Friday, January 25, 2008

brr redux

So I've been playing a little weather-related game in my apartment these last couple months.

It is a strange game, one which I've come to realize the last couple days that I'm losing.

The game is simple: how long can I go before turning my heat on.

So far this winter I haven't turned it on yet. Not once. Not even for a minute.

That's right, I'm a bad mama jama.

There was a short span of semi-cold days in mid/late November when I considered turning it on, but thought, "Nah, you can wait till December." Then, in December, it wasn't really that cold, at least not to me, until about the 10th or so. I contemplated turning the heat on again, but then thought, "You know, you are leaving town in a week or so, why turn it on now? Just wait till you get back after the holidays." When I returned to Cleveland around the 28th, it was chilly, but I pulled a November and said, "Just wait till January." Then we had that awesome warm stretch of days and a bunch more only slightly cold days and all of a sudden the month is 2/3 over.

But these last couple days have freaking killed me. So now I sit in a frigid apartment, too bundled to sleep but to cold to unlayer, wearing a t-shirt, button-up, sweater, and a bum-around-the-house hoodie, wishing I could type with my gloves on, wondering if I ought to turn on the heat.

"But it is already the 25th, and before you know it it'll be February ..."

Like I said, I'm losing this game.

Or maybe I'm winning. After all, my gas bill hasn't been over $9 a month since I moved here.

That's right - Nine Dollars. Pretty awesome, huh?

Everyone I know living in a similar pad is paying anywhere from $125 to nearly $300 a month for their gas bill.

So maybe this game is worth winning.

All I know, given my work schedule and weekend plans (or lack thereof, thanks to some self-inflicted end-of-month poverty), is that I'm going to be home quite a bit between now and next Tuesday, so my resolve will probably weaken by the wee hours of Saturday and completely disintegrate by Sunday. Or maybe the powers-that-be will see fit to raise the temps a few dozen degrees. Doubtful, though it would be pretty darn cool if they did.

Cool. Not cold.

4 comments:

Christine Borne said...

Isn't your little dog cold?

Christine Borne said...

ps- our gas bill is only about $60 a month, and I think we have close to the same square footage as you. We might be on the plan where it gets spread out all year - I'm not sure. Do you have a ceiling fan? If you keep it at 65 and have the ceiling fan going, it stays pretty warm...the fan pushes all the warm air down at you.

Christine Borne said...

pps - keep your blinds shut all the time...even though they're metal (I'm guessing you have metal blinds; we do) it keeps the cold air out. You'd think it'd be the opposite, if you let sun in, the place would stay warmer. But I don't think I've opened our blinds in about a month...just too cold!

CB said...

Hey Christine - Actually, my dog seems totally unaffected. Of course, she spends her time wrapped in a ball under the blankets.

I bet you guys are on one of those bills where it is spread out all year. When I first received this month's bill, it was like $140. After a longish WTF? period, I called up and they said it was based on last year's usage (e.g., what the previous tenant used last December). I gave them the reading and they adjusted it to like 7 bucks. Much better.

One thing I wish for is that the otherwise thoughtful and reliable folks at our shared landlord's office would have better windows, at least over here. My other bedroom, which functions as something between storage and an office, has been abandoned by me for the last 2 months because it is about 30 degrees cooler than the living room. Though that should be good for summer.

Thanks for the ceiling fan tip - If I break down this weekend, as seems likely, I will definitely do it.