 |
| Vermont in Autumn (Source) |
It's autumn in New England.
Friday was a pretty day, a bit cool, the wind was up, the sun was shining, it was a good day to stop and thank God for another day.
Friday evening arrived and, to tell the truth, I just didn't feel like writing about war. Somehow the weekends just feel too peaceful to write about men fighting and dying, even in a good cause. So it was an evening for reflection.
And, oddly enough, listening to a lot of Jethro Tull. Back in the day when I was painfully lonely and shy, the music of that particular band kept me going. I knew that someday things would get better.
Boy, did they ever.
Anyhoo ...
Had one of these systems installed at Chez Sarge -
 |
| Ductless Mini Split AC System (Source) |
Took the lads who did it three days, start to finish. Neat and precise they were, The Missus Herself was happy with their workmanship and their manners. I made sure their bosses knew that.
Downstairs bathroom renovation continues, though getting materials has proven to be a challenge at times. Our contractor said he could do the job in October, well, a couple of his jobs fell through and would we mind getting it done earlier?
Well, no, we wouldn't mind at all. But we had nothing in place to get going, which was okay, they had to strip things down to the studs anyway, do the basic plumbing and electrical work as well. Gave us some time to get the rest of what we needed.
We just learned the remaining materials to complete the job have come in and this coming week should see us in the home stretch of that project, before beginning another.
Sigh, homeownership is kind of a never-ending stream of "Oh look, this is broken" events. As a renter it's "Hey, landlord, fix this, it's busted." Now it's "Say contractor, ya got a minute? Yes, yes, I have the funds ..."
And so it goes.
But I'm in a position to afford all this, much as it pains me to part with those hard earned shekels. But I have them in hand so, hey, I've got that going for me.
Years ago, I was sad listening to this song, wondering, aloud as it were, if I'd ever get to that sort of place.
The answer is a resounding yes.
Wond'ring Aloud
Ian Anderson
Wond'ring aloud --
How we feel today
Last night sipped the sunset --
My hand in her hair
We are our own saviours
As we start both our hearts beating life
Into each other
Wond'ring aloud --
Will the years treat us well
As she floats in the kitchen
I'm tasting the smell, yeah
Of toast as the butter runs
Then she comes, spilling crumbs on the bed
And I shake my head
And it's only the giving
That makes you what you are
(Source)
I know what I've got, I'm a happy man.
Good timing on this post Sarge, just took out my windoe AC unit on Thursday and have been considering a split system. If you don't mind a question what brand did you get?
ReplyDeleteMitsubishi, but that's because that's what the company that did the installation uses. Of the three companies we looked at, two use that brand, the third uses LG.
DeleteThanks Sarge.
Delete👍
DeleteIf you want it done and you have the money to do it...
ReplyDeleteI've always like the concept of the mini-split system with individual areas rather than the whole place on one thermostat.
Hopefully it works out, it certainly looks like it will.
DeleteDuctless mini split system is an excellent choice. I installed one for the upstairs in my home 16 years ago and have never regretted it.
ReplyDeleteWe're happy we got this done.
DeleteCrusty Old TV Tech here. Yeah, having a little back-up heat via heat pump can help with energy diversity (especially with an oil-fired boiler!), choose the cheapest at the moment and use that. I've thought about that sort of thing, heat pump with a gas furnace in the attic, but heat pump reliability in an area with long cooling seasons is lower than straight cooling, and the first cost is higher, so that decided for me. Gas is very good to date for recurring cost, but you can't do gas in a mini-split. Although, with the current energy environment, who knows where gas prices are going.
ReplyDeleteWhere I live, in The Big Humid, it's 9 months of cooling staring a Scotsman in the face, and currently no way to get out of using electricity for that. I would love to offload 90% of the cooling bill to the gas main, but it's almost impossible to find an absorbtion unit for residential nowadays. Grew up in a house with one, nice low overall energy bills.
Growing up, all energy was cheap. Even when taking inflation into account.
DeleteComing from England air conditioning is very rare in houses but after the last summer when we had 40 C heat I'm investing in a couple of portable a/c units just so we can sleep at night. I have only ever experienced heat like that when I was in France during the 2003 heatwave and Bulgaria in 2017. How people survive with weeks of that kind of temperature is beyond my comprehension. Usually we don't have to worry about extremes of temperature but this summer was something else. We're still in a drought here in the south and we really need a wet winter to refill reservoirs. With gas/electricity prices rising a lot of people are going to suffer. A saving grace is that lots of public transport has a/c as standard, which is nice.
ReplyDeleteRetired
I remember my time in Germany, air conditioning was not a thing. Though the German summers weren't as bad as we see here in New England, there were times when an A/C unit would have been nice!
DeleteBTW love Jethro Tull, 'Thick as a brick' is one of my favourites, I've got the original LP hidden away somewhere.
DeleteRetired
As do I. Saw them in concert back in 2003, Ian Anderson is brilliant, as is the rest of the band.
DeleteSarge, I enjoy reading your "real life" as much as your fiction - sometimes it is good to see people as they actually live. We are not always writing automatons, no matter how much output may suggest.
ReplyDeleteSadly, Autumn here is the a slightly less hot version of "Summer", and will likely be that until sometime in November. I have never been anywhere as brilliant in its Autumn as New England appears to be; at some point I will need to rectify that.
We use the mini-split ductless systems at work for spot cooling. They work effectively in warehouses to store materials for drug manufacture, so they should work fine in yours as well.
Jethro Tull was not really a group I ever got into, mostly because of the timeline of when I started "listening" to music. Although I get what you are saying about music filling gaps not otherwise fillable. For me, Styx managed to do that.
Styx was a great band, listened to them quite a bit on Okinawa.
DeleteI'm a Thick as a Brick kinda guy. I used to fire one up, put that on and prepare dinner. After about 27 minutes(that's Side 1 for you kids out there), my wife wod lose her mind. Ah, good times.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great album, kinda figure'd you'd like that one, it flows.
DeleteWent to a Tull concert at Purdue University in 1975 - the auditorium there has great acoustics. Finagled my way backstage before the show started and acted like part of the stage crew. Chatted with the keyboard player, John, who was warming up on the grand piano backstage by playing Mozart and other classical music. Nice guy. Watched the show from just off stage right behind the curtains. Pretty awesome show!
ReplyDeleteWhy yes, I am jealous. 😊
DeleteNorth of three grand to take down some mature ash trees that were infected by the Emerald Ash Borer. North of seven grand to rebuild the chimney from the roofline up (it does look fabulous). Next up is a rotting soffit on the garage and replacing its gutters.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do miss the "oh, Landlord..." days. But I do like being able to paint the walls something other than eggshell white.
And that's the beauty of it, you get to modify your dwelling to suit your tastes.
DeleteThe first best thing is being able to drive a nail in the wall to hang a picture anywhere you want. It's your problem now.
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
Delete