The check and the house

[helen99]

My mom's life insurance check arrived in the mail. At first I thought it was some sort of ad. You know, the kind that say, "This is not a check - you may have won this amount" or "Get this amount as a rebate if you buy our million-dollar product". But it was not an ad - it was a check. After the initial reaction of "I don't want this money from the insurance company. I want my mother back", it began to sink in that I had a Check (TM). I should have kept my thoughts more of a secret from my house. My house knows when something like this happens. It always knows.

The week after I received the check, my A/C died a dramatic death. We found oil under the unit, and no refrigerant in the unit (we don't exactly know where that went, because there was no refrigerant under the unit). The A/C man who came by replenished the refrigerant for which he charged me quite a bit, but failed to find the leak. Five minutes after he left, the fan died and the refrigerant was down two pounds. We called him back. Several hundreds of dollars worth of tests later, he still hadn't found the leak. He was going to do some more tests, and was starting to recommend a new unit. I'd about had it with him. He was strange, slow, and possibly trying to get more money. I called him back and told him we were giving up on getting more tests. He called back and dropped the price on his new unit proposal by a thousand dollars, and offered to do the last test for free. I thought it sounded like a good deal. Too good. No dice.

So... Rialian hired another company who had serviced laurelinde's unit when it went bad. I wanted to get a second opinion. Of course, this one was even worse (money-wise) than the last. He gave me a choice - try to fix this one (if he could) which would cost about the same as the last guy charged, and give it another 5 years of life (maybe), or get a new one. At first I wanted to try to fix the old one. But then, the prospect of never having to worry about this ancient appliance again began to look attractive. He examined the inside unit as well, and also the furnace, which came with the house in 84 when I got it. It's probably around 50 years old. No parts exist for it outside of a junkyard (reminds me of Smurf). It still works, it's not emitting noxious fumes, and there were no holes that he could see in the coils. However, the coils were layered with about 2 inches of rust, dust, and debris, so he couldn't really tell.

Of course, he said, "I'll give you a package deal on a new furnace and A/C unit".

I have the money now. I may not have it later when the furnace actually goes, which also could be a dangerous thing. If I do it now that's one more thing I don't have to worry about. So...

My house always knows when I can do something like this. How does it know? How can it know anything - it's just a bunch of old wood and plaster. Or is it...?

Comments

[lyssabard.livejournal.com]

My mother had the same problem a few weeks ago--the central air died, but the furnace was not compatible with new unit models. So...6K later, new ductwork...well, yeah. At least they won't have to worry about it again.

*HUG*

It was great to see you Sunday!

[helen99.livejournal.com]

I truly hope he doesn't suddenly say I need new ductwork as well. Ductwork wasn't mentioned, but if they say that the new systems are corrosive on the old ductwork, then I'll have to do that too. If nothing else, the house will smell better.

Gad.

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Wood, plaster, giant metal bar that gives it the function of a Faraday Cage, lots of crystals and assorted metaphysical objects giving off energy, Rialian....

... you know, I think you may be living inside the world's largest and most highly charged Orgone Accumulator. ;-)

[helen99.livejournal.com]

It does act like that. The dead kind can accumulate also (so it's important not to let anything stagnate in that house.)

[kitten-goddess.livejournal.com]

That's why it seems so shiny to me!

[starlightforest.livejournal.com]

"no refrigerant in the unit (we don't exactly know where that went, because there was no refrigerant under the unit)"

A/C refrigerant is only liquid under the pressure in the system. If there is a leak, it expands back into a gas. (Which fortunately is non-flammable as far as I know, and not terribly harmful as long as you are not trying to breathe it in place of oxygen.)

"My house always knows when I can do something like this. How does it know? How can it know anything - it's just a bunch of old wood and plaster. Or is it...?"

I think you know the answer to this question. In fact, I would say that the older the house is, the more likely it is to be Aware.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

But.. assuming it's aware, why would it always want to make sure I have no money? To prevent me from moving out maybe - that's the only thing I can think of.

[starlightforest.livejournal.com]

I don't know your house, but I would hazard a guess that's not its direct purpose, merely a side effect. Maybe it wants to feel fixed up and pretty. Maybe it is "needy" and doesn't think you pay enough attention to it.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I don't. It doesn't feel as 'homey' as other houses I've been in. I've prevented it from decaying into a heap of rubble (see the zombie bathroom and zombie roof episodes of last year), but I suck at homemaking...

[starlightforest.livejournal.com]

Hire a boggan?

[helen99.livejournal.com]

Or, in my particular case right now, a plumber. (yes, a new A/C was not enough).

[rialian.livejournal.com]

===Clog cleared, sink fixed.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[rialian.livejournal.com]

===Appointment has been made...They will be here next week Thursday (July 12) (the only day they had available that I could definitely be here all day.)

===If there is new ductwork needed, I suspect it is figured into the rest of the cost of a full system.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

We'd better Check... I don't know if the ductwork is included or not. He didn't mention it.

[kitten-goddess.livejournal.com]

I've heard the same complaint about cars.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

My car is behaving itself... so far. I can't say the same for my washer/dryer, however, both of which are on their last legs. Also, my whole house, except the recently vacated room, needs painting. The exterior aluminum siding needs cleaning, and the trees need trimming. The house had its midlife crisis in 1990. This is its geriatric care. Lucky me.

Houses and soul

[iliandriel.livejournal.com]

Frankly I think they take on a life of their own. They seem to sense when the time is right to get something done for themselves. It figured why not its as good a time as any for this. I'm just sorry this happened that you lost your mother. Biggest hugs to you. Nothing can bring her back.

Re: Houses and soul

[helen99.livejournal.com]

Nope, nothing can.

What do you think happened to the Sphere this time? Nobody knows. I wish there was a way to move the whole kitten kaboodle to another server (and preserve everything intact, including the cute smiley faces).

[rhiannasilel.livejournal.com]

New furnace may be worth your while since it'll probably be more energy efficient than the old one and save you money on energy bills in the winter which are going up every year. Also, I think that you can deduct the cost of an energy efficient model for x number of years from your taxes, but you'd have to talk to a tax person about that kind of thing. I seem to remember reading it somewhere, but that may have been pre-Bush.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

I'll look into it, thanks. I hope I can recoup some of this some way. I considered just ditching the whole central A/C system and getting small window units for the bedrooms and fans everywhere else. That's what the house came with - the A/C was my addition later. I decided against that, though - the house gets pretty hot in late summer and early fall (when we're having a lot of people over) and needs something efficient.

[laker-elf.livejournal.com]

As far as the house being aware and all, apparently you've never seen Rose Red. :))

[historychick49.livejournal.com]

That's just what I was going to say!

As long as the house is being worked on, in one way or another (construction, repairs, etc), it lives.

.... Actually, now that I think about it, you could work that into quite a metaphysical little essay on people, as well. If people stop growing (spiritually, emotionally, mentally, whatever), they die. Maybe not physically, but a part of them does.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

I wish it really could repair itself and grow me a basement and a garage... (but not through a restless spirit - just a self regenerating property of some sort!) I agree that if people stop evolving in some way or lose their Vision, then they become flatliners in a way. Physical ill health becomes more likely too, imo.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't - Luckily, my house has not begun adding rooms to itself. Though, come to think of it, I've always sort of wanted a basement and a garage. I would sort of like them to stay put once they were there, though!