You know, life can be hazardous some times. Even in the mundane and common. I have a heater, 2000W to be precise, that I have borrowed from the former owner of the boat, and it has been a life saver. But this morning it turned into a life threat. Well, it’s been like this for some time, but this morning I made the decision to throw it out.

The reason is that it’s been working so-so, I haven’t gotten the same kind of heat out of it as I had in the beginning, or at least that is the feel I have. In the beginning I could hardly stand close to it for any longer period of time before I felt it getting too hot so that I had to move. This morning when I got up I realized that it was hardly blowing any heat at all. I mean, it was warm, but nowhere near what I would expect 2kW to feel or how I remember it as I arrived. My thought was “well, at least it isn’t just a fan” when I stepped over it this morning, getting out of bed.

Time for breakfast. I’m currently running a bit low on groceries, bread in particular, so I thought I would have some toasts (since I brought my toaster!). The thing is that I can’t have the toaster and the heater running at the same time, as it will trip the breaker. So I naturally started to pull the plug for the heater, and felt that it was a bit warmer than usual. As the boat is EU-standard I got EU plugs in the boat, so the UK/Ireland plugs needs an adapter. As I got the adapter out of my extension cord, I realized that one of the pins was leaning. Odd. No, it wasn’t leaning, as I moved the plug around looking at it I saw that it was moving! Then I understood that the heat that I felt removing the plug had been enough to partly melt the adapter and now one of the pins was literally loose enough to wobble around.

I sat down in front of my computer and ordered not just two new plug converters, but also a new heater. The same model, though. Not sure why. The contact on the old one is corroded and I’ve tried to clean it in the past, but to no avail, obviously. It will probably take two days before the new arrives. The forecast says it will be 3 degrees above freezing tonight. I prepare for a cold night. Time to put on my sheepskin slippers, that I’ve had in my closet for over 15 years, not knowing why. For some reason I brought them. This reason. Interesting, isn’t it?