that's it? no more boiler? after reading your blog, I'm interested in what the final straw was.
Cumulative effects. For one thing, there's the safety issue. To clean the firebox, it's necessary to open it up and practically stick your head into a 1200 F. furnace. So long as the draft remains negative, everything is okay. But, if it should go positive, then you're cooked. If the power should go out, you're done. The crappy draft controller bounces all over the place, and could die at any time. Also, there is no steam or gas backup feedwater pump, and so if the power goes out you can't get water into the boiler--even though the fire doesn't die for twenty minutes or so. They've lost water in the steam drum several times in the last month, and there is know way of knowing if the tubes were exposed or not. God knows how many times in the past this has happened, or what condition the tubes are in.
Then, there is the equipment issue. The electronic control system is old and failing, and replacement parts are no longer made. Some of the multi-level controllers no longer toggle between functions. The skin of the furnace leaks like a sieve, so that there is dust everywhere all the time. And, there is no real back-up boiler. If the unit goes down when it's freezing outside, the entire place will freeze up before the crappy little fire tube in the next building can be put together and brought up to pressure. By that time, it'll be too late.
I don't care for the 50-minute commute, which will only get worse as winter comes on. I can hardly keep my eyes open on the freeway while driving home.
But, the last straw was that I was told there would be a mechanic on duty most nights to help out if something goes wrong. Now, I find out that the guy is being transferred to day shift, and will only work mids during my days off. When I took this job, I was lead to believe I was to be the midnight shift operator. After being hired, I found out I was the
only operator, and that on the other shifts a mechanic would look in on the boiler "from time to time." They just shoved all the actual work onto midnight shift, so that the operator is just running all the time.
Hey, I'm retired! I just don't need the hassle, especially at the fairly low wages they are paying (around $18/hr). I really don't need the money, and value my time more than that.