Situation Normal

It got a little cool here a couple of weeks ago, so we turned on the furnace. A day later Anne comments that it hasn't gotten any warmer, and the furnace is only blowing cold air. OH! That's right, the furnace quit last winter, and we didn't bother to get it fixed. We had two gas fireplaces, and I had just spent $500 to get one fixed (the automatic valve failed). So we just used the fireplaces to heat the house and that worked fine.

So the furnace is out, we'll just turn on the fireplace. Flip the switch a couple of times and it lights up. Give it a few minutes to warm up and the thermal switch turns on the fan. Great, all is well. Whoops, what is that horrible screeching noise? Bearings in the fan motor maybe? Turn it off, pull it out, take it apart. No, nothing wrong with the bearings, the armature is loose on the shaft. The shaft pulls right out. It is colored blue where the armature was spinning on it. Tried to tie them together with a screw by filing a flat on the shaft and drilling into the armature parallel to the shaft to make sort of rough keyway. Did not work out.

Got some seeping Loctite (green) from work. Supposed to be able to use it on screws that have already been tightened. Put the shaft in the armature and set them up vertically. Put a couple of drops at the joint, they disappeared immediately. Let it set a few minutes. No luck. Shaft pulled right out, Loctite was still liquid.

Ended up using epoxy. I was a little concerned that there wasn't enough space between the two parts to make a proper joint, but so far it is holding.

Kathryn needed more space for clothes so she and her mom went to Target and bought a dresser in a box for $200. Particle board and 500 fasteners. Kathryn and I got the five drawers put together the other night.

Tutoring both kids (John and Kathryn) in algebra. Kathryn hates it, but is committed to finishing the class. John's only problem is that his teacher is SOOO BORRRING that he can't pay attention in class. I give him a little help and he seems to pick up on it pretty quick. Interesting that all the kids have differing views on the same math teachers. What one kid finds horrible, another finds great.

Kathryn is working part time (about ten hours a week) as a hostess at "The Old Spaghetti Factory", so she's driving, but the only car she will drive is the car-car. She won't drive the van and she will only drive the truck under protest. Both Anne and her complain about the visibility in the truck, and I have to admit, they are right. I have almost run down pedestrians at corners because they were hiding behind my mirrors.

Perhaps if I replace the mirrors with smaller ones the girls will be happier about driving the truck. So I call the dealer, they have smaller power mirrors available. $350 installed. If it would save me from buying a new car, it would be worth it. It wouldn't, of course, but I could use that argument to justify buying them. Then I thought I would check on E-bay. $9 for a pair. Of course I have to install them myself. And I have to figure out how to seal them. And I have to make a trip to the store for electrical connectors. And they have fake carbon fiber texturing painted on.