I am but don't know I am

[brightlotusmoon]

It's chilly, and damp, very cloudy... they say that later in the week the temperature will increase back to 80 or so, but for now I have turned off the air conditioner. Save money.
Although I will have to have a chat with Danny. He came home after midnight, with Shaggy. They were in the kitchen for a while before they went up to his room. When I woke up around three because Ralph was barking, and came downstairs to let him out (stupid dog), I saw lights on in the kitchen and the living room. And the air conditioner was on, running full blast at under seventy. Despite the fact that there is a sign there saying Do Not Touch taped to the wall, by me and Adam. Despite the fact that outside it was sixty. The house was freezing. I understand that upstairs is warmer, and Dan's window doesn't open, but we all have fans in our rooms. I wasn't pleased. I turned it off after letting the dog in, and moved the sign so it covered the thermostat. I hope people get the hint. Dan has this habit of leaving lights on when he leaves. His room and the bathrooms in particular. I don't know why; it makes no sense. He also leaves his computer monitor on constantly. Those things use up a lot of power. I keep turning it off when he's not home. I'd rather not pay the electric bill with my soul, thank you. I love him dearly as a brother, but it's my house.
We need a new water heater by next week. It's leaking. I have to put towels on the floor. Can't do anything until at least Friday, when Adam and I both get paid. Adam comes home on Saturday. We will probably go shopping for a new heater on Sunday. Luckily, Billy says that he and his father have the ability to install it for us, since his father does this work.
I'm incredibly stressed, but I don't know I am. It's like sensing something wrong from a distance, about someone else. I have no real reason to be. Nothing is wrong that cannot be fixed. And yet, I cannot remember the last time I was truly, honestly relaxed. No fatigue, no muscle or nerve pain, no headaches, no tension. I'm starting to think I haven't relaxed since my wedding night.
Huh.

Comments

[stainedpaper.livejournal.com]

well that's no good. You need to relax. Take a bubble bath or something.. go get a massage..

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, massage...

[vellanya.livejournal.com]

A little tip that I learned, keep the fan on your heater/air conditioner running. Don't put it on auto, put it on on. It keeps the air circulating and will get the cool and or warm air up into the second level.

Our VP of construction told us that, and a coworker did it in mid summer. She said she went home and hte upstairs was nice and cool. Usually her son's bedroom is like a sauna.

Sorry, random advice I thought I'd share.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. That's a really, really good idea. I didn't realize we could do that. So, instead of turning the dial to Cool, we just turn it to On, and leave it like that?

[vellanya.livejournal.com]

You should have a seperate like lever or something for the fan. One that says auto, on, or off. For that select on. But otherwise I'm not 100% sure if you only have a cool or hot option.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

You know, I believe we do have the auto, on, off option. I'll check when I go home. Do I just leave it like that until it's time to turn the heat on in winter?

[vellanya.livejournal.com]

Pretty much.

And you may want to keep it on during the winter as well because it will cycle the heat back down tot he lower level.

Although during hte fall I think you can turn it off on those days you aren't using hte air or the heat at all.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. :)

[suzanna-o.livejournal.com]

That electricity problem with your housemate sounds frustrating! The nice thing about living alone in a small apartment is that I keep my energy use to under 100 kilowatts each month. I would never be able to do that if I lived with other people. :)

[tonithegreat.livejournal.com]

When I lived in my little red apartment, my kilowattage was under 100 each month, too, and most of that was the refrigerator. Of course, three people living in a house that uses 290 killowatts a month are still causing smaller individual energy footprints than the single person with the 100 kilowatts. I love living alone, but even in an apartment, I think it actually tends to be more energy wasteful than sharing a house would be.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting thought. I should also find out how many kilowatts my townhouse uses...

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

I'm going to ask if he can pay a little bit more in rent soon. When we first got the townhouse, there were three bedrooms. Adam's parents moved into one of the guest bedrooms, and we used the other for storage. Then, when his parents moved out, we offered the room to our friend Jason, who was homeless and living with friends here and there while he worked two jobs. We charged him $400 a month, since it was the most he could afford.
A few weeks after Jason moved in, our friend Danny needed a new place to stay while he hunted for an apartment. He lived on the couch for a couple of weeks. Then, the apartment he had chosen burned down and he couldn't afford anything else. So we put a cheap futon in the third bedroom, moved some things around, and charged him only half what we were charging Jason, since it was half a room. A few weeks ago, Dan and Jason moved a bunch of things into the attic and Dan moved his bed into the room. So now it's more of a bedroom, and we think it's only fair that we charge him maybe 300, 350. I also want to sit and talk with him about turning things off. I understand that computers go on standby and sleep modes, but I always, always see his monitor on.