With the lowering temperatures, one thing continues to go up; our electric bill. It jumped up over $300 from November to December. This is thanks to the ineffecient base board heat that we are stuck with right now. Our gas logs should be put in around the 14th of January. Until then we are still surviving on the baseboards. Now I understand an increased bill, however, I would just like to be warm when I pay the bill. We were so sick about the power bill that we have decided to cut off all the heat in every room but one, our guest bedroom. We have moved a small TV and dvd player in that room and have started to sleep in the Guest room. The room is smaller and more easily able to control the heat, also the bed is smaller forcing us to stay closer and therefore warmer. This is fine and dandy, but it means that everywhere in the house it stays between 40 and 50 degrees. We run from the bedroom to the bathroom and back in the cold hallway. It is too cold to sit in our living room. We continually have running noses by the time we make ourselves a sandwich in the kitchen. By the time we get the sandwich fixed the florescent lights in the kitchen have heated up enough to turn on. It is like living in a dorm room again.
As if to add to the crazyness of this Winter, let me tell you more of the happenings. One day there was ice on our driveway. Most of the ice had started to melt at this time. I was smoking my pipe, and decided to go check the mailbox. As I am walking down the drive way, my feet hit a particularly slick part of the driveway. My feet decide to leave the ice and switch places with my head. I litterally have my feet fly into the air as I fall to the ground. The whole time this is happening I am thinking All I need now is for someone I know to see this. As I am sitting there moaning and trying to catch my breath, I look up and down the road to see if anyone is passing. I check my neighbors houses to see if anyone saw me. I am relieved to see that there were no cars passing and no neighbors watching. Then I look back to my own house to see my dogs and my wife looking out the front door. They had seen the entire thing, and you think I kid you but the pugs were laughing as loud as my wife. This snow and ice is going kill and bury my pride.
Last night, me and my wife decide to go out to help lift our spirits. We were both feeling a little down and decided to go to Macados to eat. It was a Friday night, so we could take our time, go to sleep with the knowledge that we had nothing to do the next day. We had a wonderful dinner. When we are done, my wife decided to order her a nice dessert. As we are waiting, we begin to talk about what we are going to do on Saturday. We talk about how we do not have to be anywhere, we don't have to do anything. Sarah says that this makes her more excited about her dessert. I was a little confused so I asked her why this made her more excited about her desert. She said "No idea." This cracked me up because usually I'm the one who says things and connects things that are in no way related.
Talking about food, Sarah made an interesting dinner tonight. She asked me if I would like to have Meatloaf. I told her that it sounded good, Sarah's meatloaf has always been awesome. Well, Sarah decided to make it a little different. I was in the hallway, and I heard her shaking something into the meatloaf. I would find out later it was a lot of oregeno. When dinner was served, I took a bite of the meatloaf. I had trouble eating anymore. I was not sure if I could finish it. So here we are, my wife and I, sitting in our little room eating dinner. I do not want to upset her, so I start eating my vegetables. Sarah notices, and looks at me. I am expecting her to say that she realized I didn't like the meatloaf. Instead, my wife looks into my eyes, smile slightly, and says "This is terrible!" I look back into her eyes and say "Yeah, yeah it is. It is awful." To which we both fall over laughing. I could not finish what I had, and she started to feel bad from eating it. I proceeded to go to the kitchen for a bowl of cereal. I think I now understand the excitement over the dessert. :)
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
The Heat amongst the Cold
On New Years Eve this year, I spent the night playing board games at my friend's parents' house. It was a fun time. I found a new favorite game, Pit. I love it! It was great. I was able to see friends I don't get to see very often. One of these friends is my buddy Nathan. He reminded me of the interesting time I had when I went to see him in a play in Ohio. Let me tell you a story...
The time is October. The temperature is pretty cold (of course). My friend Scott and his wife have the opportunity to go see Nathan in a play in Cincinnati. Sarah and I say "Why not?" So we leave extremely early on a Saturday. We drive through mountains, valleys, towns, until we finally arrive in Ohio. It is about lunch time so we decide to go look for somewhere to eat. There doesn't seem to be a lot of people out on the streets. We find a little sandwich shop and eat some lunch. Then we meet Nathan before the play. He was in a performance of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It was very good.
After the play, Nathan had to do another performance before he would be done for the day. So we decided to go see what there was to do in Cincinnati. First we drove around looking for stuff. We started going out of the city into a very sketch residential neighborhood. I started to feel very uneasy. We then drove back into town and parked the car. We decide to walk around the town to find something to do. We litterally cannot find anything to do. Most of the places are closed, at 3 pm on a Saturday. I didn't understand it. There were hardly anyone out on the streets. We finally found a Starbucks open and containing a few signs of life. After spending about $10 on two cups of gourmet coffee, we decide to go back to the car. I'm about to freeze, the wind is whipping through the streets in between the large buildings. We sat in the car and waited for Nathan.
After we went out to eat, we headed to Nathan's apartment. This is where the fun will begin. He lives in a small two-room apartment. We get there to a heat I had not experienced in a long time. He had a radiator putting out heat that he could not turn up or down. It was extremely hot in this place. Scott, Lauren, Sarah, and I took over Nathan's kitchen for our air mattress. Scott and Lauren had a small air mattress at the foot of my air mattress. Sarah and I had a bigger one that required us to use a pump to inflate it. We get the air mattress in place and lay down to sleep. I am unable to sleep.
It is so hot that I am unable to sleep comfortably. Meanwhile, I hear everyone else sleeping great. I doze in and out of consciousness. While the hours slowly pass, I notice that my rear keeps getting closer and closer to the floor, while my head and feet are still raised of the ground at the same height. Apparently my weight is keeping Sarah, who is on the other side of the air mattress from sinking to the floor as well. I finally feel my butt touch the kitchen floor.
I start to doze off again when I am awakened by Sarah pulling on my arm saying "There is someone outside!" I get up to see what is up. From the alley next to the apartments I hear someone screaming "THAT'S WHAT YOU GET! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET!" Then I hear what sounds like sneakers running down the side walk in front of the apartments. I move to the main room where Nathan's bed is so I can see out the front windows down to the street. In the dark, I hear Nathan stir as I look out the window. He whispers to me "Is there anything I can do to help you sleep better?" I say exactly what is on my mind, "Yeah, you can lay me out!" He laughs a bit. I tell him about what I had heard. He said that sometimes people yell in the street between buildings. I decide to go back to bed.
When I get back to bed, I lay down and tell Sarah that whoever was out there is gone. She gets up to go to the bathroom which makes me sink all the way to the floor. When she comes back to lay down, she launches me off the air mattress in the kitchen floor. Sarah says, "I guess we should blow it back up." We proceed to get the pump and everything ready very quietly in the dark. As soon as we turn it on, the loud little pump scares Lauren who, while being half-asleep, jumps up out of her bed and tries to hold up the air mattress while we pump it up. Scott doesn't move. We finally get Lauren to lay down and get the mattress inflated. We lay back down to sleep.
I continue to doze in and out. I lay in a pool of sweat. I slowly begin the movement down toward the floor again. It is getting on to be about 4 in the morning. I hear Scott let out a moan of absolute pain, but then gets quiet again after he rolls over. In the dark, I can hear Sarah repositioning on the air mattress. Then I hear a pop and a rushing of air. I suddenly begin to descend rapidly toward the floor. Sarah begins to fuss about the air mattress, mad because it had gotten stuck on the fridge door and popped. I tell Sarah to go sit in Nathans reclining computer chair and try to rest. I sit on a kitchen chair for an hour dreading what new challenges the day will bring. My luck changed however and the next day went smoothly.
So this story goes to show you, Heat is not all sunshine and daises. Sometimes it's radiators and air mattresses. Stay Warm!
The time is October. The temperature is pretty cold (of course). My friend Scott and his wife have the opportunity to go see Nathan in a play in Cincinnati. Sarah and I say "Why not?" So we leave extremely early on a Saturday. We drive through mountains, valleys, towns, until we finally arrive in Ohio. It is about lunch time so we decide to go look for somewhere to eat. There doesn't seem to be a lot of people out on the streets. We find a little sandwich shop and eat some lunch. Then we meet Nathan before the play. He was in a performance of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It was very good.
After the play, Nathan had to do another performance before he would be done for the day. So we decided to go see what there was to do in Cincinnati. First we drove around looking for stuff. We started going out of the city into a very sketch residential neighborhood. I started to feel very uneasy. We then drove back into town and parked the car. We decide to walk around the town to find something to do. We litterally cannot find anything to do. Most of the places are closed, at 3 pm on a Saturday. I didn't understand it. There were hardly anyone out on the streets. We finally found a Starbucks open and containing a few signs of life. After spending about $10 on two cups of gourmet coffee, we decide to go back to the car. I'm about to freeze, the wind is whipping through the streets in between the large buildings. We sat in the car and waited for Nathan.
After we went out to eat, we headed to Nathan's apartment. This is where the fun will begin. He lives in a small two-room apartment. We get there to a heat I had not experienced in a long time. He had a radiator putting out heat that he could not turn up or down. It was extremely hot in this place. Scott, Lauren, Sarah, and I took over Nathan's kitchen for our air mattress. Scott and Lauren had a small air mattress at the foot of my air mattress. Sarah and I had a bigger one that required us to use a pump to inflate it. We get the air mattress in place and lay down to sleep. I am unable to sleep.
It is so hot that I am unable to sleep comfortably. Meanwhile, I hear everyone else sleeping great. I doze in and out of consciousness. While the hours slowly pass, I notice that my rear keeps getting closer and closer to the floor, while my head and feet are still raised of the ground at the same height. Apparently my weight is keeping Sarah, who is on the other side of the air mattress from sinking to the floor as well. I finally feel my butt touch the kitchen floor.
I start to doze off again when I am awakened by Sarah pulling on my arm saying "There is someone outside!" I get up to see what is up. From the alley next to the apartments I hear someone screaming "THAT'S WHAT YOU GET! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET!" Then I hear what sounds like sneakers running down the side walk in front of the apartments. I move to the main room where Nathan's bed is so I can see out the front windows down to the street. In the dark, I hear Nathan stir as I look out the window. He whispers to me "Is there anything I can do to help you sleep better?" I say exactly what is on my mind, "Yeah, you can lay me out!" He laughs a bit. I tell him about what I had heard. He said that sometimes people yell in the street between buildings. I decide to go back to bed.
When I get back to bed, I lay down and tell Sarah that whoever was out there is gone. She gets up to go to the bathroom which makes me sink all the way to the floor. When she comes back to lay down, she launches me off the air mattress in the kitchen floor. Sarah says, "I guess we should blow it back up." We proceed to get the pump and everything ready very quietly in the dark. As soon as we turn it on, the loud little pump scares Lauren who, while being half-asleep, jumps up out of her bed and tries to hold up the air mattress while we pump it up. Scott doesn't move. We finally get Lauren to lay down and get the mattress inflated. We lay back down to sleep.
I continue to doze in and out. I lay in a pool of sweat. I slowly begin the movement down toward the floor again. It is getting on to be about 4 in the morning. I hear Scott let out a moan of absolute pain, but then gets quiet again after he rolls over. In the dark, I can hear Sarah repositioning on the air mattress. Then I hear a pop and a rushing of air. I suddenly begin to descend rapidly toward the floor. Sarah begins to fuss about the air mattress, mad because it had gotten stuck on the fridge door and popped. I tell Sarah to go sit in Nathans reclining computer chair and try to rest. I sit on a kitchen chair for an hour dreading what new challenges the day will bring. My luck changed however and the next day went smoothly.
So this story goes to show you, Heat is not all sunshine and daises. Sometimes it's radiators and air mattresses. Stay Warm!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Closing Walls
Have you ever felt like the walls are closing in? Have you ever felt like you know something needs to be done but there does not seem to be a way to do it? These are troubled times. I say troubled times because everyone is struggling; finanically, emotionally, spiritually.
We are often caught up with things being hard. People are wanting for more; gas prices are too high, electric bills are going through the roof, inflation has made everything cost more. So we know the price of living is going up. The other side of that is that more and more people are having trouble finding work. Jobs are not paying more even though the cost of things is going up. People are having to do without more.
These problems people face are causing more and more people to feel down and depressed. People who may have already been susceptible become depressed and distraught. When this happens, it makes it even harder to get out of the rut a person is in. Stress levels go up when people worry. The creature comforts that we enjoy go out the window because we can not afford them, which is our way of overcoming stress. Relationships suffer when we feel distracted by our own problems.
When our relationship suffer, so does are spiritual growth. Our relationship with our God becomes lax. We focus more on what we need as opposed to what we can do for God. It is a cycle that starts when we get to focused on the worldy things that are just for our own benefit and stop focusing on what God has in store for us, what work He has for us to do.
If you feel this way, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! You might expect someone to say that in these times we should turn to God for help. The truth is WE (I say that because I am feeling this way) should be looking to God first while we still had plenty. If we were looking and doing as God wanted, we may not be in the shape we are in. God often uses things like this to help us turn our attention back to God.
The Bible says:
Luke 12:22-34
22And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
We are often caught up with things being hard. People are wanting for more; gas prices are too high, electric bills are going through the roof, inflation has made everything cost more. So we know the price of living is going up. The other side of that is that more and more people are having trouble finding work. Jobs are not paying more even though the cost of things is going up. People are having to do without more.
These problems people face are causing more and more people to feel down and depressed. People who may have already been susceptible become depressed and distraught. When this happens, it makes it even harder to get out of the rut a person is in. Stress levels go up when people worry. The creature comforts that we enjoy go out the window because we can not afford them, which is our way of overcoming stress. Relationships suffer when we feel distracted by our own problems.
When our relationship suffer, so does are spiritual growth. Our relationship with our God becomes lax. We focus more on what we need as opposed to what we can do for God. It is a cycle that starts when we get to focused on the worldy things that are just for our own benefit and stop focusing on what God has in store for us, what work He has for us to do.
If you feel this way, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! You might expect someone to say that in these times we should turn to God for help. The truth is WE (I say that because I am feeling this way) should be looking to God first while we still had plenty. If we were looking and doing as God wanted, we may not be in the shape we are in. God often uses things like this to help us turn our attention back to God.
The Bible says:
Luke 12:22-34
22And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
23The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
24Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
25And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature on
24Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
25And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature on
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Bitter Cold
Dante Alighieri wrote in The Inferno about the lowest part of Hell being a pool of ice where the wind would suck all the warmth out you. I am inclined to agree with this idea after this week. We've had a very cold time here. We had a White Christmas for the first time in a while. I am still not sure why Bing Crosby wanted one so bad. All it has done is make it even harder for my wife, my brother, and I to get to all the places we need to visit on Christmas Day. It has been cold like this for about a month now. What is interesting to note is that each year has shown a decrease in the amount of Fall & Spring weather we get here. All of a sudden it was freezing cold.
Our new house is very cold. We are looking into ways to heat the place, but I'm afraid that all alternatives will be expensive. At this point, I just want to be warm. Our landlords are working with us to try to get us fixed up. My wife and I are thankful to have landlords that care this much. I think we will be getting gas logs real soon. If they are anything like my parents gas logs, I will need to break out the summer clothes a little early. Until we get the gas logs put in, I will be sitting really close with my wife and pugs in order to stay warm.
Now we have had a bit of snow and ice this month, but what seperates cold from bitter cold is the wind. I can now go outside in 32 degree weather and not think much about it, but if the wind is blowing that cold air gets to areas of my body that only X-Rays should touch. I am literally chilled to the bone. Even my dogs show signs of this when they would rather have an accident in the house, facing a potential spanking than go outside and freeze so they can "use the bathroom." One of the most annoying things about being so cold is the fact that I often feel like my feet are on fire when I take a shower; it is really just my feet thawing out I suppose.
With the snow and ice, travel is hindered a bit and we try to avoid the dangers of being on the roads. I was afraid that with me not getting out as much, I would lose my motivation to take a shower. I mean, who would I be trying to impress in my basement office. This could pose a problem however because my wife (even more than myself) is sensitive to odors. However, I find that the motivation to take a shower changes from not wanting to stink to wanting to warm up. The shower is the only time when I actually feel like I'm not a meat popsicle. I thaw out and can actually move a bit.
Speaking of travel, I had a fun experience just yesterday. I take pride in my inclement weather driving ability. People may be afraid of my driving ability under normal road conditions, but when bad weather occurs, I step it up and can do some amazing things. One example would be when I drove my old, little Saturn up the old ski slope at Cascade Mountain on my wedding day in two feet of snow. When I pulled into the parking lots, people were taking bets that I would get stuck trying. Now I have a new vehicle, my lovely Nissan Rouge which has all-wheel drive. Yesterday, I drove my wife to work because the ice and snow makes her nervous. I had a little trouble getting back into my drive way when I came back, but I did it. I realized at this point that it would be beneficial to have a snow shovel here at the house so that I could clear the driveway. I thought I would pick one up at the store where my wife works when I go to pick her up at the end of the day. I decided to leave a little early and go pick up the shovel. When I went to pull down the driveway, I did not notice that the snow in my front yard had drifted at the bottom of my driveway. I am trying to pull out when I hit the snow drift that was up to the frame of my car. I had not gained enough momentum to push through it, so I was stuck. Stuck at the bottom of my driveway. I called my wife to tell her I wouldn't be able to come get her, so she had someone bring her and a shovel home for me. I was so angry, my pride in my driving hurt. I started to dig the car out, and my neighbors from across the street came to help. My neighbors are really great! The only problem was that it was another blow to my fragile pride. They helped dig it out and I decided to go down the road and get some dinner. I thanked my neighbors and went to get my keys. When I came back, I found that the car was still stuck. I sat in my car, rocking the car trying to get it over the big lump of snow it had ran over. Meanwhile my wife is texting me to forget it and come inside and warm up. Yet again, bruising my pride. After about 10 minutes of fighting with the snow drift, I rocked the car over it and down the road I went, finally winning a hit for my pride.
I WILL one day live in a place where it does not snow. A place that is warm all the time. I will live in a place where the temperature only moves about 6 degrees from one season to the next. That is my paradise. Until then, everybody try to keep warm.
Our new house is very cold. We are looking into ways to heat the place, but I'm afraid that all alternatives will be expensive. At this point, I just want to be warm. Our landlords are working with us to try to get us fixed up. My wife and I are thankful to have landlords that care this much. I think we will be getting gas logs real soon. If they are anything like my parents gas logs, I will need to break out the summer clothes a little early. Until we get the gas logs put in, I will be sitting really close with my wife and pugs in order to stay warm.
Now we have had a bit of snow and ice this month, but what seperates cold from bitter cold is the wind. I can now go outside in 32 degree weather and not think much about it, but if the wind is blowing that cold air gets to areas of my body that only X-Rays should touch. I am literally chilled to the bone. Even my dogs show signs of this when they would rather have an accident in the house, facing a potential spanking than go outside and freeze so they can "use the bathroom." One of the most annoying things about being so cold is the fact that I often feel like my feet are on fire when I take a shower; it is really just my feet thawing out I suppose.
With the snow and ice, travel is hindered a bit and we try to avoid the dangers of being on the roads. I was afraid that with me not getting out as much, I would lose my motivation to take a shower. I mean, who would I be trying to impress in my basement office. This could pose a problem however because my wife (even more than myself) is sensitive to odors. However, I find that the motivation to take a shower changes from not wanting to stink to wanting to warm up. The shower is the only time when I actually feel like I'm not a meat popsicle. I thaw out and can actually move a bit.
Speaking of travel, I had a fun experience just yesterday. I take pride in my inclement weather driving ability. People may be afraid of my driving ability under normal road conditions, but when bad weather occurs, I step it up and can do some amazing things. One example would be when I drove my old, little Saturn up the old ski slope at Cascade Mountain on my wedding day in two feet of snow. When I pulled into the parking lots, people were taking bets that I would get stuck trying. Now I have a new vehicle, my lovely Nissan Rouge which has all-wheel drive. Yesterday, I drove my wife to work because the ice and snow makes her nervous. I had a little trouble getting back into my drive way when I came back, but I did it. I realized at this point that it would be beneficial to have a snow shovel here at the house so that I could clear the driveway. I thought I would pick one up at the store where my wife works when I go to pick her up at the end of the day. I decided to leave a little early and go pick up the shovel. When I went to pull down the driveway, I did not notice that the snow in my front yard had drifted at the bottom of my driveway. I am trying to pull out when I hit the snow drift that was up to the frame of my car. I had not gained enough momentum to push through it, so I was stuck. Stuck at the bottom of my driveway. I called my wife to tell her I wouldn't be able to come get her, so she had someone bring her and a shovel home for me. I was so angry, my pride in my driving hurt. I started to dig the car out, and my neighbors from across the street came to help. My neighbors are really great! The only problem was that it was another blow to my fragile pride. They helped dig it out and I decided to go down the road and get some dinner. I thanked my neighbors and went to get my keys. When I came back, I found that the car was still stuck. I sat in my car, rocking the car trying to get it over the big lump of snow it had ran over. Meanwhile my wife is texting me to forget it and come inside and warm up. Yet again, bruising my pride. After about 10 minutes of fighting with the snow drift, I rocked the car over it and down the road I went, finally winning a hit for my pride.
I WILL one day live in a place where it does not snow. A place that is warm all the time. I will live in a place where the temperature only moves about 6 degrees from one season to the next. That is my paradise. Until then, everybody try to keep warm.
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