My husband is scarred by book lights & we got a new water heater

Remember the awesome book light my husband got me for my birthday?  As it turns out, he hates book lights.  Apparently his mother used a book light a lot when he was kid, especially when they were traveling in the car and hotels etc., and he hates them, because he thought she was always especially rude in her use of them.  He asked me to please leave our bedroom at night if I intended to continuing using the book light; to this I replied, if I am leaving the room, I can turn the fraggin' lights in in whatever room I end up in.  So, I am now compelled to use the book light under the covers of the bed so the light is not visible from any angle.

Personally, I think my husband is just jealous of the nook.

Also, we got a new tankless water heater installed yesterday.  Our old water heater was located in the not-a guest-room on the first floor; the room was designed as a perfect guest or renter's room, with its own attached bathroom, but also with the water heater in a closet of the room.  This was apparently and okay thing for builders to do in 1979, but since then we've discovered that the carbon monoxide generated by water heaters can kill you, and they should not be located where people sleep.

We asked around a few plumbers to get quotes on moving the water heater to the basement, which was evidently not designed to hold a water heater (it lacks a water drainage pipe, air intakes and outputs, doesn't have the recommended number of outlets).  We were told that the airways would have to be cut through the stucco exterior, electrical outlets would need to be relocated, aspects of the furnaces would need to be brought up to code for the final inspection, etc.  However, we found a plumber willing to do the entire job (removal of the old water heater and installation of new tankless heater in the basement) for $3500, and that included the cost of the new heater, which was way less than we thought it would cost.  We also get rebates from our energy company and a federal tax rebate, so the cost is further reduced.

The guys showed up at 8:30 yesterday morning; by happenstance, I was working from home that day to shorten my drive to a talk later in the day (attendance for work).  Mr. B told me he had taken the day off of work to oversee the installation.  Then when I tell him I need to work from home that day, he responds with "Oh good, you'll be here until 2:30.  Then I'm going to go run errands and turn in job applications."

Um, no?!  I say this once: why do people not understand that working from home entails, um, working? As in, I sit in a room and work, and pretend that I am at my office, and I am not paid to oversee water heater installation, answer plumber's questions, turn all the faucets on and off, see if pipes are getting hot, show people where the water main is, call the HOA to see if X-Y-Z is okay to do...


Mr. B gets cranky when I tell him he needs to pretend I'm at the office, like always, and says (laughing, I might add): "Okay, sure.  Whatever."  And then adds, "I have stuff to do, too!"

What the hell?  Seriously?  He took the day off from work specifically to oversee that project.  He didn't know I would be home that day until 7pm the night before.  Seriously, can I ask why working from home is such a tough idea to digest?  If I needed to take time off to oversee home improvements, I would have asked for time off, but Mr. B said he had it covered.  Had it covered until he found out I was working from home, apparently, and then decided to dump it off on me and go do whatever (don't worry--I didn't let him; I sat in the office and worked and made him sit his butt down in the living room and do the aforementioned duties related to the install).

He gave up the fight by noon.  The installers were there until almost 10 pm yesterday night, and showed up again this morning to finish the job.  Turned out a little over the price quote because the plumber found some rusted pipes that needed replacing (from the propane meter coming into the house), but we now have unlimited hot water on demand, have added an extra bedroom to our house, and no longer have to worry about anyone dying in their sleep.

Alula