Condensed Version

Training for endurance events is often affected by the events in life. Kids get sick, spouses have meetings, and other demands place a strain on the hours available for training. Injury or illness can wreak havoc on plans. But who knew that a former home-owner could create so many difficulties?

It goes something like this...

Mrs. Pol called me at work a short while back to notify me that the house was a brisk 58F. While we like to conserve energy (okay, money), that's a bit cool for our taste, particularly with the children in the house. So, I headed home from work to look into it. While I wasn't able to resolve the issue immediately, I did get the furnace working without a visit from the HVAC mafia. Sometimes, it's good to work with dozens of engineers specializing in dryer equipment.

Things moved along well until Christmas Eve, when the temperature in the house again dropped below 60F. Armed with the prior knowledge gleaned from co-workers, I took apart the entire furnace condensate system and found out that the drain line was filling up with water, causing all sorts of issues in the furnace's safety systems. While a condensate pump was clearly in order, a bucket sufficed for the holidays.

Last night, I picked up a condensate pump and PVC piping in order to put a more permanent fix in place. After figuring out how the PVC pipe would be layed out, I broke out a blow dryer to start work (blow dryer plus PVC pipe = no fittings needed). I plugged the blow dryer into the outlet on the furnace, previously used for an April Aire system. And got nothing. Hmmm, check the other outlet. Equal nothingness.

This is where the former home-owner comes into the picture. It seems somebody had a penchant for wiring electrical components in what can only be termed a half-assed manner (sorry Mom, it is what it is). My 30-minute task of bending some pipe and plugging in a pump turned into a several hour affair of rewiring the electrical going into my furnace. Thanks former home-owner.

After getting everything into a stable condition and hooking the condensate pump discharge up through a temporary hose, I got to bed VERY late (okay, 11:30 p.m., which is like early morning for me). Between that and Monster Girl screaming for food, I was wiped when I headed out for training in the morning.

Which led to my work clothes staying on the garage door knob instead of going to my car. Which led to my getting to the YMCA for a swim and heading right back home.

I decided to spin on the trainer instead of going back for the swim. It appears I'll be swimming in the Water Aerobics Wave Pool, tomorrow. Ahhh, training.