And another thing...

[fpb]

...don't ask for something; you might get it. After 67 years of "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas", the good Lord has given Europe and North America exactly what we asked for... and look at us now.

Comments

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Incidentally, I know one Norwegian who would throw something at anyone who says that. She is a big tall strapping person - and hates snow with a vengeance. Me, I can easily live with cold as such; I was brought up in the north, with many mountain holidays (I much prefer the mountains to the seaside), and statistics say, and my memories confirm, that winter is colder in Milan than in London. Plus, I did my military service in L'Aquila, in the mountains of central Italy, and let me tell you that winter up there is the real thing. No, my problem is purely financial. Energy prices seem to have doubled since last winter, or else I have forgotten how to run things to save. Either way, I don't like it.

[eliskimo.livejournal.com]

Yes, running things to save is a bit of an art. We have a programmable thermostat for our furnace, and a "smart meter" for our hydro (electricity for non-Canucks). We pay less for energy used during off-peak times. We're also on a pro-ration program with our natural gas: we a pay a little more in the summer in order to take the "bite" off the increased usage in the winter.

I also close off the doors to rooms I'm not using (mostly at night) so we don't heat them unnecessarily. And I open all the curtains on the windows that are getting direct sunlight, to take advantage of the radiant heat, while closing them on windows that are not in the sun (and I'm not looking out of).

[elegant-bonfire.livejournal.com]

Do your utility companies over there have a 'winter savings plan'? I signed up with that for my gas bill, so instead of paying $10 a month in the summer and $250 a month in the dead of winter, I pay a flat $118 a month year round.