Chim Chiminy
Topping the list as the weirdest emails I’ve ever written, was the one I wrote last night to my coworkers:
Subject: Chim Chiminy
We have a chimney sweep coming to the house at 9:00, so I’m going to be in a little late on Thurs morning.
Did you know that’s who you call when you have a block in your home’s duct work? Makes sense NOW… but last week, when we discovered our dryer wasn’t drying, we were a little stumped. When you’ve done everything you can possibly think of to fix it yourself, and you know it’s not a problem w/ the dryer itself, do you call an HVAC person (Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning)? Appliance Repair? Because of they have the word “Ventilation” in their name, I called our HVAC person. As it turns out, they “get that all the time” and referred me to a chimney sweep (who will henceforth be known as Bert).
We had some pretty nasty stuff up in there, a very old bird’s nest and gobs of subsequent lint and dirt buildup. I don’t know how the old owners used their dryer, unless they bypassed the vent and let it blow out in to the garage, as it was very little air was able to pass through. Bert used a power drill with a snake attachment and each time he wound it out, a whole new mess of dust, twigs, lint and feathers came flying out. As a person with serious allergies, and maybe a little (insane) obsessive compulsive disorder, I can’t stand seeing that stuff come out of my house. I’m glad it’s not IN the house anymore, but it makes me want to go out and buy one of those little medical masks.
On a side note, my friend, Mary’s mom, used to own a chimney sweeping company and said we paid about twice as much as we should have for the service. She also said we might have been able to have our insurance company pay for it a “fire hazard” liability. When she asked me if I shopped around, I just laughed. No. I did not shop around for a chimney sweep. It was bad enough that I had to CALL one, let alone having to research and call more of them.
Just another thing you learn when you don’t have a landlord to blame anymore!
April 14th, 2006 at 12:25 am
You’re officially the first person I’ve met who’s hired an actual, honest-to-God chimney sweep. Congrats and kudos!
BTW, where *IS* my chimney? I know where all the closets are now, but have seen no sign whatsoever of the chimney.
April 14th, 2006 at 11:53 am
I’m the first person that I know that’s had to call one too! (Besides my friend Mary, but that doesn’t count beceause I didn’t know about her affiliation until afterwards.)
Is that a trick question about the Gingerbread House? Because there’s no fireplace… so I don’t see why it would have a chimney. :) I think the main house has one though, so you could gaze lovingly at theirs.