Good Grief!!!?!?!

Well, it's been quite a day.
Remember that ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times"?  We've had that today.

We began with a loong drive to the pulmonologist's office.  With the weather situation being chancy, we decided to leave here just a bit over an hour before the appointment time.  We like to be "time on target" as the Air Force people use it.  Good that we did.  No snow, but there was evidence of ice having been on bridges and overpasses, and salt trucks were out.  That was OK.  What wasn't, was that one of the sections of our route, a portion that involves transfer from one "limited access highway" to another, the section that the state highway department had announced four days ago would be open last evening, wasn't.  So ... get off the one, the first of the freeway legs.  Drive several miles, down a heavily trafficked 4-lane road, with the usually wretched traffic signalization, then divert and get on to that intermediate section via an entrance well off our projected path.  Then dodge some drivers who seemed to have begun their weekend drunk just a bit early, and got to the Dr.  office still ahead of schedule.
Then the whole doctor thing.  Fork over a co-pay.  Meet with assistant and physician.  Much to-do about who or what is at fault for the re-po of her CPAP that helps her to breathe at night .  Lots of finger-pointing, pretty much as expected.  So, we'll call Monday and get the run-down on what's happening next.  In the meantime, she has no CPAP machine.  Doc not happy about that, but I privately suspect his own office staff may be a large portion of the problem.  And a follow-up visit for June.

And then .....  the drive home.  I have driven that vehicle slightly under 200 miles in the last 3 weeks, mostly the trips to pharmacy, church, grocery, etc.  Once to the public library and twice to the laundromat.  That's it.  And have used 3/4 tank of gas in so doing!  Not good, and not getting better either.

And then .....  we came home.  To a cold house.  29° outside right now, going to 19°.  No heat.  None at all.
For the last 3+ years, we've heated our little hovel with a gas-fired fireplace.  Natural gas that is.  Sounds weird, but it's worked well, and generally we end up in the winter with a gas bill of under $100.  Remember, gas cookstove and oven, so some of that is the "base load".  Unit has a blower that distributes the warm air pretty well.  But it's suddenly not working.  It was working when we left, and for the last month as the weather here turned cold.  So, I've spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get it to go again.  Got the pilot light to come on, twice, and the main burner to come on for a good 15 seconds or so.  Then back out and won't re-light, no matter what.  So, no heat.
We have two of those electric heaters that will -- we hope -- get us through the night.  Tomorrow, I'll take the money I'd intended to use Monday to renew my driver license that expires a week from today, and go to the hardware store for a new thermocouple that we think is the key.  And perhaps it is.  We shall see.

Makes for a not-so-great day, all in all.
And it can always get worse, I guess.