21:52 - 01.12.05
The Scream
Well Fred the ghost continued on with his reign of terror late into last night. Our furnace had been operating ok but creaking and groaning all the while. Last night at -22 C/-8 F,it stopped working completely. Kaput, no go, nada. I went to bed at about 3 am but my youngest stayed up all night trying to get it to work even if for a few minutes. No luck. In addition a major leak from the plumbing in the basement - the shared wall of our duplex. I'm afraid to ask what else is up that spirit's sleeve.
The telephone representative arrived around 8 in the am as I was preparing to go to work. The inside of the house was now about the same temperature as outside. Brrr - try having one's morning shower at that temperature. He went downstairs and returned a few minutes later. It's fixed my youngest confirmed as he did a test dial but the repairman was showing some stress. I asked him what was wrong and his response was "someone cut the wire". I replied that only my son and I were ever in the house and that it was likely courtesy of one of our cats. Those hunters with claws like razors, don't you know. He shook his head and said that "no, this was a clean straight across slice of the wire, no cat could have reached it". He maybe doesn't have cats and wouldn't know that those cagey felines can climb anywhere they want to given the right motivation. I said something like that but he insisted that this wire had been cut by a human. Great I already am paranoid enough without having an external source bring up the possibility I could be correct in my perceptions.
He left and the fellow from the gas company called to say he was on his way. In the meantime my assistant arrived to pick me up for an errand. We returned about 20 minutes later and he had been and gone already. He told my son that it wasn't a gas company issue the electrical gizmo was not working. Oi. My assistant and I had planned to spentd the morning at the office, but I had my crisis and she had her own. We agreed to delay the office work until after lunch. Called a furnace repair place - the company that supplies our electricity and turned on the stove to get a bit of heat in at least one area of the house. Every cat we have was cuddled up close to it. The dispatcher sent over an estimator to determine what a new furnace would cost if this one couldn't be repaired. $2300 and change. Ouch. She thought that she might be able to get a repair crew in to do a temporary fix in a day or two. I think the look on my face was enough for her to realize that the problem was a lot more serious than just an inconvenience. The forecast is for continuing very cold weather until next week. Absolutely no secure source of heat for that amount of time and we would be at incredible risk of hypothermia - people die from that each winter, thank you very much. She left saying she would see what she could do.
At that point the phone rang and it was the photocopier renters. They were standing at the door to our office with our unit - where were we? Oh no. They had said it would be late morning before they would be able to get to us. I had called them once to let them know the changed plans but not gotten through. I called my assistant to see if she could meet them but she was out of the house. Dialled up the building manager to see if he had anyone on site. No but he'd send someone. Thank goodness. He asked for a meeting in the afternoon and it was agreed that he would swing by later in the day.
Next up I started tending to all the voicemail requests left on the landline phone while it was broken. Those messages were inaccessible until the phone was repaired.. Just finished writing all the details down so I could get on with my day. At that point my phone rang and it was another person who had been given my personal phone number by that one politicians staff. I admit I was really angry at that point. The woman calling wouldn't listen and wanted to enter into a protracted listing of her requirements for working for our office. Not even explaining there had been no heat in my home for 12 hours registered as a reason why I wasn't available for work at the moment. I finally was able to sign off without being too rude. I should have waited to calm down, but I was afraid that politicains people would send a deluge of people wanting to register to vote or to ask for work my way. The chances of that number being circulated among all their friends was high too. I dialled the number several times, getting voicemail each time, which made me even more frustrated. Obviously there were staff answering the phones or the callers would not have known my phone number. The receptionist allowed that she had given out the number but that Elections Canada had given them permission to do so. She said they were doing as directed. I explained that the text had said it was only for the use of the candidates and political parties to communicate with us as needed, but not to be handed out willy nilly otherwise. She started to argue the point as I was getting colder and colder and my other phone started to ring. I admit losing my temper at that point and I said rather strongly that I would consider any further releases of that information as bordering on harrassment. I pointed out that the service providers and staff who were trying to contact me to help get the office up and running so we could offer good service to the public were finding it increasingly difficult to get through because of the actions of their office. Oi again.
I finally got through to her but asked her to have her office manager call me so the message was heard where it could be enforced evenly - hopefully - among all that staff. Returned to sending and receiving emails and telephone calls. Spoke to the one school board about availability of some schools. That is exam week for the senior students so those gyms aren't available. That won't be an issue if I can have every other school listed. She would see what she could do. An email from the hospital confirming my contact person there and a voicemail from my printer acknowledging that they were ready willing and able to work for me again. Good news.
I was just preparing to go to the office when the phone rang again. The lady who had come to do the estimate on the furnace was calling. Her technician was on his way and would arrive in about 20 minutes - would I be home. I could be but I really needed to go into the office as well. Could my youngest let him in? Certainly - they had my credit card number so that aspect of the transaction was all that required my presence. I was free to go. My phone started ringing as my assistant was trying to figure out the detour for construction on the ring road we travel to the office. One of the staff was calling from the office - where were we. Explained and my assistant pointed out that we still were 10 minutes early. Don't apologize when you haven't done anything wrong. That's why I like having her around me. No guff - just cuts to the chase. The three of us spent the afternoon going through employee files setting up a process and a set of priorities with respect to her beginning her work. Sent her home with her first assignment since we have neither phones nor chairs in our office yet. Bleagh.
Arrived home to find that one furnace tech still there and another on his way. I asked what the problem was and he said that the electrical gizmo was damaged beyond his ability to repair it. Hence the other HVAC guy. He had replaced the thermostat and that was good since it was the original that came with the house. It hadn't been working properly for a while but it wasn't bad enough to pay for a service call. The other fellow arrived and they were still working on it as supper neared. Finally after about four hours they had the beast running. Took nearly three hours to get the house warm again after that. The one techs comment was that it would likely work for a short period of time but that a new furnace was an inevitability if we wanted to stay warm this winter. Guess I'm glad the work is so steady right now - at least there is some money coming in to cover the costs. Not nearly enough mind you but whatever. Number two son arrived about an hour after they left and helped with some of the repair work that needed to be done next. My youngest had now been awake for almost two days straight but we needed his help to complete those tasks. He wasn't happy about it but he helped all the same. I think he knew my stress level at that point was well beyond the snapping point. Between the fact that no phones or furniture had arrived and the home problems I just had had enough. Been working on both jobs since though and I'm beat. Warm at least but I need a nap I think. Good night dear diary. Sleep well.
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