The central heating went out yesterday morning without drawing much attention except for the fact that it was freezing inside the house. I usually manage the temperature well in my room with the oil radiator. Actually, I have the radiator on at night and off during the day. In the day, I am comfortable under the covers and sweats. However, yesterday was unusually cold.
My sister discovered later in the afternoon when I was out that the pilot light had gone out in the furnace. She immediately got to work, trying to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.
I, on the other hand was more laidback about it. Friends used to term me “bo chap”, which means I couldn’t care less, while my sister would be referred to as “kan cheong”, for anxious. Both our traits pay off differently, but they do pay.
Ever heard of the term “NATO”? I heard it during a casual discussion of politics at the family table some years back. It is an acronym for “No Action Talk Only”. Too often I am guilty of being NATO, particularly with family matters. I take them for granted way too much, and assume that they will always pick up after me even if I don’t follow through.
The man I am in love with, on the other hand, is “AANT”.
All Action, No Talk.
He did not speak a word of fixing the furnace and a part of me wanted to kick him into action. Like, DUDE, MY HOUSE IS A FREEZER, PLEASE STEP UP AND HELP ME FIX IT!
My sister’s beau on the other hand had helped her with the troubleshooting via the telephone and had offered to drop by late tonight to fix it. Unfortunately schedule and logistics because he does not drive and lives a million miles away, made it very inconvenient for him to come over and fix it.
Eli who had been silent all these time, sent me a text message after work to say, “I’m here.”
Hungry and sleepy, he went straight to the furnace, looked at it, did troubleshooting and asked me for a screwdriver. Crouching and disappearing into the closet that housed the heaters, and eventually using a wrench to dislodge the previously-ruined screws, Eli patiently took apart the pilot light and thermocouple placeholder. After a brief inspection, we headed to the hardware store to get a replacement thermocouple. The new thermocouple looked slightly different from the old one, which threw us off for a while, but once we got that sorted, things progressed quickly and soon there was a fire beneath the furnace.
My geek who was silent all these time has literally warmed me up.
He has come through for me and stepped up to thaw out my freezer of a house like a silent knight.