The Rest of the Furnace Story and a Little More

It has been an interesting week or so at the Hierl home.  In my last post I told how God had provided the money for a new furnace.  It was scheduled to go in the Tuesday after Christmas but on New Years day it was sounding very strange.  It was so loud you had to raise your voice to talk over it when you were near it.  When I went downstairs to investigate the noise, I also discovered our water heater was leaking.  It was a little over two years old so I did not expect it to be leaking.  I called a friend and several friends came to check out the problem.  The consensus was that I needed to call the company about the furnace and that the water heater needed to be replaced but since it was a small leak, I should keep using it. 

I called the furnace guys and they were at the house in about 1/2 an hour and after hearing the furnace decided it could not wait until Tuesday.  They came and put it in the next morning.  It is working great and is so much quieter than the old one. 

The water heater was still on warranty so after a call to the manufacturer and a trip into Home Depot, a Friday install of a new one was in place.  After the installation was done I ran a load of wash and took a shower.  I decided I wanted the temperature a little higher so I went to adjust it.  I was greeted by a pipe connected to the water heater spraying water out all over.  Thankfully it was not a huge hole.  I got the neighbor to help me turn off the water.  I called the company and Home Depot but the plumbing company was not answering phones or returning messages.  Because the leak was at the shut-off valve to the water heater we had to turn off the water further up the water line. At this point we did not have water in the house except for the cold water in the kitchen.  I heated water on the stove for Dennis' aides that night and the next morning when they came to take care of him.  Finally on Saturday morning the plumbing company called and came out to fix the leak.  I still am amazed that a plumbing company does not have an after hours emergency number.

I am so thankful for our friends and neighbors who have helped out in these unexpected situations.  I miss having Dennis able to deal with these type of situations. 

Dennis is doing about the same.  In the last several days he has been waking up early in the morning and calling for me.  It is tiring but has also been a blessing as he has been able to say a few sentences to me each day.  He has told me each morning that he loves me.  It has been awhile since he was able to say that so this was very precious.  On the other side of the coin, these interruptions to my sleep are leaving me very tired. 

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.