It's starting to get cold. This, for the most part, is a good thing. Sweater-weather is my favorite temperature. The scent of fall far surpasses the smells of the other seasons, not to mention the foliage. I sure love foliage. Anyway. I'm finding that, with our windows located as they are, most of the apartment doesn't benefit from the sun's heat. I'm also finding that when you're short of money, and are trying to stretch the 50 gallons of oil that you purchased two months ago enough to insure warm showers until you once again have money above and beyond rent to buy more oil, prioritizing needs is hard. Did that make sense? Let me simplify: it's cold, and we're afraid that if we turn on the heat, we'll run out of oil. And since it's too cold to stand cold showers anymore, we're screwed. Potentially.
So here's what I need to know:
-How does one determine how much oil is left in their tank?
-Exactly how much oil is burned by heat?
-How much has the hot water already used?
-Can we make it until Thanksgiving with what we have left? (my mother's giving us 100 gallons of oil for Christmas, and having it delivered at the end of November. Dear, wonderful woman.)
-Can we conceivably go heatless until Thanksgiving without causing ourselves physical harm? Mental harm? Perhaps spiritual harm? Really, any harm is a detriment.
-When will Farmington get its Target store? (I like my reasonably-priced warm layers to be fashionable, and in loud prints)
Once Jeremy's working it'll be better. Surprisingly enough, I can pay rent with my pathetic slave wages. But that's about it. Manpower's been nothing but a disappointment this time around. And they were so good about finding work in the past. I wouldn't mind finding a better-paying job either. I like my co-workers, and would do just about anything for my new manager, but - and tell me if this is possible - I think I have carpal tunnel in my elbow and shoulder. I guess not THE carpal tunnel...my median nerve only runs so far, y'know...but that same feeling. I come home from work unable to shrug my shoulders (and pain radiating from the base of my neck outward), with elbow pain and numb fingers. Renting movies to people shouldn't be this physically challenging. It never used to be. I should make at least $7/hr if I'm going to sacrifice limbs to the job. Dare I say, $7.50! Minimum!
Well, I think I'm done bitching for today. Sorry, kids! More jaunty retarded crap soon!
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2 comments:
Sorry, Annie. I think you're screwed on oil. I'm guessing that with the new baby, oil is going to cost around $1,800 for the winter for us. That is going to suck the root.
1: The oil tank sould have a thing (not sure what it is called) that will tell you how much oil is in the tank. Our oil tanks have the "thing" on top of each tank, in the middle. It has makings showing you it has 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 or full tank of oil. If you cant find the "thing" ask your landlord to show you.
2: Most of the oil is used for heat. A small part of it is used to heat hot water, most often.
3: See if you can find the heat gauge on the water heater. You might be able to turn it down. This will save oil. I just turned the water heater down about a month ago for the building. It was set at 130 it is now at 110. No body has notice any difference. You could also look into wraping the water heater. It will also help save oil.
4: The biggest issue with not haveing much oil is you really need to watch the temp. If it gets to cold your pipes will freeze. Believe me you do not what that to happen. It is a nightmare. The good news is it souldn't be that cold for a while yet. Unfortionatly I am not to sure you will be able to go untill thanksgiving without heat.
If you need or want any other money saving ideas to keep the heating bills low just let me know.
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