Thursday, November 08, 2012

Farewell, Old Ironsides

I finally opened the door to our insurers. Remarkable how exposed the hapless consumer feels when the people he pays to stand up for his belongings come by to assay what those belongings are actually worth — to them.

Exposed: the bathrooms I've been meaning to gut and refurbish. The piles of books that don't seem to be getting any smaller, no matter how many I give away. And then there's the basement. “Sir, are those boxes of . . . comic books? (You realize they aren't worth anything, don't you?)”

It all went swimmingly enough. The worst news was exactly what I'd braced myself to hear — this charming, unregenerate smoker has got 30 days to shape up or ship out:


Old Ironsides doesn't have it in him to shape up — and has long been retired of course. Can't have any fires happening where they aren't wanted. Our insurers, however, have done exactly that, and lit one under my posterior. Beth has long wondered what it might cost to install something new, something small, something efficient and easier on the environment. At some point in the next 30 days I'll be able to say exactly what that expense will amount to.

More pictures to follow.

2 comments:

paul bowman said...

Darrell, you might find this interesting: http://www.forgreenheat.org/

This org is near here, in the MD suburbs of DC (aging hippie town of Takoma Park, to be exact). I've long been interested in learning more about these options. In my work, though, rarely run into homes where people are considering it.

dpreimer said...

The norm would probably be what my visitors suggested: eschew wood heat altogether (either cap the stove, or remove it). Super-green (like the stoves on offer at your link) is quite costly. But catalytic burn systems are pretty much the only thing on the market, at least up here. Green enough for my needs, I think.