Thursday, September 28, 2017

A Problem From the 70's Rears Its Ugly Head

What was the biggest problem of the 70's?

Angel's Flight pants?  The American Embassy in Tehran?  Fondue?  Polyester plaid?  The AMC Pacer?  The Tenerife crash?  Terrorism in Europe and Central America?  Three Mile Island? 

None of these.  I'm living the problem.  My waterbed heater has gone out.

I've had a waterbed since 8th grade.  Obviously I didn't get to sleep in it at West Point, and for about 11 years I had a standard mattress in the frame.  But just over a year and a half ago I went back to the waterbed, and life was good.  I couldn't believe how after the first morning, I woke up and didn't feel any aches?

But I was penny wise and pound foolish.  I bought a new mattress but not a new heater.  How could a waterbed heater go out, I thought?  It had lasted for so long, how could it not last forever?  But it didn't.

So last night I had to drain the bed--not the easiest task, especially when you're doing this solo. And I had to sleep in the guest room!  After work today I was able to remove the old heater pad from under the almost empty mattress and replace it with the new heater.  Then I maneuvered the kinda-empty-but-still-very-heavy mattress into place and started refilling it.  That's not as easy as you might think, especially when I had to go outside to shut off the water, come back inside, make some adjustments, go outside to start the water again, etc. 

After a significant amount of time, and a significant amount of sweat (it's quite warm out today), I got the bed filled.  It should be adequately heated by tomorrow night.

And then I'll be able to enjoy a good night's rest again.

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