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Not a good start to the New Year

Glenn Harrison
Glenn Harrison Member Posts: 405
in THE MAIN WALL
As bad of a pun as that was, it still made me laugh.

Comments

  • Glenn Harrison
    Glenn Harrison Member Posts: 405
    Sometimes on-call is not fun.

    Was on call last for New Years Eve. Afternoon and evening was quiet. Then, about 9:30, just as I'm sitting down to read "The Wall", the cell phone rings. Dispatcher says important customer just called and say 1st floor toilet had a major backup and flooded 1st floor and water ran down ductwork. Go to call, found no water in furnace, fortunately. The two duct runs were pitched in such a way that the water ran out of seams and dripped into the basement. Tested furnace and gave customer number for the duct cleaning service. Then I wait for a plumber to arrive to rod out the sewer. Here we are at the stroke of midnight while everyone is celebrating and were outside turd hurding from the septic access back into the house. Finally get home at 1:15, lay down tring to wind down, an the phone goes off again. Customer we just replaced a gas valve on this morning has no heat again. Go back out and found the main control board has a bad relay contact. Get back home at 4:00 AM and get to sleep about 4:45 and now I wind up sleeping away half the day away. Thank goodness it was a day off. If this is a sign of wat's to come in the next 365 days, I'm in trouble.

    Anyways, I wanted to wish everyone a belated Happy New Year since I wasn't here last night to do so, and I hope everyone had a safe and fun celebration, and the next day pain was not to fierce.

    Glenn Harrison
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Reminds me of my first

    ten years with the gas company. I was the junior tech for 10 years so I got every holiday on call there was. It always seemed that the worst calls came on those holidays.
  • Glenn Harrison
    Glenn Harrison Member Posts: 405
    Now you just reminded me...

    of the company I used to work for several years ago. There was one winter where we were down to myself and one other tech. Being the senior tech, I was on call for my regular one week shift and then on backup the other week so basically on call all the time for 5 months straight before the boss hired another tech. That was a long and sleepless 5 months.

    Glenn Harrison Residential Service Tech

    Althoff Industries Inc. Mechanical and Electrical Contractors

    Crystal Lake, Illinois
  • Dave_8
    Dave_8 Member Posts: 49
    On call

    Heck, I spent 6 hours Chrismas day cleaning up an oil boiler that had a nozzle failure and sooted up an entire house just in time for Christmas dinner. How do you apologize for a black sooty turkey?
  • Tom Meyer
    Tom Meyer Member Posts: 300
    How much?

    How much did the cook pay you for taking the blame for her singed (overcooked) turkey?

    Tom Meyer
    Senior Designer/Trainer
    Precision Hydronics
    www.precisionhydronics.com
  • Glenn Harrison
    Glenn Harrison Member Posts: 405
    Ya got me beat there

    A soot filled house and ruined christmas dinner would be worse than a partially sewage filled house on at 10:00 New Years Eve, all though both are still pretty bad.
  • Tom Meyer
    Tom Meyer Member Posts: 300
    All kidding aside.

    I had a similar experience, but it was an elderly lady who obviously couldn't do the cleaning herself. I asked her if she needed help cleaning the soot. She just looked at me like she wanted to say "yes". I told her I knew someone that would come and clean for a small fee.

    I called the head of housekeeping for a large apartment complex I knew and explained the situation. She agreed to help out. I told her I would pay part of her charge.

    She called me back the next day, told me she and another lady went to the old woman's house, cleaned it, and refused any compensation from her. She said the lady was "poor as a churchmouse". I sent her $50 and told her to take the lady who helped her out to dinner.

    I called to followup with the customer and she was almost in tears thanking us.

    Some days you just feel like a hero. Someday you just feel like roadkill. That was one of those few and far between "hero" days.



    Tom Meyer
    Senior Designer/Trainer
    Precision Hydronics
    www.precisionhydronics.com
  • Jim B
    Jim B Member Posts: 4
    don't take it so hard

    Glenn
    it could mean that you have already got all the bad calls out of the way :o)

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