My New Favorite Book

So I went to the Pollard Library today (our lovely downtown public library, where Jack Kerouac used to hang out when he was skipping school). I checked out a bunch of home improvement and home repair books. I found this one that I think is AWESOME: The Do-it-yourself Guide to Home Emergencies by Don Best. I was going to post a picture here, but it doesn't seem to be working. Anyway, it's from 1996, and I just bought my own copy for 94¢ so that I can obsessively read it whenever I want to, or whenever we actually have one of the many emergencies ("from breakdowns adn leaks to cracks and critters" as the book says).

This book tells me all of the mundane and insane things that could go wrong -- for instance, did you know that if your water heater's thermostat goes haywire AND it doesn't have a working relief valve, it could literally EXPLODE LIKE A ROCKET UP THROUGH YOUR HOUSE? I did not know that. Now I do, and you do too. You will never feel safe again.

But seriously, in addition to telling me all the things that can go wrong in any house, it tells me what to do about them. Very sensible prevention and repairs are all spelled out for me.

I like this. I am now thumbling through Popular Mechanic's Complete Home How-To Book, which I like a lot because it has good pictures, and so far, has covered many things we need to do, like fixing plaster walls and ceilings.

In other news, it's snowing here at 83 Durant Street. The weather said no snow, but there it is. I'll end here with a photo of our sad, sad chimney in the snow. Jake talked to the mason today and we're moving forward with the plan.....though not sure of the timeline quite yet.