Awright you guys, enough with the wimpy limping, I'm gonna do it
myself. I can afford to hire it done but I'm still smarting from the
plumber's bill for installing a new water heater a couple of weeks
ago. That was just wrong!

I looked at softeners today, selected the one I'll probably buy. The
Morton gets slightly better reviews but the Water Boss is considerably
lower so it'll be easier for me to periodically load with salt.

I'll probably pick it up this week, maybe tomorrow. I think I can
unload it from my truck to ground level and move it into the garage
with a hand truck. I'll then wait until one of my very able neighbors
or sons is available to schlep it down to the basement. Installation
will be an easy project, and there's no emergency about getting the
old one out. Trav next door has a pancake compressor that we can use
to blow the water out of the old one to reduce its weight. I may need
to make a couple of fittings, oh dear!

Then I can either haul it to the recycling center or just cut it up
and dispose of it piecemeal in the trash. The recycling center says
that water softeners are not toxic waste so they charge to accept them
-- which is no big deal but I still have to haul it over there.

Hm, maybe I'll just call my trash hauler tomorrow and ask him what
he'd want to collect it at the curb. I don't mind steering a few bux
his way, he's given good reliable service for quite a few years now.