My favorite plumber spent yesterday morning flushing out my hot water heating system and replacing valves and a bad controller. Since I moved in here 10 years the system quit working a couple of times, both in the dead of winter, and required hundreds of dollars in work. One of these times, instead of dealing with how the heating zone controllers worked or didn't work, that previous plumber just cut the electrical wires to one of them, and left it where the downstairs heat is controlled by the upstairs thermostat, and although heat would come if we adjusted the downstairs thermostat, it wasn't right.

It was frustrating because we have set-back thermostats to save money - the heat is turned down at night - but when it came on upstairs, all the registers in the house heated up. If we'd get cold in the living room, we'd have to go upstairs to adjust the temperature.

Electricians had looked at it, and said it was fine. But they were in a hurry and their heart wasn't in it.

Now, it's finally fixed (and I wasn't crazy about there being a problem). Brian the Plumber tracked it all down, untangled the wires, and now the downstairs stays cold while the upstairs is heated, if that's what I want. It's always nice when things work the way they are supposed to.

He told me my 30-year old heat system is a good one because of its simplicity. Newer boilers have more computer controls and fancy electronics that can fail. And to replace what we have now would cost $8000.

The latest trend in the plumbing business around here is for the employers to pay the plumbers $15 an hour and 40% on all parts and service they can upsell to the customers. So calling a plumber you can't trust will be like taking your car to the shop. In both cases you need to have a good idea of what is wrong before you even start talking to them and understand exactly what they are doing.

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This photo is from the Astronomy Today website, but was taken at Fort Collins, Colorado - only 25 miles from my home. It was taken last month, so tonight's moon might appear even larger.



Planetary experts here tell us the larger appearance of the rising moon coming over the horizon is an optical illusion. Hold up your thumb toward it, and the moon will be blocked out. Then, when it is high in sky, hold out your thumb again, and it will be blocked out to the same degree. Sez them.

Of course, the orange color of the moon on the natural horizon is caused by its reflected light seen through the atmosphere.

Since my horizon is the mountain ridge to the east of me, if I could believe the optical illusion explanation, the giant orb should be my own for a bit as it rises over my personal horizon. But it when I first see it, the color is silver white and the size is not huge relative to the trees along the top of the ridge. Thumb or no thumb. Not that it matters, just saying.

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Speaking of latest trends. The latest identity theft scam around here is someone using your social security number to file a fraudulent tax return, claiming a large refund (in one case $13,000). You are unaware of this until you file your own return and expect a refund, but Uncle Sam has already paid that other person their refund, and he wants it back. You have to untangle it to reclaim your own identity and get your refund. It happened to some cousins of Mr. Troutbend, and several other cases have been reported in the Denver area.

Our social security numbers are starting to be meaningless, and I wonder if anyone is trying to figure out a different system of unique identifiers, but of course, those would soon be compromised, too. It's always something, isn't it?