This is what our front yard looks like right now. Sewer liner replacement with excavation. Paul Bunyan makes a specialty of installing sewer liners from inside the house without digging, but in our case they couldn't do it due to excesssive "bellying" in the clay pipe section of the main sewer line. 





They explained it all in advance and it seems to be going as planned, but it is still shocking to see your front walk disappear into a 9-foot deep chasm. I was not exactly surprised at the entrenching equipment tearing up the front lawn, but I was surprised how much hand-digging was required. Two sturdy young men spent about 4 hours yesterday and another hour or two today laboring at the bottom of those grave-digger sleeves just to uncover the pipe. 

So after I finished moving the comics cabinet so I could get to the outlet and then replacing everything, I inexplicably ended up with one box of comics that didn't fit. It's not just that there wasn't a space on the shelves for it, the box itself was an inch or two too long to fit in the shelving unit. So... where did it come from? It was labeled "Vertigo," and did in fact contain some Vertigo comics, but mostly not. About 1/3 of the box was a nearly complete run of PS238, a delightful comic about an elementary school version of Professor X's school for mutants, which of course I sat down and started reading. Then I leafed through the rest of the box and just reflexively started sorting them into DC, Marvel, and Other. Some of the comics were completely new to me, but of course most of them were just handfuls of issues that had  gotten separated from their siblings. I knew right where some of them should go, of course. But in most cases I just knew that there was a run of, say, "Hawk and Dove" somewhere, if only I could find it. So I started pulling down boxes with cryptic labels like "Underground and SF" and "Short DC series, Bronze Age." While I was at it, I started looking for comics that might be suitable for Lena and moving them to the box with the PS238s. As more boxes came out I started finding more early issues for comics that are now old enough that they might be worth something, so I got out the comic supplies and started doing a little bagging and boarding.

So now there are boxes ALL OVER THE SEWING ROOM. And a small stack of comics that I think I'll read before I put them away, like that Free Comic  Book Day issue of The Umbrella Academy. And the 12-cent Lois Lane that purports to explain how Lois went from hating Superman to loving him (that one features a cover with Superman running a kissing booth at a local carnival and Lois ripping up her tickets to said kissing booth, because those Silver Age Superman comics were nothing but classy from cover to cover). 

This is the one I've been putting off for literally years where I move this comics cupboard so I can get to the outlet hidden behind it. The power strip that was plugged in there burned out, so the only way I can plug in my iron and vacuum cleaner is via a 15-foot extension cord into the bedroom. 





Simple in concept, right? But there are SO MANY STEPS. Starting with moving 36 boxes of comics out of the cupboard so that it is possible to move it. Just touching this thing dislodged a stack of old rolled up posters cleverly stored out of sight on top, which unleashed 35 years worth of fluffy dust that had to be vacuumed up, using a vacuum cleaner plugged into that aforementioned extension cord. This cupboard is 7 feet high and solid oak, so even empty it is not easy to move. To make it even trickier, it was sitting on an isolated rectangle of ancient shag carpeting. Because, y'know, when I removed the rest of the carpeting 20 or 30 years ago I wasn't about to move this damn thing so I just cut around it. We actually managed to slide the cupboard off the carpet and onto the floor without capsizing, whereupon I could finally see whether the outlet still worked or if it blew out back when the power strip did. Along the way I had found a second dead power strip curled up on the floor, so I was a little concerned about that. 

Halleluiah! The outlet works just fine! And it's closer to the edge of the cupboard than I realized - I don't need the 9 foot heavy duty extension cord with flat plug that I bought to plug in back there. So maybe I'll go to the hardware store and buy a shorter extension cord with a flat plug. But first... sigh I guess I should tear up that piece of hideous gold and brown shag carpet. That means finding gloves, a utility knife, and a nail puller...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ETA 4 hours later. Pulling up the carpet was easier than I expected, but involved several more rounds of vacuuming, emptying the little vacuum bag, and unplugging the hose. The thin backing board was pulling loose at the bottom because a bunch of the nails had fallen out. I picked up the ones I could see and pounded them back in, and sent Richard off to find more nails. Okay, now the backing is on tight. Yay! And I found the missing shelf support that had come loose and fallen through the loose backing board. Yay again! 

BUT!  One of the heavy leg pieces on one side has partially caved in sideways, further endangering the stability of a cupboard that is meant to be leaning on a wall, not free standing. I had the guys hold the cabinet while I whacked it into position with a rubber mallet, but when Richard and I tried to move it, the leg started to cave in again. Well, fuck. The three of us can probably contrive to move the piece straight back so we don't dislodge the leg, but two of us can't move it without wiggling it back and forth, which turns out to be a bad idea.  And of course Thorin picked this exact moment to go for a walk. 


ETA:  10pm.  OKAY! Cabinet is back in place, powerstrip affixed to the side, plugged in and working! Tomorrow I still have to put the shelves and comics back in, but I can do that myself. Now we're going to check out the new Sandman series.

1. Something that somebody else might conceivably want? 
2. Recyclable trash?
3. Ordinary trash?
4. Hazardous waste?

For the 37 years we have lived in this house the Minneapolis Parks Department (which manages the city's trees) has been trying to get something to grow on our northern boulevard with little success. It's a difficult site - narrow, full of road salt, and with only about 18" of soil over a deep substrate of crushed rock. But the Parks Department is apparently oblivious to these challenges and keeps planting trees that cannot possible live in such an environment, like Norway maples. Two of the three they planted decades ago died and the third one is that pathetic specimen you can see at the corner down there, which somehow clings to life but never really gets any bigger. They actually found an appropriate tree when the other two maples died - some kind of dwarf flowering fruit tree - which are actually capable of growing in such a constrained spot. That was great until 2 years ago when the city DROPPED AN ASH TREE on one of them and wiped it out on the spot. Then they replaced it with something totally inappropriate called Yellowwood, which died the first summer  despite Richard watering it assiduously. 

Well, now they are trying again with some tree I have never heard of called Amur Maackia. I guess they are giving up on native trees entirely. Maybe this one will do better. sigh  

Midland Heating and Cooling dropped off 4 of these dandy little 8" x 10" space heaters on Friday, and I really like them. One of these little guys is more than enough to keep a small bedroom or office completely comfortable. They can't keep up with a large space like our living/dining area, but at least it's above 60 downstairs. I may buy a couple of these to have on hand. 


Man, I sure hope that circuit board does the trick. This is getting really nervewracking. 

Josh showed up at 8:20am with the replacement gas valve, which is actually a little larger and more complicated than I realized, but still doesn't look like something that should cost over $1000.

tldr; boiler seems to be working great now. Crisis averted. Details below are mostly for me. If you happen to have hot water heat in your house it might be of interest to you. 


As before, Josh spent a long time adjusting and checking things after he installed the part. He verified that the gas pressure on the boiler side of the valve was now in the recommended range, then topped off the water in the system and bled the radiators. This was more complicated than it sounds. You add water by opening not one but TWO of the multiple valve handles on the maze of water pipes around the boiler, a little at a time, alternating with running up two flights of stairs to bleed the top radiator.

This gauge is on the left side of the boiler, low enough down to be hard to see. The bottom gauge measures water pressure, which was initially so low that it didn't even register on the gauge. After adjustments the water pressure is now where it should be (15-20). Water temperature (top gauge) is still registering low, but is clearly climbing now that the gas pressure is up. It should reach a max temp around 170F (80C), probably in a few hours.