part of town and wanted 1. to play in a group that didn't rehearse thirty minutes away and 2. to play with really good violinists. He found the violins who also live nearby and he arranged the rehearsal location and we are playing music that is challenging and rewarding. Now, when we will ever get to perform is another issue but we are hoping for a late spring performance when hopefully the Covid numbers are under control.
Saturday morning, Steve and I took our blind neighbor, Fred, to the Soulard Farmer's Market. And, then, we went with Beckie to look at dogs!!!! She is always checking out poodle rescue websites and last weekend, she found two cockapoos up for adoption and they had to be adopted together. Steve and I had already decided that when we got a dog again, we would get two so they could keep each other company. Beckie forwarded the information to me, I filled out an application on Monday and on Wednesday, I got an email inviting us to come visit them! These two dogs are older - the male is guessed to be about 10 and the female is perhaps 9. They were found as strays. The male is heartworm positive and has a fatty tumor that needs removal. The female is missing teeth. We brought Beckie to our visit and we all three just fell in love with them. They are very sweet and calm. They are small and seem more poodle than cocker spaniel which is nice. The female has to be with the male which is why they need to be adopted together. Because they are senior dogs and Steve and I are senior citizens, we qualify for the Seniors for Seniors program meaning we get them at hardly any cost and well animal visits and food are provided!!! Incredible. It was meant to be. We get to pick them up at the end of this week. We have decided to call them Linus and Sally. Lucy would be cute but we already have a Lucy in our family and I am not sure how appropriate it would be to name a dog after our granddaughter. 😕
Movie report: We watched two versions of A Christmas Carol - the Muppet one and the George C. Scott one (never ever watched that one until now) and we watched A Christmas Story. Larkin and I watched the stop-action puppet from the 60's "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". And, Steve and I watched a new Netflix movie called "Operation Christmas Drop" that was just delightful. Based upon actual facts, it was also a cute romance.
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