[Magdalen] ATTN The Scotts !!!

[Juli Tarsney]

Thanks, Scott. Now that you explain this, I actually think I remember your
describing these renovations. Seems so unusual to have an individual
furnace in each apartment! I miss having radiators myself… We always had
them in Chicago.

On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 9:14 PM Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Yes, we're in an apartment, in which 10 years ago or so, the owners had
> individual furnaces and air conditioning installed in each apartment,
> taking up half of our nice hallway closet. Some apartments needed extensive
> soffit work installed to house the air ducts; being on the top floor meant
> a lot of this could be done in whatever crawlspace is above our ceiling.
> Then they shut off the boiler-and-hot-water radiator system and have been
> removing the radiators when people moved out. We haven't moved out, so I'm
> sure we're the last ones with the radiators. Heat with the radiators was
> free (or included as building overhead in our rents) but now is
> individually billed by our natural gas provider, Peoples Gas (ha, ha...but
> that's what it's called). But of course now we can have programmable
> thermostats. And central air in the summer! Glorious. And of course now we
> pay for electricity to run the system and for air filters if we remember
> they need replacing.
>
> I think the owners who installed the furnaces thought they'd "go condo"
> with the units, but then they went almost into foreclosure until a buyer
> stepped up at the last moment. They've kept these as rental apartments.
>
> On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 7:58 PM Juli Tarsney <juli at tarsney.net> wrote:
>
> > Scott, I thought you lived in an apartment? Or condo? But you have to
> worry
> > about your furnace? We replaced ours last week – the blower stopped
> > working, and we naïvely thought it could be repaired – but it wouldn’t
> have
> > been worth it; the furnace was too old. Nice to know the one we have now
> is
> > under warranty for a while :-)
> >
> > On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 7:11 PM Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > 7pm CST: Temperature in Chicago is -1F, wind chill -22F.
> > > So that's -18C, wind chill -32C.
> > >
> > > Max temp tomorrow (Wednesday): -11F. Wind chills tonight down to -60F.
> I
> > > think at some point Fahrenheit and Celsius converge, or maybe it's just
> > > that below a certain point on both scales, it just doesn't matter.
> > > I'm running the bathroom faucet on a dribble (with a plastic cup placed
> > > sideways beneath it to lessen the noise) to help prevent the pipe from
> > > freezing. May dribble the kitchen faucet as well, and the bathtub too.
> > > Furnace has fresh filter and I'll set it down a couple of degrees for
> the
> > > night so it gets some rest occasionally. Would be no worries if we
> still
> > > had the hot-water radiator heating. Still got the neato old radiators
> in
> > > each room but the system behind them is long gone. We used to have to
> > warn
> > > people not to burn their left leg as they used the loo. LOL
> > >
> > > On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 12:39 PM Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com
> >
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > BTW, they're saying five minutes to frostbite once the wind-chill
> > warning
> > > > goes into effect at 6 p.m. CST today, and throughout tomorrow. That
> > means
> > > > it's even dangerous to go to the local market on foot without
> covering
> > > > every bit of skin. Goggles would be good. Glad I won't need to make
> > that
> > > > short trip.
> > > >
> > > > On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 12:35 PM Scott Knitter <
> scottknitter at gmail.com
> > >
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> Right...One of the joys of full-time telework (and there are many)
> is
> > > the
> > > >> ability to work even when somewhat ill or when snowed in, as long as
> > the
> > > >> data pipes don't freeze. :)
> > > >>
> > > >> On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 11:40 AM Lynn Ronkainen <
> houstonklr at gmail.com
> > >
> > > >> wrote:
> > > >>
> > > >>> Glad you're safe with provisions! Wish it were a day off for you as
> > > well
> > > >>> but I'm thinking not : (
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Stay warm! It's unseasonably cold here but no freezing yet. I'm
> > amazed
> > > >>> at some of the temperature variations all over the country.
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Lynn
> > > >>>
> > > >>> On Jan 29, 2019, at 9:27 AM, Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com
> >
> > > >>> wrote:
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Hi from Chiberia! Here cometh the Polar Vortex. <ominous chord>
> > > >>>
> > > >>> I did trudge the two blocks to our nearest supermarket last night
> to
> > > get
> > > >>> some potentially essential provisions: a frozen pizza, mac &
> cheese,
> > > >>> pancake syrup, sliced gouda, and high-fiber cereal. And a freshly
> > made
> > > >>> Bosnian cheese-filled pastry thing (like a spinach pie only without
> > the
> > > >>> spinach, I guess). Obviously I did not run my shopping list past a
> > > >>> nutritionist. But I feel prepared not to leave the house until at
> > least
> > > >>> Thursday. Cats have enough food, wet and dry.
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the historic record-low wind chill day. The
> > > >>> lowest
> > > >>> I can remember experiencing is -56 while a student at Michigan
> State
> > U
> > > in
> > > >>> East Lansing. There was something so essential I had to brave the
> > wind
> > > to
> > > >>> walk a block to the Mini-Mart convenience shop. Can't remember
> what;
> > > >>> perhaps generic chicken franks? Rum? Cans of Tab? Anyway, that
> level
> > of
> > > >>> wind chill defies all thicknesses of sweaters and multiple shirts
> and
> > > >>> undershirts. Not to mention the exposed bits of my face. But I did
> > have
> > > >>> to
> > > >>> expose my eyes to see where I was going, at least periodically.
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Won't be venturing out in that tomorrow. I pray for any who have no
> > > >>> option:
> > > >>> no place to go, or heaven forbid a fire or something that requires
> > > >>> evacuation. But the city is doing a great deal to make warm places
> > > >>> available: every police station, 66 field houses in city parks,
> > > off-duty
> > > >>> CTA buses, libraries, our neighborhood's wonderful indoor park/gym
> > (The
> > > >>> Broadway Armory), and I'm sure more will open up as needs arise.
> Some
> > > of
> > > >>> the kinder bus drivers are amenable in such weather to bend the
> > rules a
> > > >>> bit
> > > >>> and pick people up who wave them down, even if they're not strictly
> > > >>> standing at an officially marked bus stop. Actually, I hope they
> all
> > do
> > > >>> this. (Normally, even in torrential rain, a driver will point to
> the
> > > >>> stop a
> > > >>> block ahead and make the person run to it if they want to board, or
> > > wait
> > > >>> for the next bus...a few do have more mercy than that, but some
> draw
> > > the
> > > >>> line sharply either because they're a-holes or because of safety
> > > concerns
> > > >>> with nonstandard boarding points.)
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Anyway, lots of school closures (the Chicago Public Schools are
> > waiting
> > > >>> until tomorrow to close...I'm sure they'll get angry responses from
> > > >>> parents
> > > >>> about being open today). Current conditions: 1 degree Fahrenheit;
> > wind
> > > >>> chill is minus 16F (what it feels like in the wind).
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Thank you, Mike, for thinking of us Scotts here in
> > > >>> soon-to-be-historically-cold Chicagoland!
> > > >>>
> > > >>> On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 7:09 AM M J _Mike_ Logsdon <
> > mjl at ix.netcom.com>
> > > >>> wrote:
> > > >>>
> > > >>> >>>> It's 3:30 am here, so you might already be in the thick of
> > what's
> > > >>> being
> > > >>> > predicted for Chicago "tomorrow".  -51 degrees !!!<<<
> > > >>> >
> > > >>> > I must have misheard.  But still, damn cold!
> > > >>> >
> > > >>> > M J (Mike) Logsdon.
> > > >>> >
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>> --
> > > >>> Scott R. Knitter
> > > >>> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
> > > >>>
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> --
> > > >> Scott R. Knitter
> > > >> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
> > > >>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Scott R. Knitter
> > > > Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Scott R. Knitter
> > > Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
> > >
> >
>
>
> --
> Scott R. Knitter
> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
>