The October War, alternately the Furnace Battle, is on again.
At 7AM, I am wearing my sweater and am snuggled under an electric blanket as I huddle in my chair. I am toasty and warm under here, but I would likely be chilly otherwise with the outdoor temperature registering just a fraction above freezing. However, the furnace app app reveals that it is 17C/ 62f inside, which isn’t too bad, and it will increase during the day.
We wage this futile tussle every October: resisting activating the furnace. I don’t know why exactly, but it seems like capitulation when we give in to the inevitable. We have made it all of the way to November 01 — exactly once! — but it felt like a victory.
We shall see how and when the Furnace Battle of 2025 ends in inescapable submission. But it won’t be today. We shall hold the line, I tell ya.
, , , Meanwhile, if I may shift the theme, I present you with an insight regarding my often unfortunate countenance. It has nothing to do with the cold but is simply, too often, my general reality.
We no longer even try to wage a battle against putting the heating on! Husband blames the blood thinners he's on, making him cold.
ReplyDeleteWe do the same, hoping we can get another day without turning on the heat. I think you're kinda cute in a grumpy sort of way.
ReplyDeleteI guess I lost the battle this morning. At this time of year, I will fire up the heat and let it run one cycle in the morning when I get up and then turn it off for the rest of the day until the following morning.
ReplyDeleteThat seems like a good stopgap solution.
DeleteI like to postpone heat in winter, cool in summer, because I welcome cheap months!
ReplyDeleteMy face looks gloomy at rest, with gravity playing a part.
Expense is a consideration.
DeleteWe are in the same battle, AC. It is only 7 but windy here this morning. The house is much warmer though. We will live to fight another day.
ReplyDeleteHeat is on here at 68º. We had frost last night.
ReplyDeleteYou look like you've lost weight.
👍
DeleteI dehydrate vegetables in the oven over night. I did 4 trays of potatoes last night. That is probably cheating though.
ReplyDeleteIt’s smart if you ask me.
DeleteI was always being told to 'cheer up' when I was younger. I have a naturally miserable face.
ReplyDeleteI've given in, the heating is on, at least in my little office. It is just easier to type with fingers that are not stiff and frozen.
ReplyDeleteWe use to fight the thermostat. Then decided we are too old.
ReplyDelete62f is fine when you're moving around, but too cold for relaxing ;) I naturally frown, haha.
ReplyDeleteHi dear friend, the bird 🐦 illustration made me laugh. It is chilly here in Montreal, I love ❤️ it, I just dress warmly.
ReplyDeleteWe like a cool house, but sometimes guests aren't comfortable, so we have to capitulate. I set it to 67 yesterday to keep them happy, but turned it back down to 60 by bedtime.
ReplyDeleteI hate being cold so I'll turn on the gas fireplace soon--if the darn thing even works. Nothing but problems with it since I got it several years ago. I let my heat pump/furnace decide when to turn on. My furnace doesn't usually run unless it gets into the 30s since it's my auxiliary heat.
ReplyDeleteLove the two memes! Rick has that same battle. I'll turn on and off when I'm cold enough. Here at the lake it was 29 this morning. We only have a space heater (two). If I had a furnace it would be on!
ReplyDeleteSo familiar! We wage the same battle every year.
ReplyDeleteI go through the same fight every year. My super goal is end of November, but here in Manitoba it’s more likely the 1st Jean
ReplyDeleteWhy fight the furnace, I say. Life's too short. It does make a difference if I get, and keep, moving. But who can be moving all damn day!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the combat. :)
DeleteYour memes gave me a broad smile. Thank you! Fortunately, we have warmish days at the moment though chillier nights. We just throw an extra blanket on. We always hope we don't have to turn the heating on until November, but every year it is a wait and see. My frugal side switches on and hubs says it's because I'm an across-the-pond-post-war-baby when everything was still rationed and my parents passed this trait down to me.
ReplyDeleteSo intent is your relaxed look...just rather serious. But nobody looks jolly when relaxed! Keeping warm vs. suffering in the cold seems like a strange battle to wage...but go ahead and enjoy the pennies you're saving. Each of us has our values, and thus our battles.
ReplyDeleteLOL, I look the same way. I realize it sometimes and consciously lighten up my face, but it is an effort.
ReplyDeleteI know I’ve griped about this before, but at least it seems like you are both on the same team in this battle. In my house, I’m team slippers, robe, etc. My husband comes downstairs in his boxer shorts and t-shirts and turns on the heater because he is cold. OF COURSE YOU ARE COLD, IT’S 60 DEGREES IN HERE AND YOU’RE BASICALLY NAKED. This is not a fight I am willing to have anymore, so I just grind my teeth.
Also, the narrative becomes ‘J isn’t cold because she runs hot’. HA! No, it’s because I know how to dress.
DeleteYou DO live in Canada, right? My uneducated view from Kansas is that it's always cold everywhere in Canada. Try a heated mattress pad for sleeping. About $70 from WalMart, because heat travels up. Easier to get warmer than under an electric blanket that warms your top layer then the air above it. A stocking beanie cap isn't just for Santa Claus. Lots of heat escapes out our noggins. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteWe do the same thing.The sun through the patio doors heated us up to 23.5˚C.
ReplyDeleteYour warmth, wit, and good humour shine brighter than any heater could
ReplyDeleteWe use the air conditioner during the Summer but we almost never turn the heater on in the Winter. It gets cold, not snow storm-cold but cold. We like wearing sweaters and being cool after all the hot during the brain boiling Summers here. lol
ReplyDeleteThat lost photo..OMG, you had me laughing so hard!
ReplyDeleteI've eschewed socks, but turned on the furnace. Joe has such issues. And the kids are coming.
ReplyDeleteI admire your insistence to keep the furnace off as long as possible in the fall.
ReplyDeleteSeems that battle takes place all over the world- happens here in Melbourne as well.
ReplyDeleteIn the mill apt building, there is no way for residents to turn on heating or cooling in their apts before management sends notification that either system is available. As daytime temps have been warm in recent weeks, the ac was still available until yesterday. Now the heat is on and residents can turn it on or off, higher or lower in their apts. We will keep it off until at least as as we’re traveling from mid to the end of Oct.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't turned the heat on either. Larry needs to clean the stoves and get them ready. It was 36°f the other morning, pretty nippy. I just turned on one burner on the bookstore and the house stayed at 70°.
ReplyDelete