ahka | our Saturday night advanture (Reply)

This was one uncomfortable week. Started with me and Mishka getting sick on Sunday, then Michelle got ear infection and pink eye on Tuesday and then Boris got sick too and still is sick. Boris’ grandpa who is 95 was at the hospital not feeling well too this week. On Wednesday, Boris’ car got stock in the snow and he damaged something under the car. So on Friday we took it over to the shop and luckily, it got fixed on Friday evening before the storm. In addition to that my friend is going through some tough times right now.

In addition to all that we had a snow storm today with about 20 inches of snow covering everything around us. I stayed home all day wearing my pajamas and did not plan to leave house until Sunday morning. Then I got a phone call from Mishka’s teacher from religious school that there will be no school on Sunday at the synagogue so I didn’t even have to get out of the house until Sunday evening.

In the evening, as we were watching a movie I started feeling that it was getting colder than usual. We checked thermostat and it showed that temperature dropped to 64F. It was already about 8:30pm. Boris looked at the furnace and it seemed to be working only turning off and not keeping the ignition on. He started calling technicians and doing research on-line. None of the technicians wanted to come over because roads are bad, it is Saturday night, and it is cold. One technician told us that he can come over on Sunday and because it is an emergency, he will charge $250 just for coming over + work and parts if needed.

I called my parents and told them what happened. My dad told us to come over and stay at their house until we fix our furnace. I got kids and us ready for overnight stay. Boris went to clear the snow from the driveway so we can get out of the garage. He cleared the snow in the morning but in the evening the pile was again pretty high. He kept coughing and I felt very bad about him working in cold with a cold. As he was clearing the snow with a snow blower, the driver of the snow blower broke and it was very hard to push it. He managed to clear the driveway but not the road next to our house.

We quickly drove out of the garage, got onto the road and immediately got stock. Boris told me to get on the driver’s seat and he would push us. That worked, the car started slowly moving through the snow. The road was not cleaned at all. There were some rails from the cars, so I tried to stay in those rails. I was happy to get on the main road. It wasn’t piled with the snow, but was pretty slippery and visibility was not very good on freeways because of the wind that made the snow fly in circles. Finally we made it to my parents. Mishka fell asleep in the car.

Boris continued calling other companies. No one wanted to come out until Monday. I posted on Face Book that our furnace broke and friends started responding. It is great to know that we have wonderful friends who are ready to help!

My co-worker wrote: “they had something on the news about clearing the snow outside from the exhaust pipe that furnaces are shutting down if the pipe/vent is snowed in. So maybe he could try that?” I read it to Boris and he jumped. He knew about it but totally forgot to check the pipes.

Boris and my dad drove back to our house to check the pipes. They took my dad’s van and in case they get stock one can push the car and the other can drive. I called Boris after about 30 minutes and found out that clearing the snow from the pipes solved the problem. Boris was amazed that on that side of the house there was so much snow!!! He said that it was taller than he is. He wanted to take a picture of that but it was too dark and his phone doesn’t have flashlight.

Thanks G-d, kids are healthy and sleeping, Boris and I getting better, furnace is working at our house and we will stay overnight at my parents but it is nice to know that our house is not going to be cold and hopefully no other appliances will go out of order. It is also great to know that we are surrounded by wonderful resourceful and helpful people.