With the price of heating oil up about 59 cents from last year, I’ve been giving some consideration to how we might beat the system, stay warm, and save a little cash. This is a rough plan, and some of my economic ideas may be a little maverick and untested, but let’s give it a whirl.
1. adopt a pet. ever notice how much heat your lap cat throws off? I stayed warm last winter by letting one of our cats sleep on my lap. If everyone had a cat of their own, we could all stay nice and toasty. If you don’t like cats (and I am not judging you here), maybe a dog would be preferable. Or perhaps a nice little groundhog.
2. everyone wears gloves, scarves, and winter hats inside the house. You stay warm, and never have to put away your gloves–that’s a win-win.
3. never shut down the laptop. My MacBook Pro can get pretty fired up, and that heat transfers to my lap, especially the top part. Hence the name, by the way…surf the interweb, keep my coffee warm, and my legs to boot. everybody wins.
4. if you can manage the plumbing, figure out a way to get your tap water scalding hot all the time. let it run over your hands until they start to melt, then press them quickly to your cold nose. problem solved. (i’m looking for the silver lining in our hot-water problem here. see how that works?)
5. all the family sleeps in the same bed. sure, you might have to endure a random foot stuck under your back, or the occasional stray elbow to the nose, but you’re sleeping warm!
Seriously, it’s supposed to be a cold winter, and there are lots of people who will struggle to pay their heating bills. What can we do to be a blessing to the people in our communities who don’t have cats, kids, laptops, or scalding hot cold water?
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