Bessie

We turned her (Bessie, that is) on last night. Sue saw a few snow flurries this afternoon. We have the thermostat cranked up to 57. Maybe we'll get tired of having the house be cold. It's not even November after all. Not sure, but Sue's currently trying to catch up on emails from the comfort of a sleeping bag.





Bessie's a converted coal boiler. So, in the past, one'd have to shovel coal into the bottom door (in the second picture above). Craziness.

In the top door, the bricks are what's called a baffle, slowing down and absorbing the heat in that central chamber. The more heat that can be contained within the central chamber of the boiler, the better with which to heat the water surrounded the boiler - eventually causing water to convert into steam which rises into the radiators in rest of the house.

This is Sue's last week in her first rotation. She's finding, though it's been challenging, she's going to be a little sad to leave it. On top of closing out her rotation, she's also been working her hiney off on a grant application which would fund her for two years... an F... or F-32. December 8th is the deadline.

PS
The graffiti bombers have been working overtime. About once per week I see something new in the Jewelry District. This piece is right across the street from my office building.