Home--DIY...

I just blew all of Sunday replacing a hot water heater that I installed only 3 years ago. One consolation is that it had a 9-year warranty so the new heater was free and has a 9-year warranty too. At the Home Depot they offered me a lifetime warranty for an extra hundred bucks. My bet is that the only difference between the 6-year, 9-year and 12-year models is the price. They just charge for the longer life ones because it is less likely that the unit will survive that long and they will have to replace it. What you get are identical models, but with different lengths of extended warranties.

If they keep breaking every three years, I will never have to pay for a hot water heater again! Of course, I would rather pay $400 every 9 years and only have to install one every 9 years than pay nothing and have to install one every three years.

If I had to install one tomorrow it would only take a couple of hours instead of all day: I spend about two thirds of my time re-learning how to solder copper pipe and the other third being productive. So right now I am pretty good at it, but in three years or so I will have lost the touch again.

Well, that is that. The day is done. Tomorrow will be just for fun--no work!