Sponsorships and Hot Water

My home is heated by a hot water boiler, a mysterious contraption of tanks and pipes all running to an aluminum-cased burner, the whole thing almost as old as I am. Boilers can last about as long as people, so the age isn’t really an issue. A few months ago, though, one of the mysterious tanks in this contraption developed a very people-like case of appendicitis. This tank was painted black to disappear into the rafters, and mounted right above a fluorescent shop light–so, also like an appendix, I had no idea the thing was there or what it was supposed to do. I discovered it only when it had to come out before it turned gangrenous and took the boiler thing down from septic shock.

The plumbing crew came in and replaced it with something half the size and a tenth as noisy.

My own appendix tried to kill me a few years ago, so I felt a certain sympathy for the boiler. Perhaps even kinship.

Less than a week ago, I announced I was falling back to the Middle Ages and soliciting patrons to support FreeBSD Mastery: Advanced ZFS. Now, don’t get me wrong: our bills are paid, and my family’s not going to get thrown out on the street. But after the boiler incident, the bank account was a little thinner than I liked.

I was surprised and touched by the number of people who responded. I’d planned post a followup and thanks a week after the announcement.

But yesterday turned into The Hot Water Strikes Back, or perhaps, Water Trek II: The Wrath of the Tank.

The hot water heater needs replacing.

I have a perfectly good hot water heater. It heats my house. Despite all I’ve done for the boiler, the ungrateful wretch stubbornly refuses to feed the shower.

The water heater came to about $50 more than I had raised in Advanced ZFS sponsorships.

Shortly after that, another print sponsorship came in. While I still owe taxes on that, I feel much better about the whole plumbing situation.

So, this post is to say three things.

1) Hot water hates me, and wants me to suffer.

2) Fixing this hot water heater will take much less time and attention than it would have a week ago. I will put that time towards watching the complete Patrick Troughton Doctor Who serials working on the book.

2) A very sincere thank you to the folks who have sponsored me.

The ebook sponsors:

  • Bruce Buskill (first sponsor ever)
  • Julien Vallée
  • Wim Wauters
  • Ollivier Robert
  • Henning Kessler
  • Geoffrey Garside
  • Theodore Durst
  • Georgiy Bulygin
  • The print sponsors:

  • Dan Langille
  • TransIP B.V./Johan Schuijt
  • Thomas Scott
  • Dirk Tol
  • Justin Holcomb, in memory of Mary Lou Malott
  • This water heater is dedicated to all of you. I really must get a little brass plaque for it.

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