What to do when the heater breaks down in #Santa #Fe?

When our nights of no heat during freezing February came to a shivery end, we stood at our bedroom windows watching snow flakes lazily tumble down, building white cocoons on the branches of our juniper and other evergreen trees, and creating a heavenly white landscape.  We admired the beauty before us and hugged each other as best we could while we were bundled in every sweater we brought with us plus a down comforter each. 

I knew Grace was somewhere under those multiple layers and, when she moved, there was a slight tremor from within her teepee of warmth.  It was a tender moment and as romantic as it could be (having gone four days without a shower because of the total lack of hot water).

About a week and a half after we returned to the warmer desert of Southern California, Steve, who originally installed the heater, called to give us some possibly bad news: There might be a leak was somewhere in the pipes that carried the hot water through the floors to heat the house.  Those pipes were embedded in the concrete.  Fixing them would involve jack hammering the floor.

Bad news?  This was beyond terrible.  It was exactly like learning that the home was in fine shape, but the foundation might have to be replaced.   Or discovering that your new automobile had a beautiful body, but the engine was no good.  Or, as some of us have learned, that your new wife was lovely to look at, but inside was an evil harpy who tortured dogs, noshed on children and preferred murder to sleeping with you. 

While we waited for Steve to pinpoint the problem, we remembered that, as part of the deal, the previous owner had taken out insurance for one year on the Santa Fe home.  We called the insurance company to find out how much they might cover if a home heater wasn’t working.

 In a few minutes, a fax arrived.   The insurance company would pay $1500.  Period.

But what if the heater needed to be replaced and a new one cost $15,000?

Answer: $1,500.

But what if just examining the heater to determine what was wrong would cost more than $1,500 without concern about parts, replacing anything that’s broken and so on?

$1,500.