Safer Hot Water

Earlier this week I wrote about my Water Woes.

My water heater stopped working, and after a bit of searching for fixes I decided that the repair was beyond my skill level. Especially since it would involve disconnecting a gas line.

I decided to give Sears a call since it was a Kenmore model. I was only without water for a little more than a day when the technician arrived.

The technician had barely stepped up to the water heater before he was asking me for a piece of paper. He wrote down a phone number for me to call since the water heater had a recall on it.

water heater recall, hot water heater, heater control, garage, plumbingHe was able to at least reset the controller so that I could have hot water until the needed work was done. I also found out the way to reset the controller if I ever need to again πŸ™‚

Next up was a call to get a work code and a list of authorized people who could do the recall work.

Luckily the first place I called was able to get someone out here this morning to do the work. However, this time I didn’t have to go without hot water for the whole time.

water heater recall, hot water heater, heater control, garage, plumbingI did have to drain the water heater last night so it would be ready for them this morning.

This meant attaching a hose and then getting out my ladder to get to the shutoff valve way up near the ceiling.

This morning I had a class I was to start teaching at 9:00 so was hoping they would get here well before then. I was given a time of 8:00 to 9:00, but closer to 8:00. They arrived barely after 8:00 so that was good.

I asked how long it would take and explained that I would be starting a class a bit later. When they told me 15-20 minutes all was good πŸ™‚

water heater recall, hot water heater, heater control, garage, plumbingThey soon had both the control module and the burner out of the system and were putting in the new ones as both were covered in the recall. The burner module looked a bit scary with all the green stuff on the screen.

Fortunately it should be safer now and I will have a reliable source of hot water for years to come. I just need to remember to drain the tank once a year.

Ankerstein, NF24, building blocks, hobbiesThe two plumbers would have been gone in less than 20 minutes but one of them saw what was sitting on my dining room table. I just had to show them a little bit about Ankerstein before they left. They thought it was pretty cool, and the buildings do look much more impressive in person than in the pictures.

I am just glad to have reliable hot water again and know that the water heater is safe.

Steven

 

 

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Virtual Hike from the Cliff House

Back on the First of July in 2017 I started a Virtual Hike to Yosemite which has continued across the country. I have been thinking in the past months as I get closer and closer to the Atlantic Coast that I started the Virtual Hike at the wrong place.

cliff house, san francisco, virtual hike, hills, Dublin, coast to coast hike.Since it is a Virtual Hike, I decided to remedy this and start my Virtual Hike on the Pacific Coast. Since I still have my earlier daily walking distances I am pushing the startΒ  back to the First of June.

My starting place for the Virtual Hike is now the Cliff House in San Francisco since it is an iconic spot on the Pacific Coast and also within the amount of miles that I walked in June 2017. A good portion of my actual miles that month were in Israel.

As a reminder, the pictures are all snips from Google Maps or Google Street.

cliff house, san francisco, virtual hike, hills, Dublin, coast to coast hike. Here you can see the route that I took out to the Central Valley.

cliff house, san francisco, virtual hike, hills, Dublin, coast to coast hike.The unwritten rules of the Virtual Hike are that I can’t follow a route where pedestrians are not allowed, so I did have to take a ferry across the San Francisco Bay. However, this is what you would have to do in some places. There were some much longer routes that I could have followed where I didn’t have to take a ferry, but I decided to go with a ferry since they are permissible in my unwritten rules. This rule will be put to use a few times as I cross the country. (writing as if I wrote this back in July 2017) πŸ™‚

cliff house, san francisco, virtual hike, hills, Dublin, coast to coast hike.I then headed on to Castro Valley, up through Norris Canyon and then down into the Tri-Valley. It can be very scenic route depending on what time of year you make the hike.

cliff house, san francisco, virtual hike, hills, Dublin, coast to coast hike.I then started following Iron Horse Trail which of course in an old railway bed. This trail passes very close to where our new office is being built. This snap from Google Maps was from before construction started on a huge housing project in the foreground.

I couldn’t follow the route that I normally take from my nearby office to home. It is mostly Interstate which doesn’t allow pedestrians. Instead I had to cross Pleasanton and Livermore on trails and surface street.

cliff house, san francisco, virtual hike, hills, Dublin, coast to coast hike.I was then able to take Patterson Pass road over the Altamont Hills. There are some nice vistas from Patterson Pass, but I don’t often take this road as it is too well know of a shortcut for the Altamont and many people do not follow safe driving practices. It is no fun being on a two or less lane road with someone in a hurry behind you.

So now I have a link between the coast and the start of the Virtual Hike to Yosemite and beyond.

Steven

You can find posts in the Virtual Hike series by clicking here: Virtual Hike Search

 

 

 

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