Thank You Crazy Weather

This year our landlord decided that he would replace our old oil burning heater with a new, more efficient natural gas heater. After shelling out about $700 last year to keep our house warm we were thrilled with the news. So far the process has gone semi-smoothly. Right now all the gas, power, water, etc . lines are clearly marked outside with little white flags and various colors of spray paint on the street. Tuesday I came home from a particularly long day of work to find a large truck parked right in front of my house where I would normally park, and a small patch of my front lawn dug up. I was angry for a minute and then took a deep breath and realized that it was all part of the process.

What is pissing me off at this point is the severe lack of communication from my landlord. I should tell you that he's normally awesome. He comes over a few times a year and does extensive landscaping, gutter cleaning and such and he's really been very helpful any time we've had a problem in the past. He's in a seminary studying to become a priest and sometimes is hard to get in touch with though. Truly, I really can't fault him for that... but here's the problem... Right now I have no idea at all when the new heater will be installed. I like it warm in the house in the winter and cool in the summer. I don't really give a shit what it costs, I'm not wearing 3 layers of clothing or sweating my ass off in my own home. That's just me. Our house, being older, is not all that great at keeping out the cold. In fact, I'm pretty sure it entices the cold to come in and stay a while.

No big deal you may say, turn up the heat until you get the gas furnace, but here's the thing. Right now we have almost no oil, and it's completely on purpose. We didn't want to have to pay to have (expensive) oil still left in the tank removed and were even less thrilled about the thought of trying to sell it off to our neighbors at a discounted price. The minimum oil delivery that you can get is 100 gallons and the price is like $2+ a gallon. I really don't want a $200+ bill for oil I may or may not use. You know as soon as I make a decision to get the oil delivered the next day the new furnace guy will be knocking at my door.

So... for now... my thermostat is set at 60, FREAKING 60. I have a small space heater in my office (thanks Mom-Mom) and Kae has one in her room for chilly nights, and I'm walking around my house wearing a sweat jacket. However, mother nature has taken pity on me this week and given us unseasonably warm weather. Today it's supposed to hit 70! I can't wait to open the windows and blinds and invite the sunshine in... and flip off the thermostat on my way past.

*Picture above from our tree out back that has just this week begun to change... rebel.