My brother recommended this website to me, despite knowing I prefer helping other people… not asking for it. I moved back in with my folks over 12 years ago, to help around the house because my mother had such back problems, she couldn’t clean, cook or do much of anything else physical. She had 3 back surgeries – the first two, didn’t help much. The third one eventually was the one that really fixed her back problems, so she would have better mobility with little pain.
Sadly, my father never got to see her recover fully from her back surgery and have a more normal life, as he unexpectedly died – 4 days before Christmas 2013. It’s been my mother and I since he died, and I made it a point to make sure she was happy as much as possible, since she missed him so much (they were married for 50 years)! She died almost 2 years ago, and I’m sure she lived as long as she did… because I was here and kept her spirits happy!!
This is where things got really bad. Two days after she died, the water heater blew (literally… it was spewing water from the top of it – fortunately, I was home and turned the water off within a minute of it happening, to prevent flood damage everywhere). My mother’s retirement/social security was what paid all the bills. I was already deeply depressed, after losing my mother – and my best friend. We ate our meals together (I did most of the cooking, but let her help when it wasn’t too taxing on her physically); we watched TV together – even if it wasn’t my favorite shows… just to keep her company; and I took her shopping, when it was a store she really wanted to go to (I did all the mundane shopping for food, supplies, etc.).
I am still without a water heater! I was planning on buying a water heater at the beginning of January 2023, but the state of California passed a law that mandated ALL natural gas water heaters must be Low-NOX compliant or something like that. I “had” the money to buy a 40-gallon water heater – but that was for the model that didn’t have that new requirement – the newer model was one-third higher in cost, putting it over a thousand dollars! That put me into a downward spiral of depression, not knowing what I was going to do. I had a limited amount of savings, but spent more time trying to figure out how I was going to get a cheaper water heater… instead of just biting the bullet and just getting it (being depressed REALLY screws-up clear thinking – at least I don’t drink or do drugs). If I would have just bought the more expensive water heater, I could have gotten a job back at the beginning of 2023 – without worrying if I could bathe quickly, so I could function normally. Heating water in large pots on the stove top and putting them into clean 5-gallon buckets to use in the bathtub… made bathing a “3-hour” process. That made me MORE depressed, from the start of heating the water, until the time I was finally able to finish. I called several agencies in my city, so see if there was a way around that expensive water heater, but to no avail. After a month or so, I gave up… and also found out that available job was no longer available.
I’ve used up all of my savings, and though that job is available again (and I “am” going to take it)… I *REALLY* need a new water heater! If I am lucky, I will be able to keep paying my monthly bills, but I can’t afford to buy a water heater. I haven’t taken “a shower” in almost 2 years!! Although I still bathe with water heated on the stove, it is a VERY difficult and time-consuming process. I don’t know if I would have the time to install a water heater on my own (or if I can even do it), and there’s been a change in the code for installation requirements – which I’m not sure I can do correctly. I made a few calls, and it’s looking like a cost of around $3000.00 (probably to correct some of the non-compliance things my father and I didn’t do on the last one we installed). There’s also going to be a gap (lag?) in my ability to pay my bills at the beginning of next month, based on when I start working and what I’ll have earned by the time I start getting paychecks. I’m also not sure what the take-home pay will be exactly, after taxes.
I would like to get at least $5000.00 (that’s 5 thousand, not 500 thousand) – in case there are unexpected expenses on the water heater replacement, and to make sure I keep the lights on and so forth.
https://paypal.me/KenInSanDiego