And yet another week begins. Yesterday was a pretty productive day. We went and got the pellet stove from the old house. It’s not an insert, but it it fits pretty OK (just need to close it in a bit when I get around to it), and, more importantly, it works. In fact, I’d venture to say that desptie the fact that it’s about half the BTUs, if works better. More heat, less pellet usage, much quieter, and way less ash buildup on the glass. It was awfully nice to have that fire going again.

Then there was the septic. I pulled the cleanout plug, and it was packed with, well, what that sort of thing gets packed with. So, I use a five foot piece of threaded rod to poke up in there, and got out a nice long, um, “pull,” and then a bunch of water. But the pipe still looked pretty impacted. So, whilst my friend John and I were over getting the old pellet stove, I grabbed a 40 foot “sewer rod” (essential a big wide fish tape), and once we got the pellet stove fired up, it was time to get down and dirty (and wet and stinky).

I’ll spare you the details (I only wish I had video), but using a process of reaming out the pipe and flushing the toilets, we managed to get the pipe cleared as far as I could see. I don’t know if there’s still a problem. One toilet flush with the plug out seemed to more or less go in the right direction, but with the plug in and multiple toilet flushes, popping the plug out showed a lot of water in the line. I’ll give it a few days of normal use, and then see what we’ve got. My hope is to at least get along ’til the weather warms up. We’ll see.

We’re supposed to get a little more snow today. A mere couple of inches, which is fine and dandy. That, I can deal with. Yesterday morning was absolutely beautiful. It was sunny, and with the temperature down below 10°, all the tree branches were coated with ice and snow, and sparkling brilliantly. The snow on the ground sparkled as if it was loaded with diamonds. I can’t describe how gorgeous everything looked. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed the moon lately, but it’s been full and high in the sky, lighting up the snow at night. It’s why I love living where there are four seasons – especially out here in God’s country (God really likes snow, apparently).

I can appreciate the beauty of a big city with lots of lights and stuff, but I prefer nature’s holiday decorations and light show. Even if it means I have to deal with getting to work in some crappy weather once in a while.

Speaking of which, if you happen to be up late tonight, you can catch the first total lunar eclipse to happen on the winter solstice for the first time in over 450 years. It promises to be a pretty one. Totality comes at 2:40 AM Eastern time, so maybe the dog will have to get me up to go out.

Oh well, today begins as every work week ought to: with a trip to the dentist. Woo-hoo.