I would like to freestyle a rap about Pearl.
First, I will go to rhymes dotcom and look up all that rhymes with Pearl

she's deaf so it really doesn't matter if it rhymes exact-like

What?

Slant rhymes ...?

That's a good place to start. If your getting oil and it doesn't fire it's probably the igniter. If it fires but shuts down, it's probably the electric eye that shuts it down if it doesn't see a flame.

Nononono.

Any time anyone mentions hearing, you say, "what?"

It's a thing.

I bled the fuckin thing. Now I have heating oil all over my hands, shoes, the floor of the basement, the empty Wawa cup which could not be placed correctly and the monkey wrench that served as a 3/8" wrench until it loosened as it always does because it is a ridiculous tool. AS AM I.

And no actual fucking heat, same symptom.

I AM THE ONE THEY ARE WORRIED ABOUT TRYING TO FIX THE FURNACE BY THEMSELVES

That laughing you hear far, far away? It's me. In hell.

Sorry. *stiflestiflestifle*


eta--laughing at your post, not at your situation.

UT, have a cigarette to calm you down. With all that oil about, it might solve your heating problem too. Possibly permanently. ;)

Srsly, sorry about this PITA. I'd try to help, but I don't know squat about heaters.

Remember what I said about the shallow box or pan with cat litter?

Why isn't the Landlord fixing this?

I thought heat was pretty standard when you rented a place.

xoB of course not! I had a billion things to think about for the last two weeks...

Tril I only started pursuing them yesterday at 3:30. If they don't call me today I shall take action on my own and bill them for it, that's how I normally roll.

good idea.

Fuck. That blows.

What?

HE SAID "PENNY/DIME TENSIONS NEARING ZOO PLAY SMUT"

Pay attention! ;)

Do it in writing, and send it by 1st class mail, and give them 3 business days to respond... unless the weather is/turns cold.

Otherwise, your landlord may be able to put the bill back onto you.

It's below freezing at night and the place can't be dehumidified when it's cold, that's emergency conditions enough for me.

OK, I wasn't aware it was already so cold in your area.

HUD and most state laws put responsibility for adequate heat/water/sewage on the landlord.
But timely written notice and proper delivery are necessary in most situations.

Racist.

I wish I had the tools, and access to parts, to help you out. :(

it can't be helped. I was brought up that way. My mother indoctrinated me.

she extremely involved in Robert Louis Stevenson, Emily Dickinson, Louisa May Alcott---all those racists. ;)

It's OK xoB... the residents have figured out where there is heat... in front of any space heater!

http://cellar.org/2012/pearlheater.jpg

And the real service guy is due here at 12:12.

Getting the heat turned on ... it's a good way to observe 12/12/12/12/12! :)

Such a cute picture of Pearl!

The dude thinks there is water in the oil tank. I am glad I can share this minutia of my life with y'all

Is he going to fix it?

Yeah, I didn't catch it all but he's headed back to the shop for some sort of putty, which sounds like maybe a dry gas kind of thing?

minutia IS life, baby.

Pearl looks happy.

The dude found water. He is getting the water out and changing the filter and a bunch of other stuff. Cain't be long now...

>wss<

Dude is the man.

Where would any of us be without Dude?

I don't know about you, but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there, the Dude, takin' her easy for all us sinners. Shoosh. I sure hope he makes The finals. Well, that about does her, wraps her all up. Things seem to have worked out pretty good for the Dude and Walter, and it was a pretty good story, don't ya think? Made me laugh to beat the band. Parts, anyway. I didn't like seein' Donny go. But then, I happen to know that there's a little Lebowski on the way. I guess that's the way the whole darned human comedy keeps perpetuatin' it-self, down through the generations, westward the wagons, across the sands a time until we-- aw, look at me, I'm ramblin' again. Wal, uh hope you folks enjoyed yourselves.

the dude abides

I don't know, he's starting on hour 3 here and he's on the phone with people trying to figure stuff out. I think I mighta gotten a less skilled dude.

He's gone and the heat's on

He says he got the water out, replaced the strainer, the filter, and the nozzle. He says if water got into the tank it could stop the heat from working again. He says the huge amount of moss growing on the intake pipe is a bad sign.

He's gonna tell the real estate company that they should change out the exhaust, because although it works now, it's decrepit and could block easily. I doubt they will do that, so I am getting a CO detector, or maybe several.

good, no GREAT idea.

If the exhaust is prone to getting blocked with snow, or having little critters crawl into it (both of these things have happened in houses I've lived in), you can put an elbow on the exhaust pipe (keep the opening from being exposed to the wind, or from pointing upward) and a mesh over the opening. Although you guys probably thought of that stuff already.

And, CO detectors. What Trilby said: GREAT idea, one on each floor, minimum.

Yeah, a CO detector saved my life in my old house. I think i'm repeating myself...but i am all about the CO detector. I was laying on the sectional sofa, listening to surround sound watching big screen tv. Lazy day, tired anyway. Detector went off and i evacuated me and my cats and fixed the problem. I could have just fallen asleep.

My oil dude came today, 203.2 gallons, $735.58. :right:

Oh, he left me a new calender.

Oh, well, then; NOW I understand your bill.

It was 35.58 for the oil and 700.00 for the calendar.

Ouch.

Too bad you can't get it in NJ. 30¢ cheaper over here.

Sounds about my rate, except mine was watered down.

Cheap. OUrs is 3.89/gal

I have gas. Must've been the broccoli I ate last night.

Rather than waste your money on a bunch of CO detectors, couldn't you just leave the windows open?? Cross ventilation should remove the carbon monoxide

CO detectors are probably cheaper than trying to heat the outside.

You'd think so, but unfortunately it doesn't. CO concentrations can (i.e. have been shown to) rise to lethal levels in spite of major passive and/or cross-ventilation... much better to use a CO detector and be sure.

OK last night I discovered two new things about the place

One is the washer hookup does not drain, or does not drain fast enough, which left about a washer's full of wash and rinse water on the basement floor.

Two is the dishwasher was never actually hooked up to water.

I won't mention to the management company that hot and cold is reversed on two out of the three places it is dispensed. I find that part funny. But certainly it was some plumber's amateur hour out here, and damage has been done.

My dad's washer did that for two decades, though it leaked somewhat less water than that. His solution was that we were always to put a bunch of towels on the floor whenever we did laundry. I recommend you don't go that route, your kids will think you're cheap and lazy.

Hmmm but that makes me think... if I need to, I could drain the washer into a greywater holding tank of some fashion, and then siphon it outside. Or even carry it outside. This is only possible because it's a newfangled high efficiency washer which uses less water. Bosch, you know the Germans make good stuff.

On the dishwasher, I notice that the parts to actually hook it up are sitting under the sink. :D I also notice that it was never bolted in. Amateur hour.

Time to freak out on the management company.

Yeah. Better to complain about a laundry list of items now than a slow drip of problems over time. (See what I did there?) If you wait, then they will think you broke the stuff after living with everything being fine initially.

I don't freak out on anybody!

Oh, it's not just the washer drain having a hard time draining... it's the entire house! After blocking off the washer drain, the morning shower overfilled the kitchen sink.

What. The. Fuck.

It would take an amateur a lot longer than an hour to fuck up the plumbing to this degree. I think you're dealing with a serious DIYer.

As a dedicated DIYer, you have my sympathies.

I also agree that you should make a list of these major items and present them earlier rather than later, and press for some kind of inspection/baseline/checklist etc.

Good luck man.

Does the toilet flush into the kitchen sink too?

Sounds like there might be roots growing into the sewer pipe outside. A good plumber will be able to identify the problem. It may require a visit from roto-rooter.

Speaking as someone who has never owned a house in her life, and for whom renting is the norm: totally do this. It is an absolute must do. The fact that the management company hasn't already done this with you is quite poor practice, but some are hotter on that stuff than others. If you don't then it is your word against theirs should any of this stuff prove awkward.