Thursday, October 15, 2009

Hot and cold

My friend Linda, who is one of three people who reads my blog, scolded me today for not updating in a week. I must first add that Linda is in that stage of pregnancy that you just don't want to mess with and apparently it's a slow week at work for her. But I'll be darned, she's right.

I do have a good excuse for not updating. Life is busy. B-U-S-Y. (I am actually supposed to be starting on a work project right now but have become momentarily distracted.) In fact, Chad and I are both so busy that we chat online more than we talk in person. I'm hoping this only lasts a few weeks.

Here's our latest conversation. I had just gotten home from work and noticed that Chad was on IM, meaning he was still sitting in his office:

6:48 PM me: Still there, I see.
Chad: yeah, hoping to head soon
6:49 PM need to go see if mark is still here though so that might delay me
me: ok
6:50 PM well lucy is sitting here looking out the window for you and i am waiting for you to come home so you can help me turn the heat on. [It is currently 60 degrees in our house.]
Chad: ha, u can't figure that out?
6:51 PM me: you have to reset the whole thing so i'd rather wait for you
6:52 PM Chad: k
i'm going to swing by downstairs and then head out
bye

I will take this moment to recognize the love/hate relationship I have with our thermostat. We installed the thing on Inauguration Day to save money on electricity (one of my New Year's Resolutions, remember? -- in fact, one of the only ones I'm sticking with). Anyway, they told us to install it wrong and the heat ran nonstop without warming the house for a week before I called the company and they set it straight. Our electric bill was two times higher than usual that month because of their faulty directions--so much for saving energy--and even my letter to the CEO, which was quite poetic might I add, was not convincing enough for them to pay half of it.

So I definitely did not include it in my list of favorite things, which I really do need to update, and was actually quite bitter about this whole experience. I seriously considered taking it back but I didn't want to have to spackle and repaint the wall again.

And then the summer came. And the heat. And our handy $100 thermostat saved us at least $200 in bills. (I know this because I've kept track of every bill we've had since 2004...so believe me when I tell you, this was no fluke.)

That's not to say the thermostat doesn't have its problems. For example, I can't figure out how to change it from "cool" to "heat." But it's not a huge deal. Isn't that what husbands are for?

1 comment:

Linda said...

I think in all fairness to me, I should provide background information on why I NEEDED you to write a new post.

Just about anything can make me cry right now. I cry because of sad TV shows or something sad happening on a TV show. I cry because of sad or touching greeting cards. I cry because I see an old couple riding along in a car together and I think they are cute.

So, imagine what happened to me when I pushed play at work and saw some woman carting around a 19 year-old dog that apparently has lost the use of its limbs into the room of some elderly woman who reminds me of my grandma (and who is also in a nursing home). I had to go to the bathroom to hide the tears! I never even finished the video.

And, because it is a busy week, I go to the blogs of my friends for quick breaks - I call them brain refreshers - so I can focus again. I kept going to your blog, hoping for some new post and all I kept seeing was that sad, sad dog being carried around to all these people.

I was desperate. That's why I had to send you a note begging for a new post. Not so much scolding, but encouraging more writing. :) Thank you. You have done your good deed for the day.