hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

[hqueen13]

Treats are always good! LOL Thanks FEM!
I plan to buy a Berkey water filter with some of my tax money, but we'll see how much I get back.
We were showering last night and have noticed that the hot water heater doesn't seem to be heating as much hot water... so I'm afraid it's going to need to be replaced, so we'll see what happens with the tax money, but some of it might be going to a new water heater. Not what I wanted to do right now, but it is what it is at this point. I'll have to double check and find out from my accountant if it is tax deductible next year. That would be some consolation if it is.
We didn't do nearly as much as I would have liked this weekend, but it rained again, so that hampered being able to get things accomplished. Sunday we did manage to get almost all of the wood pile that's been sitting at the bottom of the hill split, which is a good thing. We're going to have to get it moved up the hill and stacked in the wood shed today before it starts raining again tomorrow, and will rain all freaking week. I'm not thrilled about sliding around in the mud more. As per the norm, too little time and too much to do, but that won't last forever, either.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

More rain here too.... ugh.

 

[flowerbug]

Treats are always good! LOL Thanks FEM!
I plan to buy a Berkey water filter with some of my tax money, but we'll see how much I get back.
We were showering last night and have noticed that the hot water heater doesn't seem to be heating as much hot water... so I'm afraid it's going to need to be replaced, so we'll see what happens with the tax money, but some of it might be going to a new water heater. Not what I wanted to do right now, but it is what it is at this point. I'll have to double check and find out from my accountant if it is tax deductible next year. That would be some consolation if it is.
We didn't do nearly as much as I would have liked this weekend, but it rained again, so that hampered being able to get things accomplished. Sunday we did manage to get almost all of the wood pile that's been sitting at the bottom of the hill split, which is a good thing. We're going to have to get it moved up the hill and stacked in the wood shed today before it starts raining again tomorrow, and will rain all freaking week. I'm not thrilled about sliding around in the mud more. As per the norm, too little time and too much to do, but that won't last forever, either.

before dumping the hot water heater try checking the settings and flushing it out (unplug it before your last shower or use for that day so you're not wasting energy) and then use it up, once it gets cold enough then you can flush it out (check youtube for vids how to do this if you don't know how).

we had thermostats on our hot water heater replaced several years ago when one went out. it was a good time to replace both of them so we did that. certainly cost less than replacing the whole thing.

good luck!

 

[hqueen13]

Yup, FEM, it just keeps on raining.

@flowerbug our only worry with doing this is that it will be SO clogged that it won't drain, and then we'll have to replace it anyway. I have no idea how old it is, but it's OLD, as is everything in this house, and the BF learned very quickly not to touch anything that was 'working' unless he was prepared to completely replace it and not just "fix" whatever wasn't working as well as he would like. He's the son of an engineer, and really should be one himself, and so when things only 'halfway' work it drives him nuts. He attempted to fix the bath tub drain for me not long after we moved in, because the stopper didn't work... and that resulted in the pipe snapping off on Sunday evening at 7 when all the stores closed. That was when I was able to explain to him that the house is so old that you just can't touch one thing and expect to 'fix' it without something else happening along the way. So we agreed we wouldn't tackle anything until we were fully prepared to deal with it. He may decide to try draining it, though I don't know because it makes a crazy gurgling/rumbling sound when it's trying to heat. We've decided that is due to the sheer volume of sediment that's built up in the bottom (it's gas, so it only heats from the bottom). So yeah, I'm afraid that if we try to drain it it's only going to plug itself up and we won't get anywhere. The basement doesn't have a drain in it (like a sump pump hole) so draining it will mean running a hose across the basement and out of the house, and I'm just not sure I'm up for all of that. We'll see what the BF decides when we figure out how much money we're getting back from taxes.

It has not been a fun few days.
I got word yesterday morning that the girls who were supposed to be temporarily helping CD out at the new barn have decided they like working... so she doesn't have room for me to work. So there goes that opportunity. I'm trying to figure out if there is another option available somewhere because I'm REALLY ready to be out of the place I am right now.

Then we were supposed to have the tractor serviced for it's first service at 50 hours. They were supposed to call us to confirm the time on Tuesday, and when we didn't get the call, I finally called on Wednesday morning, and found out the guy was on the way to the house. I was trying to finish having the conversation with CD about the barn situation, so I didn't leave right away. I finally got home to find the tractor moved, and a partial jug of hydraulic fluid on the seat. SO the guy came and did the work and left before I got there. I was annoyed, and called the place to talk to them, and the guy was apologetic and said he could send the tech back, I was like no, I'll wait for the BF to get home to look it over. We had concerns about how much the tractor was lifting, though I was mostly thinking it was due to the fact that we were told the tractor could lift more than what it can actually lift, by quite a bit. So I left to go help a friend move some stuff, and when the BF and I both got home later he looked and there was a puddle of hydraulic fluid under the tractor. Thankfully the shop was still open and so the guy apologized all over himself and said he'd send the tech back out first thing in the morning. We put a pan under the drip, and the BF covered up the tractor so that the rain overnight wouldn't get into the fluid in the pan as much.

"First thing in the morning" turned out to not be until 8:45. So I stayed home and worked from home for a while waiting on the guy. He finally arrived, and fixed the leak (he totally forgot to put a clamp back on.....), and then we attempted to 'test' the tractor's lifting capacity. He picked up a pallet that we had of some cinder blocks, but we had no way of knowing exactly how heavy it was. So now we need to haul the tractor over to SR's who orders chicken feed by the ton and see if we can actually test out how much the tractor is lifting officially. I'm not thrilled about it, but at this point that's the only way to prove or disprove that the tractor's working at capacity. The BF was also complaining that he thought that there might be air in the hydraulic lines, but I can't figure out exactly what he's talking about, and the guys can't either, so he'll just have to deal with that later, especially if it turns out that it's NOT lifting to capacity.

The up side is that today is my birthday and the BF made me a chocolate covered strawberry cheesecake last night, so I have that to look forward to!

 

[wyoDreamer]

Happy Birthday!!!

Tractors are a mystery to me. There was a while that I was "banned" from using the Kuboda because a part was broken and it was tricky to get it work properly. We got that fixed and then found another problem and had to get that one fixed too. Now we have a leak in the hydraulics for our zero turn mower ... DH has been adding fluid as neccessary, but we use that machine hard all summer long. The nearest place to get it fixed is an hour away.

 

[flowerbug]

you never know, if the tank is well made and stainless steel it may be in good enough condition. i think it is worth a try.

the more recent ones aren't built to last unless you can actually find a decent manufacturer with quality control... in our experience hot water heaters are not long lived. we put it in our budget to replace them every 10yrs or so (some have gone out sooner or had manufacturing misteaks).

 

[wyoDreamer]

We are starting to have some issues with our water heater also. It is 10 years old. My loving husband wants to replace it with an On-Demand Water Heater. Since we already have a propane tank, it makes sense to me. It will have a longer lifespan, It will use less energy, and with only 2 of us in the house, it will provide plenty of hot water for us.

 

[hqueen13]

Thanks @wyoDreamer
That's too funny about the tractor. Yeah, I'm not allowed to drive the pickup truck right now, which is annoying. I mean I don't want to drive it if it's going to be fussy and difficult... but by the same token it sure would be nice if I could drive it because then I wouldn't have to depend on him for certain things. Although lately we've always been hauling the tractor and I'm certainly not doing that by myself yet. But if I could drive it then I could go to the dump instead of having to wait until a Saturday to go when he can drive it. It ALWAYS dies right at the bottom of the hill when we leave the dump so I'm not keen on driving it there anyway.

@flowerbug the issue is likely not the quality of the tank, but the amount of JUNK in it that I don't believe we'll be able to get out. Our water leaves a residue in things VERY quickly (we had one of those open pots that sits on the wood stove, within a week there's white chalky stuff in the bottom, and if the water boils dry it blows the powder all over the stove... kinda interesting!). It sounds like it's tumbling rocks when the hot water heater starts heating up fresh water after you've used some of what was in the tank. Hot water heaters aren't supposed to sound like that. I'm pretty sure the sediment is caked in the bottom in big chunks, which there really isn't any way to clear if it's that bad. The tank might be fine, but the junk in it is probably not coming out. I'll probably suggest to the BF that we do try to clear it out, just to see if we can put off the expense for a while, but I'm really not hopeful. There are also some pipes on the hot water heater that should probably be replaced anyway due to corrosion (again, due to the water quality), so at this point it's probably best to just replace all of it and not stress about trying to fix it. I've learned there is a fine balance between salvaging things and knowing when to throw in the towel and replace it. We are walking a very fine line with that one all the time in the house!

I got the call on Friday morning about our tax returns. One of mine is $1111 which feels lucky! I'll have plenty to be able to pay off my personal debt, and probably get new tires, and hopefully have enough left over to buy a Berkey water filter. I've wanted one for a long time, but I haven't been able to buy one. This will save the expense of buying bottled water (not to mention the bottles), so that is a good thing. It'll take a long time to make it back, but I'll just be happy to not have bottles everywhere and have to go to the store to get more jugs of water constantly. The BF will pay off his outstanding debt, and then he wants a couple small things, and then hopefully we'll have enough to be able to get the electric upgraded and get a new hot water heater. I'm grateful that he can do a lot on his own, so that will save us some money. From there we'll have to see how much each of those things will cost and how far we can stretch the money. Obviously a tank hot water heater would be cheaper, but we really do want to go tankless partly for space savings, and partly for efficiency. We'll see how the numbers shake down.

Saturday we went to the aquarium, which was a nice time. It's expensive, but it was a fun day and I haven't been in forever, so that was cool to go back again. It was fun to watch the little kid's reactions to things, as much as watching the fish. It was nice to get out and do something fun. He took me to an Irish place afterwards for dinner which was really yummy. Sunday we didn't do a whole lot other than clean (which is way over due) and then he helped his coworker with the desk she's building borrowing his tools. So not a bad weekend all things considered.

Of course, it's raining again. It just won't go away. I'm so tired of slipping and sliding in the mud. It looks like we should get a freeze by the weekend, hopefully it is hard enough that we can get over to Cowboy and Coyote's to get the manure out. We'll see, though, the mud is really bad, so even with some cold it may not freeze enough.

 

[hqueen13]

The BF and I talked more about the hot water heater last night. I didn't realize that a tankless would need both an intake and an exhaust to the outside, which we don't have right now, obviously, so that is something additional to consider. He has a friend that is a plumber that's going to come over some time this week and look over what we've got to give us his opinion on what will work best, and a quote for helping us. The BF can do a lot of it, but with the gas line I would appreicate having professional help (especially that we don't have to pay professional prices for) just to make sure that everything is done properly and that we don't do something wrong that we have to fix, which always costs more money. He is probably going to stop over at his old job on the way home and get a couple price quotes from them since they'll still give him a good discount.
So hurry up tax returns!!!! I'm ready to get this party started!!

 

[hqueen13]

So the BF's high school friend came over last night and we chatted for way too long about the water heater and all stuff house. He was really nice and very helpful.
So we've come to the conclusion that a tankless is not for us. It's just the 2 of us, and occasional guests, so our demand isn't all that high vs the expense of putting it in in the first place. So we would not see much of a return on the investment there.
What could work out is getting a combination boiler and hot water heater unit, which is essentially a tankless, too. The cost is quite a bit higher than the tankless itself, or of course a standard tanked heater. So I'm not sure it's in the budget, and of course the boiler itself is working, currently, so we don't really need that, either.
So knowing all that, we are going to attempt to drain the hot water heater and see if we can get it working better than it currently is. If we can band aid it then we'll do that and see if we can get to a point where we could get a combination unit. If we can't, then we'll just go with a 50 gallon hot water heater instead, which will give us more hot water, and of course be much more efficient than the old one that's sitting there now.
So not bad news, but nothing earth shattering either. Now we just have to wait to see when the tax returns come in so we can get this DONE. The BF still has to stop at his old work and see what kind of a deal they can give him on a water heater (and maybe a combination boiler just for giggles), so we can figure out what it's going to cost to get it taken care of. We also still have to research the cost of getting the power run as well, which hopefully we can do most of that work ourselves and that won't cost a lot, either, but we'll see.