Rethinking decisions, and an act of extraordinary kindness

 After some more thought, some price comparisons, further discussion with the heating expert, and several deep breaths, we have decided to go ahead and replace the oil furnace with a new propane furnace after all. There isn't much point putting significant money into making the current oil furnace limp along when we know it will need to be replaced in a while anyway, and by that time interest rates and prices will have risen. And I really do want to get oil off the property. I imagine it will also positively affect the cost of our insurance on the place. So we went ahead and ordered the new furnace, the dehumidifier, and the UV light to kill mold and viruses. Removing the old oil tank, which stands against the back wall of the church, will allow the Paul Davis crew to eventually wrap that part of the foundation, as well.

The propane company will rent us one of those long, sausage-shaped 500-gallon propane tanks, but they informed us they don't do the trenching for the gas line. That entails a trench running ten feet out from the house, a foot wide and eighteen inches deep. My husband called Scott from Paul Davis to ask if they still had the backhoe on the property, and we'd pay them to trench it for us. Otherwise, it's up to little old me and a shovel. Scott cheerfully informed us that the backhoe had already been taken away, but his guys would hand-dig the trench for us, no problem. And at no cost. We protested, but he said not to worry about it. It would be easier for his guys to do it than for me to do it. Isn't that the kindest thing ever? What a great group of people!

Another happy thing about all this trenching we've been doing -- we had been told that the whole area is clay, and I know when our neighbours B and T put in their septic system, they had to remove the soil and then truck in tons of sand. But apparently when the guys were trenching around the foundations of the church, they found lots of sand and not clay. So our drainage is good, and if we ever have to replace the septic system, there will likely be no need to truck in sand. Woohoo! 

My husband drove up last night to be on hand today for the environmental study people. Next domino!