Successfully Facing a Fear

In July 2007, we got a HUGE amount of rain, which resulted in water in my basement...my theory is that it came up through the floor drains...others believe that it came through the wall where there apparently had been issues before, which led to the landlord installing a drainage system in the front some years ago. Either way, the 2007 rains resulted in two not-so-good problems—a hot water heater and a furnace that went "out". By that, I mean that the pilots were out. Shouldn't be a big deal, right? Wrong. I'm deathly afraid of pilot lights, and for good reason.

The landlord was called and he and his "crew" came out to "fix" the problem—at that time, the hot water heater was the only problem we were aware of, after all, it was summer, what did I need the furnace for then? For 5 days I was without hot water while the circus clowns worked to fix the hot water heater—and for one day, I was completely without water. Needless to say, I was not even just a little bit happy about these events. Nor was I excited to find my landlord walking into my house without knocking or any other advanced warning as I was leaving for work a couple of times. Locks were changed, keys not shared with the landlord.

Along came winter and the "out" furnace was discovered. Hoping it was just a pilot needing to be lit (which I couldn't figure out how to do), I called the landlord, again. And again, he and his crew came out. The thermocoupler was replaced....who knows what else was done, but eventually the furnace was working again.

Fast forward through 2008....we got another big rain in July, but fortunately the hot water pilot did not go out again. However, as the weather has been getting cooler, I finally turned on the furnace...and it didn't work. I agonized for a couple of days about what to do....the last thing I wanted was to have the landlord in my house....with or without me here! So this morning I called the gas company. The one in Utah used to send people out to light pilot lights, but then stopped that service. I was hoping the gas company here offered it, however they are closed on weekends. So I called a heating company in the phone book....the answering service took my information and promised a call back from the on-call technician.

The gentleman called and advised me of their weekend minimum rate—$150. If I waited until tomorrow (Monday), it would be $95 to have someone come out. Yikes! All for a pilot light, hopefully! I explained to the man my inability to find the parts shown on the instruction diagram, and he offered to walk me through it. I gave him the model of the unit, and he very carefully walked me through the process. He was so very patient and kind, and voila, we got it lit, with no mishaps, and the furnace is on and my 55˚ house at waking it slowing getting warmer.

Thank heavens for heated mattress pads—and for the kind gentleman who walked me through the process of lighting the pilot! (I still don't like the idea of fooling with the pilot lights, but I have a sense of accomplishment for today and confidence for the future!)