Not Now!

Inspirational song: Electricity, Electricity (Schoolhouse Rock)

This may be the exact wrong time for a problem like this to hit. Yesterday the weather was stunningly gorgeous (and completely unseasonably warm). The man drained out about a quarter of the water in the hot tub, and used it for dog baths. He took the filter to the car wash for a serious cleaning, and refilled with fresh water and chemicals. Tonight, after a long day of snowing, and a fifty degree (F) temperature drop, he went out after dark for a soak, to watch it snow. I was exhausted and sore, and followed soon after. The water was overfull, and as I slowly sank into the water (as if I wanted to be only half-in with the air temps significantly below freezing), water sloshed over the corner nearest to my shoulder, in the direction that our unlevel patio slopes. I tried not to sit too deeply, nor move too much, but water kept overflowing. My biggest worry was an ice dam on the concrete, a potential slick spot, or maybe freezing my slippers to the ground, leaving me vulnerable to having my bare, wet feet freeze like a tongue on a flagpole. Little did I know that was not the worst thing to worry about. I had suggested bumping the temperature up a degree or two, and peeked at the control panel. It looked like it was fluttering between 100 and 101 degrees. I leaned back, thinking it was trying to warm up and would be fine. Not two minutes later, The Noise started. It buzzed for a second and stopped. And then it did it again. And again. I turned to Mr S-P wide-eyed and asked, "Are we about to be electrocuted? Should we get out?" He said he didn't think so on the first, but yes on the second just to be sure. We were out of the tub in a flash.

I came inside and googled the error codes from the control panel. I learned it was a sensor error, and the first thing to do was to turn off the power for at least ten seconds, and then try to run electricity to it again. We waited at least 10 minutes, and tried it. It seemed to still be going on. The pump kept revving, like it was turning on the jets every couple seconds. The man had to go find the switch for it, and disconnect it. So now it's single digit temperatures for the next several hours, and I have an overfull fiberglass tub of water, with an unplugged pump so water may not be cycling over the heater properly. I sense bad things about to happen. This is the worst possible timing for this.