Rose is Rose by Don Wimmer and Pat Brady for November 16, 2014

I’m not sure that leaning against a tree will do much to reduce the sticker shock of a new water heater, though…

If you have to ask, you don’t want to know.

dzw3030 said, yesterday ,@Nun’Ya Bidness ,Not even a Brady Bunch environment. ;-);I was about 6 years old when “The Brady Bunch” was a new show. I was the youngest of 6 children – 3 boys and 3 girls – AND I had a lisp. A lot of the kids took to calling me “Cindy Brady”. I told them that my parents were only married to each other, we’re all “whole” siblings, and we don’t have an “Alice”. Other than that, we were pretty close. My husband and I joke that my family makes the Bradys seem like the Bundys…and his family makes the Bundys seem like the Bradys.

I got a new water heater the day after Labor Day. I knew it was going so I got to plan a little. My father bought the same water heater and had the same company install his 6 months earlier but I got mine for $700 less total. We both went from gas tanked to tankless but I worked a deal with the installer so that I emptied the tank prior to his arrival and emptied the garage and made access to the attic a breeze. I did get the water heater $100 cheaper though. I told the installer not to clean up anything or take his trash I would do all of that. It ended up saving me lots of money by doing as much as I could before and after the installers job. He got to leave after testing and didn’t have to load any trash or my old tank into his vehicle and could go straight to his next job.

To prepare for the worst shop around and wait for them to go on sale, store them and hire a plumber to switch them out.

I’m lucky. My boyfriend can do just about anything and is an excellent plumber. I got my water heater at Lowe’s and he installed it and hauled the old one to the part of the dump where those type of things go.

That tree is cheaper than even generic Prozac, and available without a prescription.

Also, not to simply engage in one upmanship, I switched from gas tanked to gas tankless on both of my up-and-down units (years apart, though), did all of the work myself, and just dragged the old tank out to the curb both times. Living in a city on any street other than dead-end, somebody with a truck will grab it for the scrap metal, so it gets recycled as well.

I think they need an old growth redwood for this stress.

Unless your water heater’s tank has developed a leak, you can save lots of money by just replacing the thermostats or heating elements when they go defective. It’s so simple to do and you don’t end up with a dead unit to have to dispose of. Hint: It’s usually the top element and/or the top thermostat that goes defective first and you can tell this if you find yourself running out of hot water very quickly. Replacement cost is usually less than $50. For an extra hundred you can have any handyman or plumber do the job.

Stay out of the Mutts strip!

I see a face in the tree bark in panel 6 (last one in middle row), and the tree does not seem all too pleased to be leaned on. :-)

$960 for a water heater, 3 weeks ago. I feel ya Jimbo.

“Leaning, leaning…” There’s a song in there somewhere. This could get a little sappy…

Been there, forced to do that!