A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

Saturday, January 25, 2014

A $215 Mistake.

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I am pissed at myself. I mentioned yesterday that the heat stopped working in our house on Thursday night. It was very random... it just suddenly stopped working. Needless to say, our house has been freezing! It was -7 degrees outside this morning with wind chill. Our house was 53 degrees. We're talking frozen toes here, people!

Paul called Secco bright and early Friday morning, but they were unable to come out until 7pm that night. (At least they could come!) Well, the Secco guy was stumped as to what had turned the furnace off. He knew it was an electrical problem, but he couldn't figure out the cause of the problem.

Long story short, together, we figured it out.

On Thursday night, I found a light switch in our dining room that I never noticed. (We have lived in our house for almost 6 years, yet I never noticed this light switch which is right out in the open...) I started flipping the switch on and off, wondering what the heck the switch controlled.



The light switch.


I'm sure you can see where this story is going. An hour with the Secco guy and $215 later, we figured out that the reason our heat wasn't working was because the switch I was messing with controlled the furnace.



!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   F%CK   !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Luckily, Paul wasn't mad at me. But I am mad at me! What a freaking waste of money... just because I messed with a light switch and apparently didn't put it back in the "on" position like it should have been.

Sorry for a complain-y post today. Believe me, I am grateful that it wasn't anything worse. At least we have heat now. At least it wasn't a broken furnace. At least Paul isn't mad about it. At least I don't have any bigger problems at the moment.


Ever make a stupid, expensive mistake?


21 comments:

  1. Aw, I'm sorry but I couldn't help but laugh at this story! At least it's funny, right? Oh man. Just try not think about the money that you lost. :)

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    1. Hmmmm... check back w/ me in a week or too and I might be able to laugh about throwing $215 out the window. ;)

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  2. I know this shouldn't be funny, but it made me giggle a little. It's one of those things that has happened to me, too! I've spent years wondering if a switch is just dummy switch or whether it's on or off, only to find that it regulates a light in the attic or something!

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    1. I know it's soooooo ridiculous! I would laugh my head off if it weren't for the $$$. What a rip off.

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  3. This story should be in Reader's Digest! What a silly place for something that controls the heat! We have a random light switch too and have been in our house for 10 years and we still don't know what it controls!

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    1. I know, I have no clue why it is in our dining room?? The Secco guy thought maybe at some point the furnace was upstairs and that's why the switch is in the dining room.

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  4. This absolutely sounds like something I would do. This reminded me of the episode of Friends where Monica spends days trying to figure out what the light switch goes to.

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    1. I just saw that episode the other day!!!! That is like one of the BEST friends episodes ever. She was OBSESSED.

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  5. This story should be in Reader's Digest! What a silly place for something that controls the heat! We have a random light switch too and have been in our house for 10 years and we still don't know what it controls!

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  6. Okay, what is that about??? We have one of those weird switches too that controls an outlet????!!! OMG....did you see Friends where they made a zillion holes in the wall to find the light switch power? LOL. Watch it!

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  7. Glad you like cat pics just as much as me first of all ;)

    Not good about the $215 mistake. I once parked my car in front of a store to run in and do 10 minutes of shopping for clothes I didn't need, when I was in the shop my car got towed and it cost me $700 to get it out. Not a great mistake so I feel your pain!

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    1. That SUCKS!! Actually, sucks is an understatement.

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  8. I think it's that kind of a day. If it makes you feel any better, I just drove 2 1/2 hours to the Berkshires for a work function only to get stuck in a snowstorm, never make it there, have to pull over on the side of the road, and have to drive 2 hours back! All I keep thinking is I'm out $116 between gas and paying for the tickets and my company better reimburse me even though we never made it there! So I totally feel your pain!
    Despite all this, though, I always try to remind myself that I can afford to heat my house (I'm broke right now because I just had to pay my oil bill), and that I actually have a house to live in to keep me warm on cold nights like this. I'm glad you were able to figure out what the problem was, and that it wasn't too serious!

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    1. Oh my word that stinks. I'd be more mad about my time being wasted and the safety than the gas money, etc. I hope your company pays you back, and I'm glad you got home safe! You are right, I am very thankful to have a warm home. :) Things could be A LOT worse.

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  9. UGH!! So sorry! I have made too many expensive mistakes but tell myself it was a "learning experience" Glad it is ok now!

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    1. Oh, I have definitely learned from this experience- good point!

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  10. Oh no! That is strange it's controlled by a switch! I'm sure I've done that kind of mistake in the past, but lately I've been nickle and diming myself to death and because I've been disorganized, I'm buying things I already have. Grrr. At least you have heat now. It's always the worst to be cold in your house.

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  11. I hate when I get something I already have! We used to do that with ketchup. We'd have like 5 bottles of ketchup in our pantry and had to face the fact that we had PLENTY of ketchup for the next year!!

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  12. Oh, that sucks! I've made all kinds of expensive mistakes. I try to just forget they ever happen. My mom had issues with her furnace recently and when the repair company came they found that it was installed (1 or 2 YEARS ago) with the exhaust hooked up to the intake instead of the vent. YIKES! I'm glad she's alive. We told her she's getting a carbon monoxide detector for her birthday.

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