Deja Vu

During those couple of days of -40 windchills, I thought to myself how lucky I was to have such a warm and cozy house.  If I needed more heat, throw a few more logs on the fire (yes, I would have to go outside, which I did complain about a little).  I had plenty to eat stored in the freezer and pantry.  In fact it felt like all I really did was eat and sleep.  Those extra days where nothing could be done outside allowed me to catch up on inside stuff.  I ordered all of my garden seeds for the upcoming year, worked on my taxes, relaxed and read some books and have plenty of leftover food for lunches the rest of the week.  Life was pretty good. 

And then Wednesday came.  I noticed the water for my shower wasn't very warm.  My domestic hot water is heated by the outdoor wood stove.  The hot water (with glycol) from the stove runs through a bypass arm attached to the water heater and thus heats the water for showers and sinks.  I know the stove is working and the water coming in is hot.  The issue seemed to be that the bypass arm was blocked with mineral deposits and so the domestic water wasn't able to flow through and therefore heat.  The bottom valve which allows the heated water back into the water heater had been blocked last year, so the intake valve or tubing itself must be the problem this time.  And it was.  So a full evening was spent on unhooking the bypass, draining the tank, using vinegar to flush out the bypass and a few screwdrivers and wire brushes to clean the stubborn deposits, a few more flushes and drainings and the water was flowing!  All seems good.  Except now the water softener isn't working.  I finally had this hooked up this fall, which is supposed to prevent the mineral deposits, but I guess it was too late.  The plumber never left a manual for the softener so I guess its time to call in the expert.

On Thursday, the plan was to lower the wind turbine to the ground to check on the tail.  Ever since we had an ice storm, the tail, even in low wind has not been in line with the body.  It's been at a 45 degree angle, which usually means it is braking.  And since the charge controller has never really worked (the new one) we were calling the company to trouble shoot that.  The wind turbine was lowered and the problem was a bolt was too tight, which was the manufacturers doing.  Easy fix, right?  With that done, the turbine was then pulled upright using the cables and gin pole.  Unfortunately, with the friction on the cable (which had raised and lowered this turbine roughly 5 or6 times, the cable broke and the turbine came crashing to the ground.  Well, nearly to the ground, the ladder was still underneath to support the blades, so only one blade was broken.    This is almost exactly where I found myself 8 months ago, the wind turbine on the ground with a broken blade, but then I also had an extremely bent pole that had to be replaced.  And one blade can't be purchased, you had to buy all three.  And the new controller needs to be sent in to see what the issue is with that.