winter (via my beautiful fiancee), 2.4.04
It could just be my brain playing tricks on me, but this morning I woke up and the house was positively balmy. For the past two months, I’ve been wandering from room to room layering and unlayering like a Vegas stripper due to the unequal climate zones in our house. The first floor is barely heated because many of the radiators were moved out to the enclosed porch, which is barely insulated. Our clothes are stored out there (long story), and there have been weeks where picking out that day’s wardrobe meant hopping from foot to foot and peering through the fog of one’s own breath. Making coffee in the morning started not with cleaning the pot, grinding beans, or getting the milk, but opening the lower oven door and cranking it up so my feet weren’t frozen into blocks of ice, ghetto-style. Meanwhile, the upstairs rooms are a faithful recreation of the Sahara desert. Jen has been positioning herself directly over the humidifier to stave off splitting sinus headaches due to the total lack of moisture in the air.
Today I was grinding coffee beans and looked out at the thermometer in the kitchen window. It read thirty degrees, which was enough to send me into spasms of chills a month ago. This morning, I casually considered wearing shorts to work.
Q: Is It Gonna Make Me Sweat? A: Yeah! I learned this afternoon, in doing some research on steam heat that if your radiators are noisy (e.g. the radiator in Jen’s bedroom, or the one in the living room), you should place a small, thin block of wood under the side without the pipe to off-level it slightly for better water circulation. I also found out that in steam heat systems, cleaning or replacing the air vent can wake up a dead radiator—close the shutoff valve at the bottom, unscrew the air valve, boil it in vinegar and water for a half hour, and replace it. And finally, using the shutoff valves to regulate the amount of heat won’t work in steam systems; you need an adjustable air vent instead. All of this is good information.
Welcome To The Jungle. Li’l Gn’R. I shit you not.