Funny Owb Story (never let a city boy fill your owb)

I was planning a vacation, first one ever since installing the boiler. I had a friend who is 21, looking to move out of mom and dad's. he watched the house of some mutual friends so I figure he'd be a good candidate. showed him how to fill the boiler. (pretty simple). I've been burning in an owb, for about 10 years. before that I grew up burning wood, so it's second nature to me.

He calls me after about 7 days, and says the fire went out. WHAT? I've been burning all these years and the fire never went out. rake thru the ashes there has to be some coals. he said there is nothing and the water is down to 70*. WHAT? keep in mind this is 50* weather during the day here. thru all this he keeps saying he put wood in it. I told him he needs to put more wood in it. I had to explain to him how to use the hand held propane burner. first turn the knob on top. he turns it, then I said pull the trigger. he did and he said "nothing happened." I then had to tell him to keep pulling the trigger until it lights. finally he gets it lit and re-lights the fire.

the next day he calls me again. says the fire went out again. (face palm) how is this even possible. Why are you calling me? re-light it again. he says he can't the burner trigger is broke. he swears up and down he didn't break it. he says someone must have come in here or something. (yea!! someone drove out to the middle of nowhere, found that thing broke it, without breaking or stealing anything else, and left laughing hysterically like a mad scientist, got it!!!) the whole time promising me he put wood in it, even though the water is down to 60*. so i asked him if he swapped brains with a moron? he said "omg you are terrible." like he thought I was joking. HA!!! so I told him to fill it so full that he can't even fit another piece in it. It should take off. but just in case he should grab a lighter and use that to light the propane burner and re-light the fire. just to make sure.

the next morning he calls, the fire never took off, cause he didn't try to relight it. I then walk him thru finding my other burner. (this one is idiot proof, or so I thought) I explained how he had to unscrew the first one off the propane bottle, and screw the new one on. he asked, "how do I do that?" I replied, "Uhhh... with your hands?" a short 20 minutes later. he calls and says "I got it now what?" I said "pull the trigger" and this idiot replies, "what trigger? the red one?" (face palm, again) for a moment I wonder how many triggers are on that thing? but to simplify things for this short bus valedictorian, I just replied, "yes the red one." Then suddenly he says "WAIT, its making a noise." "what kind of noise?" I asked. "the same noise the other one made, when I unscrewed the knob." I then ask, "like gas hissing out?" "YES!" he said. "that's normal, pull the trigger all the way, and it will light" I said. He then said it wasn't working. at that point I realized that if I could somehow give him a brain cell, it would eventually die of loneliness. So I told him to put the burner down and step away slowly. I'll be home in 4 hours and I'll figure it out. now go find the nearest cliff and throw yourself off of it. He laughed and said I was terrible.

when I got home, there was about 8 small pieces of wood in the boiler. and about 3 foot of space between the wood and the top of the burn chamber. well I guess I should have explained what "fill it so full that he can't even fit another piece in it" means. cause obviously there was some miscommunication.

 

Well, be happy he wasn't trying to fill a wood stove or fireplace in the house, then the fire would have started but probably burnt the house down. Common sense ain't so common anymore.

 

I know some people like that.

 

Lol did you teach him how to fill and light it. I probably know the ans but had to ask.

 

Pardon the city boy question, but does it mess anything up to have it go out? Or are you just out of hot water when you get home?

 

Sounds like this guy needs a brain transplant...probably another one of those that thinks milk and meat just "comes from the store"

 

wait what? it doesn't? seriously? ??

 

Dealt with this kind of stuff for years- hasn't got any better- in fact it is getting worse. Stuff that you or i do automatically is seriously out of their grasp. at least my own offspring call and ask when faced with something out of their comfort zone, like walking one of them through a boiler problem by phone ( WI to NY ( not exactly a "I will be right over thing")

 

I’m 30 and I have a lot of run ins with people like this (employees, coworkers, friends, etc). They don’t pay attention or retain anything when you try to teach them something. Always get the quick “I got it” when trying to show them something. So they mess it up...give me the lost puppy dog look...I fix it/do it myself and then they say “well I didn’t know about that/you didn’t show me that”. That’s because you said “I got it” after a few minutes. I hate these clowns. No leadership qualities or accountability, just waiting for someone to bail them out once again. Then they get bent out of shape when you tell them they suck. Ha

Thankfully there are still a bunch of talented and driven people my age. The use of technology is kinda a good gauge of individuals. If they’re just using it for entertainment and to get the bare minimum done as quick as possible, they are usually worthless. If they’re using it to learn or to get the most out of something, you have someone that’s valuable.

We all want better for our children/next generation, but parents and society have let standards drop in my mind over the years. Nothing wrong with telling people that’s not good enough. You gotta have some pride.

 

This is why those self parallel parking, lane deviation correcting, and even self driving cars are gaining popularity. For them....those people.

This is an actual sticker on a toy I'm thinking about buying! Kinda covers all the bases.

 

I probably should have showed him, but I just figured "you can't fix stupid"

 

no it didn't really mess anything up. the house was about 60 degrees when I got home. fortunately the weather wasn't too cold. if the weather was below 0* cause then I could have had some freezing issues.

 

I have noticed the same thing. so are ppl getting dumber? or are ppl like us just getting smarter. (I sure don't feel smarter) but looking back I remember being a in my teens and early 20's learning a trade and the old timers wondered how I couldn't know what they knew.

 

The is the old way vs/a new way to accomplish the same work in some areas- problem comes when the newfangled tools go south- then the younger crowd is lost where as us snow on the mountain types just revert.
example- metal lathe-cutting taper- lots of neat way to do that now- old times - jack up one leg ( twist bed ) of lathe , little trial and error to get where you needed to be.

 

I don't know about dumber but I think it's more of the throw away society mentality.
Kids growing up since the 90's just grew up around tossing it and buying new.
If they had a dad, they weren't fixing things and having the kid help.
Heck you're lucky to see kids running rampant thru the neighborhoods anymore, they are stuck inside on the computer,gaming console.
I wish I would have paid more attention/cared more growing up with my dad working on stuff.
It was boring though as I was just the gopher and I better had got it right the first time..
Now I try and fix everything or learn how to fix it if I don't know.
My dryer just went out, I have a spare in the garage but I'm still going to try and fix it.
Never have before. Might not be worth it, I been waiting to clear that spot out...

 

I think part of it is specialization. I am not a handy guy, but I don’t get paid to fix things, I get payed to to database work and analysis.
My dad(rip) used to do all his own plumbing even though he was an astro-physicist. All the money he saved over the years doing his own plumbing, he probably burned (or drowned) the one time he did some work on the kitchen and then left town for a two week conference.
I know I just (like minutes ago), way over paid to have a leaky ball valve replaced, but it was much less risk to pay someone who knew how to do it and could do it quickly so we can cook, wash our hands, work, shower and before our new hvac rusted out.

I know this situation is different than specialization, and it is probably more a function of youth. But, ignorance and stupidity are two different things that can come across the same way. And although, you can’t fix stupid, you can work real hard and become great at many things even if you aren’t the sharpest cutter in the chain. The jury is still out as to if you can fix a work ethic. I’ll let you know as soon as I finish procrastinating.

 

a quick youtube search would have taught you what to do and you could have done it in minutes just like the "pro" probably faster because you had to wait on him/her to arrive instead of just doing it yourself.
But when you got the money, it's your money to do as you please.
I don't buy into the specialist bit.

 

My dad did teach me how to do it when I was around 16 years old.. I wouldn’t want to go buy a blow torch and then try a first attempt ~30 years later in proximity to gas lines in the house.
I have heard pex? can be a lot more consumer friendly, but that would require more research to see about switching between pex and copper etc.

I did managed to sharpen the chain on my neighbor’s saw last week. As ridiculous as it sounds, it was a big step for me. Now it’s spitting proper saw dust chips, not just smoke and dust.

 

I couldnt agree with you more, very well said AJtree88

 

I agree 100%!!! I grew up in the 90's without a dad. but I just had the figure it out mentality. dryers are actually super easy!! just use youtube. there is a how to fix video on every kind of dryer. also all brands are basically the same. I've had the same gas dryer since 1995 I've replaced most of the parts on it. its easier than you think. and you can buy the parts on ebay. just make sure they are a us shipper. cause you'll wait a month if its coming from china.