Winter 2013-2014 USA

On December 1st we arrived back in California safely.  The trip back always messes with our minds as we leave Bangkok around 5:30 PM and arrive two hours later in Los Angeles.  Yep, two hours later after being in the air for over 15 hours.

The next day, after uncovering the rest of the furniture and our car, I had to go to Garden Grove to pick up some parts for the winter heating season.  

I was hungry so I stopped at Tommy's Restaurant on Chapman Avenue across from See's Candy and had a wonderful breakfast for $3.23, tax included.  

Folks, this was one of the best breakfasts I have had in the USA at any price.  Try it, you might like it. 

Daeng and I will be fixing heating systems here in Southern California until the end of February and then back to "The Land of Smiles" until the summer. 

Please do yourself a favor and check your furnace air filter.  Dirty air filters cause the most problems with furnaces so change or wash your air filter.  It is usually in the bottom of your furnace or in a filter grill where the air returns to your system to he heated. 

We do our filter when we change the clocks; the spring ahead and fall back time change.  Also, check the batteries in your smoke alarms.  

It is also better for your health to have a clean air filter.  Please remember you breath that air, also.

We also celebrated life with a lot of folks this winter. That means we ate lots of cake!  Congratulations to everyone. 

Daeng likes Christmas and all the decorating and package wrapping.  She does a beautiful job wrapping gifts, also.  

Here is a picture of my daughter Tina, Uncle Jimmy, our friend Bill and Daeng decorating my sister Diane's tree.  

Here is a gift that Daeng brought back from Thailand to give me for a Christmas gift.  

It is a paper clip holder for my desk.  

She said it looks like me sitting on the toilet.  We both laughed. 

The New Year celebrations were fun as well.

On New Years Eve, Daeng, sister Diane and I spent time with my Mother.  She is still hanging on at age 92 and is pretty sharp most of the time.

On television we watched the ball drop in New York City with Mom, had some sparkling apple and pomegranate juice.  We were in bed by 10:00 PM.  

Give us a break, we're old!

On Sunday, the family and a few friend got together to celebrate the New Year with Daeng's and my birthday.  

Daeng was born on Christmas Day in a pig barn in Thailand on the Myanmar (Burma) border.  There is no written record of her birth so all her identification shows here birthday as January 1st.  

I always kid here as she has two birthdays in a week. 

Last year, when she turned 40, I told her I was going to trade her in for two 20 year old girls.  She just put her hands on her hips, looked me straight in the eyes and said: "You're not wired for 220!"  I love her!


It is great to see friends that we miss when we are in Thailand.  Here is a picture of our friends Devin and Peg.

We also love visiting Michael and Charlotte in Wasco, California.  Wasco is a little above Bakersfield.  


You can read a few more stories regarding Bakersfield by clicking HERE.

Daeng handmade an apron for Charlotte.  I love this picture of her modeling it. 

Michael's son, Vincent, made the trip with us.  He was is a great traveler and was fun to be with. 

We also had dinner at a fund raiser put on by the "Friends of Jimmy K".  We had a great time.


I love the expression on Charlotte's face in this picture.  I was wondering where Michael's other hand is. 

I might also add we always have fun with our extended family.  

I had to laugh at Daeng as to soften her hair she puts on this mud like stuff that she brought from Thailand.  She mixed it up and put it into her hair.  Than she wraps it in a towel like rag and leaves it for at least 8 hours.  

I must admit, it does make her hair very soft. 

We worked a lot in December fixing heating systems but January and February were very warm months.  I think that Los Angeles broke their record for having the warmest January in written history.


It was okay for me as I'm getting to old to work very hard.  

We did get to go to a few conventions and hook up with some old friends. 

We had dinner at Todai's with our old friends, Paul and Cheryl Scaglione.  Cheryl gave me a DVD of the "Legend of Masty Huba".  If you you like to read more about him just click HERE.

Around 1980 a California artist, Andrew Taylor, painted a picture of me and titled it "Masti F. Huba".  

I don't know were the "F" comes from but you can guess.  

We also had some time to visit with my daughter, Amy, who lives and works with the Peacemaker group. To read more about their store just click HERE. 

The store is wonderful, the people are great and the food is always delicious.  

If you get to Costa Mesa, California just stop in and see them. 

It was a wonderful winter but it is time to return to our home in Thailand on the Myanmar (Burma) border.

I hope to get some of the medical work done done in Thailand, like joint lubricant injected into my knees, that was denied by my Medicare Advantage Plan through Anthem Blue Cross. 

Although the injections have been helping me for years, the insurance company says that they don't feel the health benefit is enough to justify the cost.  

The positive side is I can probably have the injection done cheaper cheaper in Thailand than my co-pay in the USA. 

We'll write more from Thailand.  

Getting your Furnace Ready for Winter

During this time of year almost everyone is getting ready for winter.

After spending 42 years in and around the Heating, Cooling and Ventilating business I wanted to pass on some tips for homeowners.

Replace your heater's air filter monthly or at least as needed. Your heating system will work less hard, use less energy and last longer as a result. Most homeowners can replace filters and do such simple tasks as cleaning and removing dust from vents or along baseboard heaters.

Examine your house's heating venting and ducts for leaks. Think of your duct work as huge hoses, bringing hot air instead of water into your house. Mostly out of sight, ducts can leak for years without you knowing it. They can become torn or crushed and flattened. Old duct tape - the worse thing to use to seal duct work, by the way - will dry up and fall away over time, allowing junctions and splices to open, spilling heated air into your attic or under the house. It's wasteful. According to field research performed by the California Energy Commission, you can save roughly 10 percent of your heating bill by preventing leaky ducts.

Furnace vents and chimney flues should be inspected -- preferably by a professional -- to insure proper venting of the gases created during combustion of natural gas or oil.

NOTE: ''Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is created by many combustion appliances, particularly furnaces,'' said Andrew L. Port, a certified industrial hygienist with Environmental Waste Management Associates, an environmental consulting firm in Parsippany, N.J. ''Basically, carbon monoxide is an asphyxiant that takes the place of the oxygen in your blood. "First, it puts you to sleep; then it kills you.''

Use your set-back thermostat. California houses built today must have them. If you have an older home, consider installing one. A set-back thermostat allows you to automatically turn down the heat when you're away at work or when you're sleeping at night, and then boost the temperature to a comfortable level when you need it. Remember - it takes less energy to warm a cool home than to maintain a warm temperature all day long. Properly using your set-back thermostat could cut your heating costs from 20 to 75 percent.

Make sure all hearing vents are opened and unblocked by furniture or other items. This will ensure that the air is evenly distributed through the home.

Note: If you are vacuuming out your furnace or heating appliance DO NOT VACUUM OUT THE BLACK SOOT WITH YOUR VACUUM. The black soot can still burn and under the correct conditions can explode inside your vacuum cleaner. That could injury you and at the least make a big mess when all that dirty explodes inside your home. Use a small brush and a playing card for a dust pan to remove the black soot.

To keep things working correctly keep the area around your heating equipment clean. Remember it takes almost ten (10) times more air than gas to make a flame. If the combustible air coming into the equipment is clean the equipment will work better and longer.

If your heating system is old, you might consider updating it. A pre-1977 gas furnace is probably 50 percent to 60 percent efficient today. That means only half of the fuel used by the furnace actually reaches your home as heat. Modern gas furnaces, on the other hand, achieve efficiency ratings as high as 97 percent. By replacing an old heating system with one of the most efficient models, you can cut your natural gas use nearly in half!

Insulate your attic. In an older home, that can be the most cost-efficient way to cut home heating costs. Before energy efficiency standards, homes were often built with little or no insulation. As a result, large amounts of heat can be lost through walls, floors and - since heat rises - especially ceilings.

If I can help answer questions about your heating system just email me at DIALONEToday@hotmail.com or visit our website http://www.dialonetoday.com/ for telephone numbers.

Get a routine maintenance and inspection of your heating system each autumn to make sure it is in good working order. In many cases the gas suppler will do this for free.

Remember to always use a trained professional to work on your most valuable single possession, your home.

If you live in an area that has steam, oil or other types of heat you may find this story in the New York Times helpful. CLICK HERE

Here is another link on getting your furnace ready for winter by FOX 5 NEWS. CLICK HERE

PLEASE STAY WARM AND SAFE!