Bogieblog

New High Efficiency Combi-Boiler

So in the post about my water heater woes, the unit had quit working again last Sunday (see comments). My normal heating and plumbing company is not open on weekends and their emergency voicemail box was full, so I called my propane company. I had the thought that maybe the regulator from the propane tanks was going wonky. If not, at least their tech could also trouble shoot the water heater itself. The tech quickly established that the tank regulator was fine. After replacing the POF, the water heater still would not stay lit. The only other possible part to replace is $700-800 - which I declined. For a 2009 vintage water heater, doubling what I had already spent was not worth it.

That afternoon, I called my heating maintenance company and asked them to send someone out for a quote to replace the unit. I also contacted another local place. Both those places sent someone out on Monday (which was a PTO day for me, so worked out well).  I had been thinking about replacing my boiler and HWH this summer (the boiler is over 30 years old). I was also thinking going to 1 unit to handle both jobs (thus free up floor space, would be good too. So I started discussing how to replace both units with the heating techs. Once those discussions were done, and I received the quotes, I chose to go with a Condensing wall-hung Combination Boiler.

I accepted the quote from my regular heating maintenance company and Wednesday morning they came out to do the deed. This was great timing with the arctic weather pattern due to arrive, in which I would need the boiler to circulate water in the forced hot water pipes to keep them from freezing.

The old units take up a lot of space

And look at the spaghetti piping

Bye-bye old units

New combi boiler with neat piping. There are two PVC pipes at the top; one is for combustion air (this is a propane unit) and one for the exhaust. The box on the floor is to get rid of condensate. I'll get a small shelf later to neaten up that. Oh, and it plugs into the 110 outlet that the pellet stove is on. If needed, I can plug into a power pack or generator if there is an extended power outage.

And here is all the space I gained. Okay, so some of that will be taken up by the shelving unit that the new unit displaced, but still, it is opened up quite a bit

Now I have to fill in the raised flooring where the old boiler and water heater were. Then I can move the shelving unit in where the boiler used to sit (where the bucket is on the left.

Yesterday afternoon, with the outside temps plummeting and the wind howling (it was bowing my garage door in and creating all kinds of heat loss), I set up so the boiler can circulate the FHW. The main floor pellet stove is doing the heavy lifting for heating, while the boiler turns on every once in a while to circulate water so the pipes in the garage don't freeze.

Improvement to my Work Desk

When I ordered my sit/stand desk, I was disappointed to see that the only monitor shelves they had were barely big enough for the base of 1 monitor. So I would have had to get two. And, I wasn't in love with how they looked or the way they attached to the desk. No biggie, I wasn't sure I needed a monitor stand anyway. Once I set up everything, it seemed fine.

 I have been charging my work phone in the kitchen and the headset in the living room and I got to thinking it would be nice to have everything related to work in one place. So, I went in search of a monitor stand that would work and look like it belonged - wasn't an add-on. Of course non of the cheapies looked like they would work. They were either not wide enough for the monitor bases, too short/long (since the desk is a weird size at 42"), did not match the desk style, or did not appear as robust as I would like. And then, walnut is not the "in" color nowdays, so that made things even more difficult.

Finally found a place called LifeSpan (how I love Google for finding things). They had a monitor shelf that is walnut AND 42" long, wide enough, with black hardware that blends nicely with the black frame of the desk, heavy duty enough to be stable. And bonus, the bottom of the legs has an anti-scratch surface (cork or some such material). And double bonus, the corners are rounded (which I wish was the case with the desk itself)

I received it the evening of the 25th, attached the legs, and set up the workspace, and voila, it's a winner. The black "block" to the left of the laptop is the headphone charger that I pulled out from under the shelf for picture purposes. Don't mind the strategically placed stickies :) . Note that the shelf appears a bit lighter in the picture and it matches the desk much more closely. I assume it is the difference in the angle that the ceiling light hits the surfaces.

I love how organized my work area is now!

Water Heater Woes

Yesterday morning I had the unpleasant experience of taking an unplanned lukewarm shower. No,it didn't wake me up any as I had been up for over 2 hours and already had my coffee ;) Went down and checked the 2009 HWH, and the water tank was cold and not firing. The relief valve had also ejected some water into the bucket that is there just for such an occasion. I had actually checked that bucket last weekend when I cleaned the pellet stove, and it had been dry at that point, so I was confident that was a new issue.

Left a message with my repair place and they scheduled me in for between noon and 2. Then the guy called before 10 and said he was on his way over - great! So the guy came in and hit the reset and then the piezo lighter and it fired up. He figured that the wind had blown it out. I was skeptical because that had never happened (and although it had been windy, it hadn't been that windy), but what the eff do I know? But he had to go pick up another pressure tank so he let it run while doing that. When he got back, the burner had gone out, so it wasn't wind.

After tearing into it, he found that a rod had a bunch of build up and he cleaned that off. He also removed a bunch of cat hair/dust from the lower filter to improve the air flow. Then he called the mfg to make sure he didn't need to look at anything else before firing up. I was standing there during the call and they said it should be all set. So he fired that puppy up and waited around to ensure it didn't go out. Success. Now that thing is pumping out wicked hot water even on setting "A", which according to the manual  will produce 130*. So will probably reduce it to the setting before that, which should produce 120* water.

Tax Software Bloopers

I have used H&R Block tax software for years as a convenience. Sure, I usually don't need it per se because it usually boils down to how much did you make, how much did you pay in taxes, and what is the difference? But filling out forms can be so frustrating just to find out that you wasted your time.So for ~$30 I can let the software sort it out.

So I started completing the entries. About 1/2 way thru, I was flummoxed. Why? Because the software made me go the the RMD section (required minimum distribution from retirement plans). At the start of the section it clearly states that   if I am over 72, I have to take RMD. Um, I still have over a decade before I hit that age, and the software "knows" that (because it has my birthday - and yes it is correct), so why is it making me go thru answering the questions? I mean really, at the end it actually said something like, congratulations, you do not have any penalties for not taking an RMD.

Hair cut and Snow Pictures from 1/21/2023

Yesterday I did something I haven't done for years, got my haircut at a salon instead of hacking it myself. No, I didn't get any before / after pics, but it is layered in the back and the full length is only down to my shoulder blades now instead of my waist. It looks a lot healthier now without the constant frizz on the top layer, and some of the body my hair achieved after menopause can be seen now.

After the haircut, I went to the Capitol city (Concord) for my monthly trip to Wally World. Even with the overcast that kept the sun away, I was in awe of the view the whole way as the trees were still heavily covered with snow from the storm the day before. I did stop at Dunkin Donuts in Henniker on the way and snapped a picture of trees across from its parking lot. Of course pictures don't do the scenery justice.

On my way back home, the trees were still heavily covered. Shortly before the Hillsboro exits, the traffic became light enough that I felt comfortable taking pictures. At that point, there was one break in the clouds, which is in the picture (no direct sunlight ). Pictures in order: Just before the western Hillsboro exit, partway into the upper part of the Hillsboro exit off-ramp (before the right hand curve), just before the left hand curve on the Hillsboro exit off-ramp. Yes, that is a long "ramp", with the left hand turn about 3/4 to 1 mile from the surface street.)

At the gas station on the west side of town - too bad Osram Sylvania is behind it, but I was taking the picture from the pump so it couldn't be helped

At the stop light at Shaw's (I had to take 2 pictures as a car pulled into the turning lane right as I snapped the first one - LOL)

I stopped in the middle of the bridge that is shortly before my street. No one was behind me at the time but right after I stopped a truck turned onto the street so I only got the 1 picture before I had to move on.

I was glad I had gotten out and about so I could experience all the quintessential New England beauty after the storm.

Mixed Messages

There is an Update from 1/22/23 toward end of post

When I ordered my sit/stand desk, I also ordered a matching filing cabinet. At that time, they said it was on backorder and would ship about 1/25/2023. Okay, no problem.

On Tuesday, 1/17/2023, I got an email saying that the expected in stock date is 3/01/2023. Okay, not thrilled, but not like I am in dire need of it.

On Wednesday, 1/18/2023 I got an email that said it has shipped. Okay, maybe it's on a slow boat from China and has to clear customs and then get to the warehouse in TX, then get shipped. IDK

 

On 1/19/2023, I received a text from FedEx to expect a delivery on 1/21/2023. So I checked the tracking number for the filing cabinet, and sure enough, that is it.

So even though the in stock date got moved out by 1.5 months, I should still receive BEFORE the original estimated ship date. Not gonna argue, just very confused by the mixed messages :)

UPDATE 1/22/23:

The file cabinet arrived in good shape. And yes, that sucker is heavy. The box was an awkward size to get my arms around (for the weight), so it wasn't quite as easy to get up the stairs as a bag of pellets, but I managed. They pack extremely well with a box inside a box and stiff cardboard edge protectors and thick foam corner protectors. Once I got it unpackaged, I installed the whealsplaced some stuff in the drawers, and walla, there is a file cabinet under the desk.

It has a "seat cushion" that I can install, but have left it off for now since I'm pretty sure it would just end up a cat cushion. That odd wheel in the middle? That is a tip protector for when the drawers are pulled out. Although "optional" while assembling, they highly recommend using it and I saw no reason to disagree.

Meanwhile, from an order that I made for a chair mat that was supposed to be here on Monday, but apparently got lost about 35 miles from me:

Chipmunk Stash and a Sun Set

Yesterday I was moving pellets from the garage into the basement. About the 3rd layer down, I found this chipmunk stash

No, the chippie isn't living in the garage - it lives under the front porch. There were two days in November when it was 60* and I had the overhead door raised to warm the garage back up.

Yesterday evening, at 4:40 (by the time stamps on my photos) I went out the back door to bring in the bird feeder and saw some really nice colors. Order of pictures: East, northeast, north (no retouching of phone photos)

I figured the sunset to the west must be gorgeous, so checked it out - sure it was pretty, but the other sides were prettier. However, I could appreciate the contrast of the pastels versus the blue and yellows on this side.

The south side was also pretty

At 6:48, I went into the kitchen and there was a red glow coming the bay window shade (south side), so once again went out the back door to check it out. These stunning colors are unretouched from the phone camera (although cropped to remove the view of the excavator that has been sitting there for months)

What a nice change from the unending cloudiness we have experienced this month.

Comments Closed

I just put in a ticket because for some reason the comments to yesterday's post closed themselves. Oh, they show open on the the both the entry listing (that green area in the first pic), and page I use for creating posts (2md pic)

 

but the blog itself says it is closed.

The auto close is set to 1 month so that isn't it

Sorry for any inconvenience this causes - hopefully it will get fixed soon.

It's Like Christmas

I have vaguely been wanting a new WFH set up, I mean, who can blame me? The set up is high enough that my feet do not touch the floor close to flat so I usually sit cross-legged. I don't mind that, but for 9-12 hours a day, not only makes my knees hurt but I imagine the constraint in circulation isn't good. Occasionally I can stand during meetings, but if I need to see the screen (most of the time), then not so much.

So, for the last month I've been really thinking about a sit-stand desk. I had to get over the mental hurdle of what to do with the filing cabinet and printer stand. My biggest constraint is the fact I only have 42" between the frames between the kitchen door and the "closet" that has the hatch to the attic. Then there is only a 20" depth between the left edge of my regular desk and the wall. And no, I don't have a bigger wall in that room (there are two doorways, two closets and the windows in the way). I can't use wireless for my work laptop either, so setting up in another room isn't possible.

Most sit/stand desks are too big. When I could find one smaller than 46-48" long, the desk was more like 36" long. Oh, and small desks also come with thin tops, so mounting a keyboard underneath is not advisable. Small desks don't come with very many amenities either (and I had a laundry list). I had all but given up but decided to do one more search last weekend. I must have hit the right keyword combination because a site popped up that I had either not seen, or not noticed before, for Uplift Desks. Perhaps I had seen the site and the cost scared me (as it did for most good desks) - because, as we have established, I'm cheap - er frugal. Also, other sites for good desks didn't have what I was looking for.

Well, I had Christmas money, so decided to look further into the site. And surprise, they had a customization method where I could get a desktop that was 1" thick (needed for adding a keyboard tray). And they HAVE EVERYTHING that you could possibly want as an add-on. Extra bonus - the warranty is for 15 years.

After putting in all my wants, yeah, it was a hefty price, but again - Christmas money was available that I would not feel guilty over spending. So my order was for a  24" x 42" walnut laminate with a black frame, advanced comfort flush keypad (desk controller), 8 outlet surge protector, soft casters, keyboard tray with quick adjust, and matching file cabinet. And I got my choice of 5 "freebies" from which I chose: bamboo rocker X-board (they only had bamboo), clamp on cup holder, notebook/tablet stand, under-desk accessory hook (for my headset) and modesty panel.

Of course I found a coupon code for $100 off, so I used that - LOL. Friday I received 4 big boxes of stuff (and the file cabinet is coming separately in a couple of weeks). When I first looked at all the parts, I thought that I should have sprung for the assembly service (not sure they would have had one in my area though). But once I got started, the detailed instructions made it fairly straght forward. It did take me 4-5 hours though.

Everything was separate but well protected. The desktop itself was probably 20 pounds even though it is laminate.

The first assembly - put the desk supports on the legs - they used a very heavy duty metal and those suckers were not light

Legs/desk supports installed. The desk control keypad is also at the lower left corner. The interesting and good thing about this system is it uses two separate spacer rails that slide into the desk support. That makes it adjustable for any size desk (and yes, they sell the legs/support stand separately if you want to make your own custom desktop size). Everything lined up nicely to the pre-drilled holes.

No, I didn't take pictures of all the steps, nor would I bore you with them all. This is the final set up. I had to do the keyboard rail twice since I had my choice of using a short one or long one. I picked the short one, but found it would not allow the keyboard to slide under the desk (which I didn't know until putting the desk upright and mounting the keyboard holder itself. I actually waited until yesterday morning to upend the desk again and do the swap.

I placed the printer stand in front of the attic access. Since it is on rollers, it will be easy to move the few times I need access per year.

I'm hoping the matching file cabinet will fit under the desk. But, I'm pretty sure it won't since the comfort height has the keyboard at 23". Hey, and speaking about keyboard trays - the long rail system required a stand-off system (there is a cross rail that it has to clear). And the front of that system has a cubby - you can see the blue tip of a pen in there. Oh, and the cup holder has been installed in that picture too (right side of desk).

That is the rocker board. It's main use is for standing - it seems like it would really work the core muscles to steady yourself. I think it could also be used for sitting - changing the angles of the legs to the seat.

I did not take a picture of the notebook/tablet stand as I am going to use that for my kindle in the living room.

So thanks for the Christmas money CopCar and HH - it went to good use!

My Aunt is the "Tom Brady" of Baking

The NY Times has an article on the "Tom Brady's of".  Those not in the know, Tom Brady is a star football quarterback still playing at 45.5 years old (very old for that sport, and that position). So, the NYs article, released yesterday, lists people in different industries that are still active at "equivalent" ages. Aunt Baker is the second person listed. (Update 12/26 - I have attached a PDF since people are hitting paywalls).

Download The Tom Brady of Other Jobs - The New York Times

And, Aunt Baker sent me a care package of sweets a couple of days ago - which I promptly devoured :)