The weather outside. . .

I follow the weather in five locations -- here, Las Cruces, Denver, Santa Fe and Minneapolis.  It's always interesting to me to see what it's like there.

Almost without exception, Cruces is warmer than here.  When it's not, things are funky in both places.  There was a time this summer when it was hotter here than there, and that's just wrong. 

Santa Fe's about the same as here except it's generally dryer.

Minneapolis and Denver are all over the place.  Summers are hotter, winters are colder, and they're a constant reminder why we don't live either place.  But I lived in Minneapolis and I still have friends there, and of course the older kids (and some friends) live in the Denver area, so I'm curious.

Tonight we're pretty much on the good end of things up here.  It's snowing from Santa Fe to Denver, Cruces is dampish and a bit warmer than here and, oddly enough, Minneapolis's low temperatures are higher than Las Cruces's lows.  Weird.

We're in the 40's or so, and may drop into the 30's before all is said and done tonight, and that's fine for the end of October. 

Here's the catch.  You knew there was gonna be a catch, didn't you?

We don't have heat.

The furnace works just fine, it's a real trouper.  But the thermostat bit the dust.  It just blinks at us sadly.  It's time to for it to go to that great Electronics Haven in the Sky. 

We have another thermostat, and Lillian knows how to install it.  The problem is time.  She's so incredibly busy that she hasn't had a chance. 

Before someone gets the wise idea that I should do it for her, let us nip that one right in the bud.  Remember how lost I got the other day?  Well, electricity is just another series of roads and streets, and I ain't got me no map.  If I tried to do it, not only would I fuse every electrical object in the house, there might very well be a fireball you can see from space.

It's a bad idea.  Move on.

So it's kinda cold in here. 

Add to that the fact that Ryan's room has NO heat ever.  It used to, but it doesn't now.

See, his new room used to be the garage, but the previous owners converted it to another room, which is pretty spiffy.  But they ran a gas line around the house to a little gas heater inconveniently placed right in the smack middle of the long wall, thereby rendering it completely useless.

We disconnected it a while back because it just seemed unsafe.  But when Ryan came home and we made that his bedroom -- more space and privacy, and besides, we'd cannibalized his real bedroom -- we realized we'd have to reconnect the heater.  Even in May, when he came home, it was chilly enough to warrant heat.

Except that it leaked, and he was getting headaches, and we discovered that the whole thing is a mess.  So we've shut it down and we need to pull it out and cap the line, which costs money we don't have.  But for now it's safe, barring earthquakes.

Still, his room is cold.  And the heat from the house would at least take the edge off except that. . .we don't have heat either.

Fortunately, we do have a fireplace and madrone.  For those of you unfamiliar with madrone, it's a dense wood that burns seriously hot.  We have a bit under half a cord, so we're fine for now. 

Except that tonight we were late getting home and I told Lillian not to bother building a fire, it was late, so not to mess with it.  And, bless her, she trusted me to be smart.  Heh.  Later on she felt my fingers and realized that I was way off base.  It was then that she gently reminded me that the only heat in the house was the fireplace and our mattress pad cover.  Well, and the stove, but you can't really use that for heat.

So before she took herself off to bed, which has been nicely pre-warmed, she built me a great fire. 

In case you hadn't noticed, she does look after me, and I think we're all pretty pleased by that, because obviously I can't be left to wander about on my own.  I even left the bacon out on the kitchen cabinet for a couple of hours.  Completely forgot about it.

Fortunately, it's already pre-cooked. 

Besides, we don't have heat.  It was fine.

On a completely different note, I was tickled that the decidedly funny and pointed Stephen Colbert took an interest in our Ref. 71 issue.  Here's his take on it.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Don't Ask Don't Tell
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Religion

 

I hope you have a warm, safe and joyous Thursday!

Comments

[Dev]

It was more than just dampish yesterday in Cruces. It was snowing!! Granted it wasn't sticking, but still snow.

Don't send your weather again, us people in the desert moved here for a reason, Burrrr, it's cold..

[Deanna]

i love your sroies - and in my house any bacon on hte counter wouldhave been pirated, so I've learned - I don't care how much I love them, I am not eating things the cats have licked, chewed or.....

[Lil]

Suggestion for Ryan's Room, a baseboard heater. Easy to install, only needs a 20amp circuit, and pulls like less than 10 when it is on. Excellent source of heat, and it's Electric. Safer than space heaters. They come in different size, check your local Home depot.

[Lillian]

Don't want to, but we may end going that route. Our electricity/gas comes from just south of you. Yup, El Paso. I have no idea why, but it does.

The other issue is space as in open wall space. He has his room stuffed. The bed touches the wall on two and a half sides, the sofa touches the bed, which touches the dresser, which touches the wardrobe and then we are up against the backside of the fireplace.

Suggestions on models to avoid or look for?

[charlie]

I use oil filled radiators in my house to try to keep the gas bill down. They are safe because there isn't any exposed filament and they provide even heat. $49.00 in Home Depot for a Pelonis brand oil filled radiator.

I use them until the temps start to drop below 30 degrees.

[Lillian]

Thanks Charlie, I'll have a look see this weekend.