Oil Boilerman

Mike was a great oil boiler man, and he worked on our 40+-year-old furnace for over ten years, but in 2016 he retired; those were the days. Ever since then and much to my chagrin, I have hired either inept or dishonest tradesmen to service the furnace and last year I hired two guys, both of them unknowingly assisted me in my pursuit of self-realization.

The first guy came highly recommended and made a mistake by setting two electrodes in contact with the nozzle head, that worked for a month; that is until the resulting build-up blocked the oil port and the furnace wouldn’t start. The second technician who was also recommended suggested the problem created by the first wasn’t a mistake.

Boilerman #2 left a valve partially closed which caused an oil line to clog and we lost heat one night early last spring, I diagnosed the problem and fixed it. The next day, I gave boilerman#2 a call informing him of what I had discovered; his curt response of, “Shit happens!” was unexpected but it helped me to take matters into my own hands. Shit happens, yes it does, and I can make these mistakes without charge. Tackling the furnace upkeep is unnerving, especially when keeping the family warm on nights, like tonight when the mercury goes south of 0ºF.

By expressing my inner boilerman, I uncovered another problem either caused by the second guy or purposefully overlooked by him, and instead of alerting me to the issue or the lame repair, he kept quiet. He remained silent, and I became informed. It only took an hour to resolve the problem, but I gained a valuable insight: once I assumed the responsibility of taking care of the furnace, I received the lessons therein.