A New Stove

400 pounds of cast iron and steel graced my door step this last Sunday. The gentleman from whom I purchased the well cut and good looking piece of metal assisted in the transport and installation of said item along with a bit of repair work (replacement blower and paint). Overall, I like it. It takes up just a bit more room but nothing obnoxious and the useful heat out of it has probably tripled over the last one. The fire box is also much larger, probably two to three times the size of the little one now gracing my garage. There is but one thing I like not, the dampers. The little one had dampers and vents all over the place which meant it was highly configurable. The "new" one has but two (assuming you don't count opening the front door of the unit) and it's hard to tell sometimes if they actually change much. The placement of the dampers also causes it to billow smoke into the house with little or no provocation when attempting to add wood. Still, as I said, I like it. It heats the upper floor of my house much more quickly than the last one and I seem to be able to leave this one for longer periods of time without needing to re-fire it. Now if my back will just get better from lifting the beast into place. ;-)

Winter continues to be here. Snow and chilling winds have reinforced my conclusion that I really don't like winter. Of course, I knew this in November, but still, it's nice to have confirmation.

Tax season approaches. 'Tis yet one more blight upon the crop of my time. *sigh* Oh well.