Loot
January 11th, 2010I Can Hook You Up
I managed to get a space heater today. I can’t believe it.
Yesterday I was told nobody in Miami had space heaters. A tour of the local stores indicated this was true. Northern Tool, Costco, Best Buy, Target, KMart, Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond…no luck. I figured I would have to get used to a 65-degree bedroom.
I went to Costco today to get mozzarella, and on the way home, I prayed for success in finding a heater. I decided to run by the local mom-and-pop hardware store. I asked a stock boy if they had heaters, assuming he would say no. He said that if I went to the back register, they had about thirty of them.
THIRTY.
Apparently, I got there right after the delivery arrived. If I understood them correctly, they bought a pallet of heaters from the Home Shopping Network, and I happened to be on the scene before they disappeared. People were calling their relatives, asking if they needed heaters. Others were calling the store, bribing the workers to hold heaters for them. Incredible.
I called my dad to make sure he didn’t need one, and then I handed over my American Express and made the buy. I told them I felt like I was buying crack. I had to go to the parking lot and get a box off the pallet; they weren’t even in the store yet.
So much for reverse-cycle air conditioning. It’s better than nothing, but not much better.
Does God answer prayers about things like space heaters? I got my heater. You decide.
January 11th, 2010 at 4:43 PM
When I was still living in Miami, I was one of the weirdos opening their windows when the temperature dropped below 70 and saying things like: “At last, a temperature that makes me feel human again!” Instead of, you know, a parboiled carrot or something. Still, I can’t believe how soon I’ve acclimatized to life up here. This morning it was 9 degrees when I went to work. It felt like forty used to feel to me.
January 11th, 2010 at 5:35 PM
You can’t extract heat from cold air no matter what political party you belong to and how many times you go to church each week…well…maybe you could through some sort of miracle, but any way…
January 11th, 2010 at 5:51 PM
It’s 74 outside here in LA and the David Byrne-lookalike skinny a-hole attorney next door has the heat cranked up so that it’s 78 in my office instead of his eating a sandwich once a month so he has a gram of body fat or putting on a sweater or buying a space heater. Instead, it’s 10 degrees hotter than I like.
.
I can’t work above 72 degrees.
.
I’ve got the windows open.
.
It’s tempting to fry an egg on the hood of his Porsche to make a statement concerning how flipping hot it is today.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:00 PM
We keep our house at 62 in the winter. 59 at night. Keeps the in-laws away.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:23 PM
Up to 45 here today from last nights 16. The 45 was great even if it only lasted about 1 hour, they say it might snow some tonight but we could see 60 this Friday. I may need a loan to pay the power bill.
January 11th, 2010 at 8:27 PM
We have one of those ac/heat pumps. Below 40 they work pretty hard to keep up warm. Below 30 the space heaters are working hard along with it.
My yard looks like it was worked over with a flame thrower. Most things got hit on Dec 21 when we were 31 for overnight. The rest expired last Thursday. I think a lot will come back; the fig tree, the white bird of paradise (it’s taller than the house), the turks caps, the crinum lillies of several varieties, I hope the pomegranates come back. I have some plumerias and am hoping they will just branch a little when they sprout anew.
January 12th, 2010 at 9:22 AM
If God keeps accounts of how many hairs one has, and the various bird populations, I don’t think it is beyond Him to get involved in the space heater distribution network.
.
It is mostly that we are a very cheap (frugal) couple, but the house is at 66 in the winter and 80 in the summer. If ambient temps are between those two, that’s what the house is.