Replacing HVAC system

I have learned more about HVAC in the past 2 weeks than I ever wanted to know!  The unit we have now is the York High efficiency model (E1HB030S06A) that we had installed around 1990.  We had to call BGE for service in June, and it was low on R-22, so they charged it up - ran fine all summer.  About 2 weeks ago when we had a couple of hot days, it quit on us, so we called BGE & it was low on R-22 again.  The advice from BGE (& everyone else) is that it would be very difficult to find the leak & that it is really too old to patch up.  We have been told that this old York unit was top of its line when we got it, most likely an 8 SEER.  It has given us good service for 23 years, but it is time to replace it.

We have had several estimates.  (Sears, BGE & a couple of independent contractors).  Prices vary wildly, as do opinions of what is the best value in cost, efficiency, reliability, etc.  Each contractor tends to have their favorite brand & tends to disparage the competition.  Customer satisfaction ratings also very wildly.  Thankfully, it is the end of September & not the middle of summer or winter, so I can really do my homework & decide.  This is a major expense. 

Carrier - 2 estimates between 6-7K for 13 SEER base unit, financing available
Rheem estimate around 5.5K for 13 SEER base unit, with extended warantee
Trane estimate around 4.5 K for 13 SEER base unit, offered air scrubber & extended warantee at 5.5K
Frigidaire estimate around 5K for 16 SEER unit

Consumer Reports rates for least repairs as follows:
1. American Standard
2. Bryant
3. Trane
4. Carrier
5. Rheem
6. Lennox
7. Goodman 

Frigidaire did not make the list, but it is a more efficient unit at a decent price, with a contractor we know who is on Angie's List.  

Most of the complaints about Frigidaire on other sites had to do with their warantee, which only covered parts on most models.  Industry standard is to cover parts for 10 years & labor for 1 or 2 years.  

Leadership: Working on a Long-Term Project

For the past year, I have been working on a project to bring Vacation Bible Camp back to my parish.  A lot of churches offer VBS & we had various summer programs for the kids on & off.  I believe that a summer program is an important & valuable supplement to the regular Religious Ed program. I have been part of big projects before, but this is my first time as Director.

I got involved in 2007 when I registered 2 grandsons (both were 5 at the time) & I took a week off to volunteer & give them the opportunity to attend. The kids seemed to enjoy doing this activity & spending the week with Grandma.  We did it again in 2008 & 2009. After a turnover of Religious Ed directors in 2010, we stopped having it at my parish.  So I registered the grand kids (now 4 were old enough) at a neighboring parish & I volunteered there as well.  In 2011, we could not find a program at any parish that worked with their busy little lives, so I did a home school version.  I knew the basic format & I found lots of information online. The Theme was St. Francis of Assisi. We did Bible Stories, crafts, games, snack & music.  We did a service project making a casserole for Our Daily Bread.  This is when I decided that I could get VBS started again at my parish by volunteering to head it up.  I also decided to be an assistant catechist for Religious Ed on Sundays.

In 2011-2012, I approached the new Religious Ed director about re-starting VBS, but it was put on the back burner for 2012. So I volunteered at another parish again, with the intention of learning as much as I could about presenting the program as a whole, not just volunteering for a small part.  Basically, I was a VBS Director in training.  I was also asked to make a proposal for the pastor & the parish council to have it in 2013.  I did a lot of research, building on what I had learned from doing the home school VBS program the year before.  I compared the various program kit packages available for cost & content, looked at volunteer needs, space needs, participant cost, etc.  The proposal was accepted providing I could get the volunteers needed. So I started promoting the idea with a volunteer table at the monthly fellowship in Sept. 2012 ( & almost every month thereafter).  In Nov, the Knights of Columbus approached me & offered to help by purchasing the program kit.  We had a spot in the bulletin almost weekly to generate interest & recruit volunteers.

In April, I held the first volunteer meeting & we set dates, the registration fee & deadline, and got a few of the volunteer assignments in place.  Registration forms went home with the Religious Ed kids & the parish school kids, and continued to have announcements in the bulletin.  I visited the Middle school youth group to ask for youth volunteers & made a few crafts from the program kit to display at fellowship.  At the last fellowship in May, we set up a "giving tree", with pictures of each craft & snack item & a list of supplies needed.  Then we moved the giving tree to the back of the church & the priest mentioned it in the announcements.  I also visited the high school youth group to ask for youth volunteers. 

Donations of craft supplies & snack items are coming in from the giving tree & I held the second volunteer meeting in June.  We closed registration with a total of 30 campers,  8 youth assistants & 20+ adult volunteers.  We were expecting more campers - had set the limit at 50.  Not sure why we did not get more except for the usual reasons: Catholics don't do VBS as well as Protestants, day program vs evening program (ours is day) & later in the summer vs early in the summer (ours is later), and/or we closed registration too soon (our deadline was 6 weeks before the event).  With 30 campers, we can focus on quality rather than quantity. I decided that if anyone called me, I would accept more registrations up until 30 days before the event, but no last minute registrations.

I have a great team, but I think I am not delegating enough.  I collected the donated items & inventoried them.  In the process I made a few sample crafts, but I am ready to hand the craft bin over to the craft leader.  I have been listening to the music CD on my way to & from work & I know all of the songs.  Because I am a music oriented person, I will be helping with that station, unless I can find someone else. I can read music & peck out a tune on the piano, but that is the extent of my abilities.  I would like to find someone who can play guitar.  I delegated the decorations.  I made some paper mache hats for the leaders & I have a few signs & posters made from the kit for decorations, but I told each station leader that the decorations could be as simple or creative as they wanted.  I know it is difficult for people with busy lives to attend a lot of volunteer meeting, so I communicate a lot by e-mail. 

Now this project is kicking into high gear. During the next 5 weeks we have a lot to do. Parent letters go out this week. T-shirt orders next week.  Youth training for volunteer assignments & skit practice the week after 4th of July.  Volunteer meeting & shopping 2 weeks before event, & decorating 1 week before event.  Overall, I have been amazed by how well the planning & now the preparation have unfolded.  It has been very helpful to follow the timeline suggested in the kit.  This leadership experience has been awesome.

Purses, handbags or pocketbooks!

 I probably bought my first purse when I was 11 or 12, and I have carried one ever since.  At one time, I enjoyed shopping for a new purse, then it became a bother. I do not care much about designer handbags, and would never pay the obscene prices for a real one.  I like a certain style; it needs to have sections or dividers inside, a couple of zippered pouches & wide enough to hold mail.  It needs to have some kind of closure, either snap, zipper or flap.and deep enough that things won't fall out if I forget to close it. I like black, brown or tan colors equally.  I like a leather look, but would not reject a fabric if it was treated with a water repellant & had the other features. And I want a bargain price; $25. or less.  I have found purses I liked at Wal-mart & other discount stores and have been disappointed in ones I paid more for at better department stores.  Another issue is that I hate having to get used to a new one.  I procrastinate & delay purchasing a new one until the old one is embarrassing.  I got rid of my old purse today.  My sister had given me one last year; it looked like it might be too small, but it was bigger inside than it looked.  I will have to get used to it.

Streaming Video

I have become a fan of streaming video. The TV networks show many full episodes of TV shows online the next day. Last Christmas, Robin & Kris gave me a 3-month trial subscription to Netflix.  I set it up in the living room through the Wii and also watched it on my laptop.  I liked it a lot, but Steve was never able to get used to using the Wii controller to find programs.  Robin & Kris have Apple TV, and I watched season 1 of Game of Thrones last spring at their house.  This year, Robin & Kris gave me a Roku box for my TV, which is a lot like Apple TV.  Amy & Joe got me a 3-month trial subscription to Hulu Plus.  I also discovered that I can view many Amazon Instant Videos for free with my Amazon Prime account. Another friend told me about Crackle, which is free, but I have not registered for Crackle yet.  I don't know yet if I can get the network TV streaming through the Roku box on Hulu Plus.  If I can do this, it almost completely eliminates the need for a DVR.

Fringe

I watched the finale of Fringe tonight.  I can't remember a show that captured my imagination like this one. I did not start watching until season 3.  Some of my co-workers were talking about it at work and I was intrigued.  Robin got me the DVD set of season 1; I found a used DVD set of season 2 online; I got caught up on season 3 with amazon instant video.  I watched season 4 & 5 on Fox. Weird science, futuristic, great characters and fascinating story line. It reminded me a little of the X-files.

Did your first paycheck of 2013 feel short?

Many people are in for an unpleasant surprise when they get their first paycheck in 2013: withholding taxes went up and net pay will be less. My first pay was actually more because there was no health insurance deduction; however, the numbers did not add up. I checked the pay stubs online and compared the tax deductions to the prior pay stub and sure enough, federal, state &FICA withholding went up significantly

More online calendars

I have online calendars on Yahoo, Windows Live, Google & Cozi. I had birthdays on Yahoo & events/reminders on Google & Cozi. After manually syncing Yahoo & Google calendars, I found the import feature to sync Windows Live. The import did not work with Cozi; none of the event names transferred.  I could probably eliminate the Yahoo & Windows Live calendars. I get Google reminders on my iPhone, so it is the most useful.  I like Cozi's weekly agenda reminder e-mail.