From Honeywell, the military avionics people

Coming from a family whose men have for generations shown precisely no handyman skills whatsoever, I'm always impressed with myself when I manage any kind of home project at all. (And NO, I didn't install the thermostat at this angle! I'm not THAT clumsy! Just looking to give some graphic interest to an object as dull as tepid water.)

Where was I?

I got it into my head that we should -- for the sake of green-ness -- finally install a programmable thermostat. At lunch I ran over to the hardware store and snapped up a new thermostat on sale. I had previously managed to find a DIY video online that promised that this little project was so easy that even someone from my family could manage it. Well...

This evening after dinner, I announced that I couldn't wait until the weekend to demonstrate my thermostatic prowess. I was sure (enough) of myself to set out to 'git 'er done' this evening. My wife wasted no time immediately snatching up the cat and heading for as remote a corner of our little townhouse as she could manage to find.

I gathered the tools (plus a few extra) for what the package instructions had promised would be a simple 15-minute procedure. For safety's sake, I turned off the power to the furnace. Unfortunately, because of the apparently awkward wiring scheme in our place, this resulted in power also being denied to the lights in the room where the operation was taking place. The darkness, along with having to make do with a tool or two that wasn't precisely what I needed (I made do though -- being unburdened by either knowledge or experience with such things, I can improvise to beat the band -- as is frequently the case with skill-less people), resulted in the simple 15-minute procedure lasting near 90 minutes!

But...SUCCESS...I think. (Although it is a touch chilly in here, come to think of it.)

It occurred to me when I finished the task that Honeywell is a company whose Space and Aviation division is responsible for development of a fine line of military avionics equipment. I hope I connected the wires properly! You don't suppose the house will be launched like a missile in the middle of the night when the furnace kicks on, do you?!

I'll NEVER sleep now!

p.s. Do you think my wife is reasonable in expecting that I will return to this mechanical tour de force over the weekend and touch up the paint where the previous thermostat's footprint was?! Seems like an extreme expectation to me! I mean...the darn thing WORKS (I think)! Ain't that perfection enough?! Sheesh!

LOL