He Warmed the Cockles of My Heart…Literally!
BRRRRR! Winter has arrived early in Boston. The ground is covered in a layer of snow and the temperature this morning was 18 degrees (with a windchill of 1 degree) when I left for work this morning. But I can deal with that.
My problem was that the heat stopped working two nights ago and I couldn’t figure out why. Before I went to bed on Sunday night I noticed that the thermostat was programmed to 66 degrees and it was 65 degrees in the house. Why didn’t it turn on?
I went to bed only to wake up and find that it was now 57 degrees in the house. WTF? Randy is in Tokyo so I couldn’t easily contact him if I needed to contact the gas company or HVAC contractor. So I went to work and left Randy a voicemail, a text message, and an email, and an instant message. I wanted to have all of my bases covered since I don’t think his phone accepts incoming calls when he’s in Japan….and I don’t think it notifies him when a voicemail or text message arrives (though he can view them if he checks).
Well, I got home from work yesterday and the house was at 53 degrees….and because of the 14 hour time difference in Japan, I’d not hear from Randy yet. I wrapped myself in a blanket, turned on the laptop, and huddled on the sofa.
Randy called when he woke up (it was 7:30AM for him, 5:30PM for me). Apparently, the radiator ran out of water and I needed to fill it. This is all foreign to me – I’ve never had radiator heat before (it’s always been forced hot air). Anyway, it was an easy fix and Randy provided me warmth on a cold winter’s night…from 6,000+ miles away.
But this whole time-zone change is a huge problem. The four time zones within the U.S. are fairly easy to contend with. Hell, even the 5-6 hour difference between here and Europe isn’t bad. But I think 14 hours is probably the worst possible configuration. Not only is the other person on an opposite schedule (morning for them is night for you), but the only hours that you’re both available to speak are commuting hours. If he’s waking up at 7:00AM, that’s 5:00PM for me and I’m commuting. By the time he’s done showering and getting ready for his business meetings, I’m home from my commute and he’s gone to work.
Similarly, when I wake up in the morning and am able to chat a bit before work (8:00AM for me), it’s 10:00PM for him and he’s finishing up his business dinners and prepping for bed. The ideal time for us to talk is always when neither of us is available. Oh well, he arrives back here on Thursday afternoon (which would be Friday for him in Japan). UGH.
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A bunch of cats on a bed would have kept you warm! I wake up covered in sweat sometimes with them pushed up against me (well, one is 24 pounds after all….)
Well, at least you can look forward to him coming home to you. 🙂