Mr. Slim

Day 175: Meet Mr. Slim. He arrived at my house today with a promise to provide efficient and enviromentally sound service, to cool me when the temperatures soar and to end once and for all the woes incumbent with a failing, half-century old oil furnace. Conservative estimates say that he will save me at least 50% of my annual heating expenses, possibly as much as 75%. As I sit here with his gentle warm breath on my neck, I can well believe it.

It has been an all-day process to get Mr. Slim and his smaller brother ensconced and, as is so common in any type of home improvement, there were a few unexpected obstacles which had to be surmounted, including a reluctant transplant of my best patch of wintergreen. There were fittings which didn't fit, couplings which didn't couple, wires which didn't reach and level spots which weren't, but each issue was overcome in turn. Emissaries were dispatched, envoys were sent with packages of parts, and when ten hours had elapsed, Mr. Slim gave forth a joyous blast of warm circulating air which brought me up to "toasty" in no time at all.

I'm sure as our friendship matures, there will be some learning experiences for me, but one thing I can assure you: I will not have a moment's regret at putting aside my reliance on oil as a heat source.