Hot Tub Heat Up and Go BOOM!

It's the little things in life that matter. You go along and take them for granted, and it's only when they're gone that you notice what a difference they make, how important they are to you.

Take eyelashes, for example.

You get up on an average morning, you can wink, you look more like a human than a frog, you don't have a panic attack when ever you hear a loud bang... But all that can be changed in the blink of an eye, literally.

So in case you hadn't heard, our new house has an outdoor hot tub. And that hot tub has a heater, and that heater isn't working quite right. Here's how I found out.

Susie and I go to check out our new house the day we get the keys. We look around the house, wander from room to room, and soon realize there's no furniture.

"There's no furniture," I say.

"We could always sit in the hot tub," Susie says. "I just happened to have swimsuits and towels and champagne in the trunk."

"That's quite a good idea," I say.

Our friends Brian and Toni had come over as well, so the four of us head out to the tub. After about 45 minutes, the water from the jets stops being hot. It is as though the water is recirculating, but is no longer being heated, I think to myself.

So I get out of the pool and walk over to the heating unit. It's not putting out heat. Yet the switch is still in the "High" position. How odd.

I turn the switch to "Off" and immediately the world goes bright. I remember now a large Boom, but at the time, it was more like the sound a hot air balloon heater makes when it's exploding.

I shook my head a bit to clear it, turned the heater back on to high (note to those reading: yes, that does seem a little unwise in retrospect, but I was a little stunned) and walked back to the pool where Susie and Toni and Brian where sitting really still.

"Trav," Susie said. "Is anything on fire over there, because I smell a little burning."

"Nope, it's all fine. Just a little built up gas," I said.

"Are you sure, because something smells a little crispy," Toni said.

"I'm pretty sure," I said.

"Dude, where's your eyebrows?" Brian said.

We sat in the now-hot tub and pondered this for a little while. About 20 minutes later, the heater made another loud boom, and then an even louder one, so I got up and turned it off with a long stick and we decided to call it an evening.

Other than that, the new house is really lovely, and I'll be announcing the housewarming soon.

Comments