One Reason Why Mojo Is the Happiest Girl in the World

So that people don't think I spend ALL my life complaining, I'll just report this little tidbit to make up for the scads and scads of whines.

The other day I went down into the basement to feed Ratty Cat and scoop out the litterbox. (What, you say, so this is the best Mojo can do for a non-complaint? To which I say: Wait for it. It's coming.)

The other day I went down into the basement to feed Ratty Cat and scoop out the litterbox. And while I was down there, I decided, just for ha=has, to check the level on the oil tank.

Usually the oil company comes every other month, and a fillup takes between 180--200 gallons. Which was not particularly pleasant when oil was at reasonable levels, let alone what it threatened to be earlier this fall before the economy tanked and caused prices to drop. (Mojo was never one for those buy-your-oil-at-a-set-price-before-the-season-starts gals. And this one time she has been proven right, so I will add that factoid to my understanding that she's some kind of jeen-yus. But I digress.)

I was happy our last fillup in early October, which was the first one since March, I think. From March to October we had only used about 50 gallons. But it was a surprisingly warm fall.

Now here it is in early December, with a couple of awfully cold snaps under our belts (this morning's temp is in the low teens, with a high in the low twenties) and I check our oil levels, and guess what? We still have over 7/8ths left in the tank. Which means we thus far have used about 35 gallons instead of 180. So one-fifth or so of what we used to use. At $2.65 a gallon that means our next bill will be around $100 instead of $500. I can live with that.

It would have been less, except my Favorite Husband likes to turn up the heat when he's home on the weekend. Without turning up the heat, when it's in the teens outside the stove keeps the house at around 65 degrees, When it's in the thirties it bumps up to 70 degrees. He overrides the programmable thermostat I installed a few years ago, which drops the house down to 60 during the day and again after 10:00 pm when we're asleep.

It would be warmer if Mojo got off her butt and finally plasticked off the windows, but she hasn't yet. That will change this week, since in addition to the bitter bitter cold last night the wind after the minor "storm" we had Sunday--less than an inch of flurries--was actually making slight breezes in the bedroom I could feel when I stuck my nose out of the covers. I like a cold bedroom, but this was a bit much for me. So time to get out the hairdryer and the double-sided tape....

Mojo