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Aside from the snow....
There is snow out there on the ground! Enough snow to shovel, which I’d like to refuse to do on general principle. The ground is completely covered again and the trees are coated with a thick layer of that white stuff. This is spring, darn it. My snow shovel is retired.The snow is supposed to turn to rain later today. I’m holding the weather man to that. If it doesn’t, well then I suppose the snow shovel could be un-retired. Under protest. What’s with SNOW on the 28th of March, anyway? Where is spring? I’m pining for spring. I’m withering away from all this pining. I need spring. You have no idea how much I need spring.
What partially (only partially) makes up for a snow storm on March 28 (!) is genuine central heating. It’s been a year since I’ve turned on the furnace and I’d kind of forgotten, especially after this winter, what it feels like for every room to be warm. I’d forgotten what it’s like not having to leap out of the shower and dive into 4 layers of clothing before the water droplets turn to ice. We’re talking relative warmth here, not steam room warmth. It wasn’t as if I turned the thermostat up to 70° and left it there. No, I was conservative and left it at 63°, although my fingers twitched for a while, wanting to turn it up. Just for the novelty.
But I noticed the darnedest thing. While my upstairs was freezing all winter (intentionally) and the downstairs was warm, now I have the reverse situation. Even though the thermostat is set at 63°, my upstairs climbs several degrees higher. I used the same thermometer to check both floors, just to make sure that one wasn’t off. No, indeed. My upstairs is a toasty 68.6° while my downstairs stays about 63°. And that’s with the quilt still in place across the open staircase. I don’t think it’s supposed to work like that. Maybe I’d better put some more insulation in the basement.
Because of that temperature difference, I had to set the thermostat back to 55°, last evening around 9:00, so that my room would cool off enough for me to sleep. And, of course, by the end of the evening, I was sitting in my chair, wrapped in a down comforter up to my chin.
Well, I’m not not used to this yet. But I have to say that, aside from the adjustments, having central heating is kind of cool. And it’s sort of liberating not having to feed the wood stove, even though I miss the fire. Central heating is a very different kind of heat, but I think I’ll adjust and enjoy it until spring gets here. Assuming that it will sometime before June.
I am whining big time this morning. What a crock and it is still storming and sitting there at 32 degrees. DAMN. Of course chatting with Linkmeister in wonderful Oahu via your blog is doing nothing for my frame of mind except making me want to leave on a jet plane....NOW!! ;) There is shoveable (is that a word) snow here too, am just keeping my fingers crossed my plow guy does not decide it needs his attention. Our bill from him for January was well over $300 - more than we have paid in many years...Think Spring!!
The snow has not melted nor has it turned to rain. It’s still sitting out there being snow. At least it has stopped coming down. The roads haven’t been plowed and I haven’t shoveled. And it’s cold. Ugh. We’ve earned at least three 60° days for this. I want them starting tomorrow!
I wish we still had snow here in Interior BC, it melted away much too soon. :( I love snow.
Don’t forget Earth Hour, tomorrow at 8PM local time. There is a sign-up if you want to officially particpate, I have link at my blog, also online.
Have a great weekend....
I’d be so happy to send you some snow, Geraldine. My love affair with snow ended in January. I am so thoroughly sick of it. I might be ready to enjoy it again long about November, but at this point, I just want it to Go Away.
Earth Hour is an interesting idea. If most everyone did it, the difference in the electricity draw would be amazing. I think I’ll check, after the hour is over, the California ISO page to see if there is any dip in electricity use tonight. There is a graph on that page which shows the electricity draw for the state, hour by hour. ISO New England also shows hourly demand, but it’s a little harder to access. If interested, hit the above link, choose Historical Hourly Data, then check the box for Real Time Hourly Demand, then select Display Results.
I think this article about Sydney, Australia is rather amazing. They’ve completed their Earth Hour. And Google has gone dark today in support of Earth Hour. Kinda cool.
It was an amazing experiment that could be repeated again and again. We were encouraged by the local participation, judging by the lights up the mountainside going off, around 8 last night. No notice in the Sat. papers here which was a shame. From the people I spoke with during the day (I did a mini survey out and about and at work) so many people didn’t even know about this event.
Thanks for the links to check out.