Precious Substance? Or Hazardous Waste?

When oil goes IN to an oil tank, it's a precious substance for which the oil company charges around $3/gallon. When the tank is decommissioned, what about the oil inside? Well, you get charged for the decomissioning process, but do not get any credit for any viable fuel oil that gets pumped out of the tank. Hmmmm.

Enter Craigslist. A friend of mine went through this process before I did, and pointed out that you can sell all sorts of things there, including used fuel oil! And there are people out there with barrels and pumping equipment who will buy and extract it! At $1.25/gallon, it worked out well for both of us.

And then Filco to decommission. There are 3 options for decommissioning - cap, cap&fill, or remove. Capping simply involves pumping out the residual oil, triple rinsing the tank, then capping the tank below grade. Capping&Filling fills also fills the tank with sand, slurry (concrete) or foam, which is done to prevent the tank from collapsing. Our tank happens to be beneath a concrete slab under the back porch, so there's no need to fill it.

Seattle Fire Code section 3404.2.13 only requires capping, which conveniently is the cheapest option.

Dorothy's Garden

I have the dreaded black thumb of gardening. Even easy-care houseplants just curl up and die when they see me coming. I don't know why this is; genetically I should be a gardening genius. My grandparents grew enough food to feed developing nations. My uncle grows finicky, prize winning orchids. Even my sister, whose idea of outdoor activity is Shopping Downtown, grows beautiful dahlias. But in me, apparently the gene that allows me to be the only one in the family to keep the clock from permanently flashing 12:00 has squeezed out the gardening talent.


My point? This is the lovely garden that Dorothy cultivated for 60 years. How long do we think it will take me to destroy it?

New Functional Furnace & Thermostat

We’ve got Heat. What’s more, we’ve got this Nifty little programmable thermostat so we can actually have a comfortable interior.

I LOVE progress.

Space Heaters are Seasonal

Now, it’s not like it’s January, and the first night was really still pleasant. By Day 2, my cats were leeching any possible body heat off my person. This sent me on a Quest for Space Heaters, which are Impossible to find in April. It seems they are Seasonal Items, and should I like to buy a nice Air Conditioning Unit or a Fan, I’d be overwhelmed with Choices

So why, I hear you ask, don’t I fire up the Trusty Wood Stove?

Well, that would be because there is now a Gaping Hole in the Chimney where the furnace was located, so unless I want to smoke out the basement, it’s just not an option.

Gas Furnace Installation

GAS Appliance Service started in today on our gas furnace project. Today, they have dismantled our remaining ductwork, dismembered the Original Charming Furnace, and ordered Parts for the game plan..

They also cleared up the Pony Mystery. The window to the garage was a delivery door for coal, so at some point the REAL Original Charming Furnace burned coal.

Bye-bye Charming Furnace!

Mr Rooter, the Sequel

Less messy this time, merely a smidge of toilet paper on the basement floor before I noticed the problem and called our Rooter friends. Also less costly (free) as they have this lovely 6 month guarantee on their line work.

This raises the question of whether we have a larger problem. We know we are not treating our plumbing like the delicate 76 year old elder that it is, and could it be that we pay the price for this?

My thought is that we managed to get demo debris down the floor drain in the basement, and gummed it up that way. Perhaps I delude myself?

The Gas Meter Install - Really.

Ok, so they didn’t really level the house to put in the gas meter.

They did dig 2 very large holes to connect us up to the gas line. It took 3 men and the Really Large Tonka Toys about 4 hours.

Gas Meter Install

I can't believe the Gas Meter Installation is FREE - these guys don't mess around!