Pedley's Ponderings

I usually have a lot on my mind but not much to say. Such is the case this week.

• Reverse jinx?

My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes are on a 3-0 run (as of this writing on Tuesday) since my “fire Fran” column a couple weeks ago. Almost every talking head has them in the Dance barring a meltdown, which is fantastic. I’ll eat crow if it means my beloved Black and Gold get a shot in March.

• Farewell, Fluff

Florence “Fluff” Ihry died last week at the age of 93. The longtime mayor of Royal, Fluff was somewhat of a local celebrity for her political career during her Golden Years. There aren’t many mayors in their 90s.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Fluff in 2017 when St. Louis Catholic Church closed in Royal. The topic was a sore subject, but our conversation was great. She was firecracker and I appreciated the time spent with her. I left her house smiling.

Fluff was a keystone member of the Royal community and will be missed by many. People like her are what make small towns special.

• Home improvement

Our house has been a construction zone over the past week. Kaity got a wild hair to upgrade our living room, which now has a “fireplace,” revamped paint job and new décor.

None of these improvements are thanks to me. The fireplace, which is one of those fancy-looking plugin operations, necessitated the construction of a stub wall. Kaity’s stepdad, Preston, handled the job well. I can put together a sentence, but I can’t put together a wall. I have no shame in admitting that.

We’re going to re-trim the living room to bring everything together. I will have no hand in that, either, because that’s getting hired out. This house took more than two years to become livable and the thought of another project gives me choking amounts of dread. Old homes are cool, but you should never actually buy one.

Nonetheless, my wife is happy which means I am, too.

• Keep those batteries fresh

Monday morning started off on the wrong foot for yours truly.

I was stirred from my slumber at around 5 a.m. by the sound of incessant beeping. Our carbon monoxide alarm was going off by the boiler in the basement, sending me into instant panic.

I rushed downstairs while everyone else inside somehow remained asleep. The alarm shouted “Warning! Carbon Monoxide!” in between beeps as I clamored to remove it from the basement rafters while pointlessly holding my breath. I reset it, hoping it was a blaring in error. Nope – it went off again right away.

I brought it upstairs for a clean reset, but then it started chirping that its batteries were low. I replaced them and brought it back to the basement, along with another alarm from the kitchen. Two is better than one, I thought.

The alarms never sounded again that morning, but I called the fire department to check the CO levels as soon as the sun rose. Their numbers proved my alarm wasn’t going haywire and I immediately called the experts to fix the issue once we all had left for the day.

Apparently, built up soot wasn’t allowing the boiler to vent properly through the exhaust pipe. The problem was addressed and I was relieved. We were all OK, and I didn’t have to replace my boiler.

I get our heating system inspected regularly prior to each heating season. I thought that was more than enough, but so it goes. Let this be a reminder to anyone who reads this that it’s important to keep the batteries in your fire and CO alarms fresh.

I’m still pretty shaken up about it and thankful nothing of consequence occurred. My alarm worked as it was supposed to, and I’m probably going to put another one down there for good measure – better safe than sorry.

Nick Pedley is the news editor of The Hartley Sentinel/The Everly-Royal News.