Well! Old Jack Frost is already makin his'n appearance in certain parts of the country already. It won't be long till he's visited each one of us [well almost all ofus] and we need to be ready for the heatig season. Check out your heating source now, if you haven't already done so. If it's a wood burner-check the flue, clean and make sure all is safe before fire'n up the dude. If it's a gas/oil furnace or stove clean it out with a vacuum cleaner. Check for bird nests in flue, clean or replace filters on furnaces. Fire it up and look the flame over. Does it look normal? For gas heaters or furnaces, the flame should be blue with very llittle or no yellow in the flames. A brisk flame rather than a lazy, easy burning flame full of yellow, is what we're lookin for. If you do have a flame thats' lazy and yellow, it indicates you have a carbon monoxide present. Could be lint or other obstructions in addition to mechanical problems present. Don't mess with it yourself. Call a certified repairman to have a "look see". It may cost a hundred bucks but well worth it-compared to somebody not surviving a faulty heating device. Infared gas heaters need to be inspected very closely. Lint will build up in the burner opening [combustion air intake] as well as burner orfice. Result is the same-monoxide. Air is restricted and you've gone from dioxide to monoxide. Kerosen heaters are very dangerous. It's best to not even use'm inside the house but if you must-make sure a window is partly open. Above all and in addition to what I've just posted---Get a GOOD Fire/Smoke and Carbon Monoxide detector/alarms. Don't buy the cheapest on the market. Get the Best you can buy-unless-your life, as well as others, isn't worth the extra bucks. Be safe and use some common sense when using these comfort makers. It's gonna be a long winter and I've kinda grown fond of m'friends on the forum. Besides all that-I HATE funerals and don't attend any I don't have to. So-my advice is: "Be careful-dudes"! Matt. 24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), September 21, 2000

Answers

I'M NOT READY! It rained most of my summer so I feel like we never had it. And I still have fences to put up; wood to cut, split and haul; and my windows to wash.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), September 21, 2000.