Saturday, October 26, 2013

Great, just great.

I got back from Portland last night, turned on the heat and -- uh oh, that smell again. So today I called the power company and they came right out and gave  me this:


The nice utilities man said the Co2 levels were very high as he reached up and flipped a switch in the ceiling so the furnace can no longer be turned on. I am huddled around a wee space heater that is heating the air about 4 inches in front of it so if I put my feet right on the grate they might warm up. Time for long johns and big socks. I intend to go to the pool for a swim and a hot tub. Gawd.

Portland was, well, Portland. Everyone rides bikes there. There are many bridges so it's easy to get confused. Powell's is still as wonderful as ever. I bought 15 books: poetry and fiction and non-fiction and three books for Deb for Christmas. They have a whole section of small press books; anthologies and poetry and prose and graphic novels and 'other', books with no category at all. I walked back to the hotel with those books slung from my shoulders. They were very heavy. Even though I have a copy of 'Far From the Tree', I bought a paper copy because, well it was on sale and I wanted to feel it and see it (very large and big and heavy) and I wanted to heft it and know it as a book, not just as some words on an electronic device.

Leaves have fallen in my absence so time to find some neighborhood boys and girls to rake and bag. I have a ridiculous amount of trees. You can't have too many trees.

The house really is freezing. I wonder what a new furnace is going to cost. Sigh.

3 comments:

Ms. Moon said...

Believe it or not it is coldish in North Florida too and Lily, who is staying at our house, reports that our heater there is not working.
Sigh.
Owen keeps telling me that my house is too old and needs fixing. He may be right.

beth coyote said...

But it's why we love our houses. They're just like us, too old and in need of fixing.

XX B

Radish King said...

oh honey hurry and get it fixed it's going to be ass freezing out tonight.
love you
r