SCRANTON, Pa. — There wasn't an idle moment behind the counter at RJ Walker in Scranton.
The company supplies plumbing, heating, and cooling parts to both businesses and individuals.
Naturally, the dead of winter is one of their busiest times of the year.
And with the arctic air coming through our area this week, the place has been slammed.
"Phone calls ringing off the hook, you wanna take care of the person on the phone, you want to take care of the customer at the counter, in the showroom," said Kevin Walker.
Cold weather in northeastern Pennsylvania comes as a surprise to no one, but procrastination is a flaw many of us share.
"Unfortunately, yeah, not many people worry about their boiler in the summer. Come winter, it's crunch time, everyone wants to get it checked at the same time, and there's only so many plumbers out there," said Walker.
A rush like this happens every winter, but the pandemic has created a few more challenges for employees here this season.
"You know, with COVID running rampant, we have a lot of people off, so it's additional work for everybody across the board," said Walker.
A total of 10 employees at the Scranton location are out right now.
Another problem created by the pandemic - some parts are in short supply.
"A lot of stuff, lead times are just far out there, you know, 10 week delivery time for water heaters. Luckily we're stocked up pretty good."
And not that any of us can imagine turning on the air conditioner right now, but Walker predicts the same problem will happen when the warmer weather comes back around.