It is now 15º outside, and 60º or a bit lower in the house. The floors are freezing. The batteries fixed the dead battery problem, but it wasn't the only problem. The furnace will still only kick on for a minute and then shut off again. At least now the thermostat is accurate and not doing the about-to-die-blink.
My heating company, the one that delivers oil when the tank is only half full so that they can get paid more often, is not answering the damned phone. Nor is their answering service picking up so that I can leave a message. They are dumbasses and I'm ready to pull my business, even though we have a contract with them.
I called another company that's in town and left a message, and the owner called back. I explained the situation, but he can't come tonight. He did say he'd be here first thing in the morning. I asked him to come around 8:30 since I'll have just gotten Juliana on the bus. He's also going to call Manny around 7:00 or 7:30 before Manny leaves for work to get some more information from him, like how full the tank currently is with heating oil. The theory at this point is that the pump isn't working, probably clogged with oil sludge. Yay.
In the meantime, we're going to have to pile on blankets and expect our pee to literally tinkle into the toilet if we have to get up during the night. The last time this happened, back in the winter of 2004, the house got down to something like 40º.
We do have a small space heater, but it's in our downstairs bathroom right now since that room gets the brunt of the cold, and we have the heater on in there so the pipes don't freeze and burst. I may just have to put it in the living room in the morning so that the girls can have breakfast and be warm. I think I'll use the oven and make some muffins first thing too.
I'm feeling more calm now that I know I've done all I can for the night.
All I have left to say is Brrrrrrrrr!!!
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