Supporting the US economy

Well, we knew it had to happen eventually. This is what happens when one purchases a 20+ year old house with the original water heater and furnace. Last night around 10:30pm as we were settling into bed the carbon monoxide detector sprang to life and shouted it's alerting bleats from the lower level. The alarm went off earlier this year but that was a result of exhaust from the car settling into the lower level (our bathroom vents into the garage and hence the garage vents into the house). This time we had both been home for a few hours so that was not the cause of the alarm.

Full disclosure: I have grown even more paranoid since becoming pregnant. I flipped out.

We placed a call to Xcel to have a tech come out and look at the furnace. Of course, they staff lightly for such late night calls and it took the guy 2 hours to finally get to the house. He left by 1:00 AM and said our levels weren't that high but that we might want open the windows for a bit to clear out the current levels, 'limit the use' of the furnace and have someone come out ASAP today. I turned the heat way down b/c my paranoia had yet to abate, despite his reassurance that we would be OK. There are reasons doctors tell pregnant women to quit smoking - carbon monoxide being one of them. I did a quick look online while the tech was checking things out (note to self - stay off the internet when ultra-paranoid) and read some semi-scary info about low-birth weight and other factors resulting from carbon monoxide in the womb.

When the heat kicked on at 5:00 AM this morning I jumped out of bed and turned it down again (we have it pre-programmed). And again when I got up about an hour later. I didn't sleep too well, worried about how this is impacting baby Whitcomb.

As I was heading out the door for work Pete expressed the thought that all we would be doing today is spending money. The carpet installers are coming in to lay the carpet for the baby's room and we know we have to shovel out the dough for a new furnace. The silver lining in all this is we have a very good friend who owns his own HVAC business. I just talked to Pete and JR is already at the house measuring for a new heat blaster. Just knowing JR will advise us like he was looking/buying for his house makes me feel better about going home.

Doing my part today to keep the US economy going.