Tag Archives: Hot Water Heater

I Learned the Hard Way

Leave a reply

Well well well. Where to begin? I’ll start at the end. As I was walking from the cigar shop to the bus terminal, listening to Pet Shop Boys singles collection, by cellphone rings. It’s Bill. My first thought was that Bill was nearby and saw me stomping down the avenue.

No, it wasn’t anything pleasant like that. Bill told me, he was washing his hands in the bathroom and heard some water running behind him and walked into the kitchen to find water spewing forth from the hot water heater that was installed 2 years ago.

Peter our absentee landlord decided to save money and bought a General Electric hot water heater from Home Depot. I told Bill to turn off the spigot (tighty righty, lefty Lucy) and then I called Julio. A hint of panic in my face as I asked him to do me a favor, to go up to our apartment and check to see if Bill was able to turn off the water.

He moaned but did come upstairs. I then called Peter and let him know what was going on. He was on the line with Bill and got off the phone with me as soon as he could. I trudged to the gate and chatted with Hyman Gross.

He asked how I was doing, what kind of day did I have. I told him I was glad the work was done and also told him about what happened with the hot water heater. He assumed the hot water heater was in the basement like other places have. Not us. Our hot water heater is between the stove and the kitchen sink.

He asked how big the hot water heater was and I told him it was as big as he was, which made him remark that it was probably shrinking like he is. Hyman is in his 80’s in case you didn’t know. His remark made me laugh somewhat.

But as the minutes moved on I realized how much of a hassle this was going to be. I have a job interview tomorrow morning, with a recruiter. It’s for a Monday through Friday job and that’s what I was looking for.

The hours are unlike any hours I’ve worked before. 5:30PM to 1:00AM. It’s a law firm and my job would be to make sure all the lawyers and others will get their town cars home. It’s also supposed to be an immediate hire.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. I came home and trudged up the four flights to the fifth floor where U heard voices. I was hoping it would be Peter but he’s an absentee landlord after all. It was Bill and Julio in the kitchen.

The blue bucket underneath the spigot collecting a steady stream of water, wads of paper towels on the floor, some puddles as well. Julio took off a pipe from the water heater since it was difficult to use the bucket with the pipe there, and with the hot water heater now defunct, the pipe in question was redundant.

Julio stayed for a little while as I threw out the paper towels and laid down newspapers, remembering the method used when the cellar in our house in Lodi would sometimes flood. Super absorbent and cheaper than paper towels.

Also threw down some rags to sop up the water. Julio split and went back to his life, Bill and I discussed Bill taking off tomorrow for the installation of a new water heater. Peter’s flunky Robert is supposed to get one and deliver and install it.

Robert is an idiot and I don’t trust him so I will have to tell Bill to keep an eye on everything Robert does. So that is where I’m at right now. Very tired too.

I Can’t Go For That

2 Replies

Home again. Been quite a stressful day. Started out with me not sleeping as well as I did the night before. Why was that? Perhaps it was a foreboding with regards to the day I was about to have.

Bill had taken half a day from work so he could be here for PSE&G’s visit. Then it turned into a full day since he wasn’t feeling so well. I stepped into the shower and found the water to be cold. Yes, I woke up this morning with the cold water.

Seemed easy enough to fix that and I lay on the cold ceramic tile of the kitchen floor and tried to light the pilot in the hot water heater. 90 minutes later I gave up and was able to rinse my hair and wash my face with some lukewarm water I had put on the stove.

The stove is working just fine by the way.

Bill still sleeping in the bed as I went out the door headed for the bus. Discombobulated despite a few cups of coffee, and inadvertently got on the 10:15 bus when I really wanted the 10:30 bus. No worries I thought as I got on and sat in a seat and stared out the window, as the bus headed into the city.

Did not listen to any music at all, which usually gets me psyched for work. Really, it sometimes works. But not today. Couldn’t find anything appropriate to listen to despite having thousands of songs on my iPod.

Made it into the shop and Don Birch asked if I had gotten a haircut. I explained that I didn’t, it was actually hair gel since I was unable to wash my hair this morning. It was an arduous day at best. My friend, My friend stopped by earlier than usual and was a bit upset that I wrote what Sean had said.

I reminded My friend, My friend that Sean is a know nothing 20 year old father of a 3 year old child and doesn’t know much at all about anything. Still My friend, My friend was upset and felt maybe it would be good if he never came to the store again.

That certainly was not my intention, and tried to let him know that I look forward to seeing him when he comes in and that Sean is an idiot. It was busy enough in the store and it was just me and Don. Sean made a brief appearance, in and out and invisible. Perhaps someone was looking for him for some child support.

I was outside briefly for lunch before heading back, not wanting to leave Don Birch in the lurch. The day moved on. Most people are back from their summer vacations so it was fairly busy, and busy once again at 5:00 when most folk get off from work.

Don is unhappy and looking to get out, I am unhappy and looking to get out and Sean is trying to get a job at another cigar store.

The store closed at the right time, Don heading out early to catch a train to Long Island and see his honey. I headed out and finally listened to some more David Bowie on the iPod and I charged my way through the tourists and the dawdlers on the avenue.

16 minutes, 41 seconds with David Bowie and Queen singing Under Pressure when I walked into the bus terminal, which just about summed up my day.

The latest on the hot water heater. It may be a chimney problem, or the vent from the heater into the chimney. We have hot water right now and the windows are open just in case. The earliest someone can check out the chimney is next Wednesday.

Hope. Boy, was that soon dashed.