Thermostats

Right now, thermostats play an interesting role in my life.

I have a programmable thermostat for the central heating/cooling system in my house. Although I had thought about doing this for years, I did not... What a mistake...I finally did this in the last couple of years.

During the summer, the temperature in my house does not vary by but a few degrees, but in the winter, there is about a 5 degree variance in the at home comfort zone, and away or asleep settings... Last winter, I saved about $20 a month...

Last winter paid for about half of the purchase and installation cost of the programmable thermostat.  Had I been brave, I might could have installed it myself...

Those of you who knew me in 2007 knew that I had to replace a water heater... And the same year I replaced it, I had to have it worked on, not once but twice:  the pilot light would not stay lit, and the electronic ignition switch also needed to be replaced.  The second time it was repaired (by Sears, on warranty, after waiting 12 days for a repair technician) I got good service, and good information.  Among other things, the first time it was repaired, the repair technician did not seal the connections well, and I ended up with a gas leak....  The second repair technician asked me to stay home after the repairs for a few hours, and call him directly if I detected gas... Wow, what a difference in service attitude.

So, sometime a few weeks ago, I am not sure when, my morning showers became lukewarm.  During the heat of the summer, this was not a problem.  I did not even think about it until I went  out of town early in October, and returned home to lukewarm showers.  So, I turned up  the thermostat.  And hoped for better.  But, still, did not think about it...

Until the weather got colder, and I am now having to warm the bathroom before I take a shower, and the lukewarm shower is not very pleasant.  So, I called Sears about the problem:  the water heater is new enough that parts are under warranty, but labor... And they could not give me a time for service repair except between 8 AM and 5 PM.   At some other job, I could imagine myself available if the technician called me and said I will be there in 30 minutes. The hospital/prison setting is a little more difficult to be able to do that. So, I am taking Wednesday, 11/3/10 off, unless the service technician arrives early enough in the day, so I can go to work.

What makes this even trickier, is due to computer upgrades, the electronic medical record at work goes down Friday noon.  So, I have to have chart reviews for Tuesday's treatment team done by then, or preferably, by Thursday PM....   Hmmm,   the logistics will be interesting, but doable. 

Rounding Up the Purchase or Transaction Amount

I am seeing more and more advertisements for credit cards or banking services that "round up" purchases, or transactions, and put the rounded up amount into savings.  This is not a new concept.

I have been doing some version of this since the 1980s.  I used to do it with my checking account:  Instead of writing the exact amount of the check, I rounded it up to the next dollar amount.  It made subtracting the amount from the balance easier, and at the end of the month, the money saved could go to savings.  Or, as Lisenby and I sometimes did, we used it as "mad money:" a special dinner out, a special purchase, or whatever.

Later in life, I started doing the same with my credit card:  I subtract all my credit card purchases from my bank balance, as if I am using a debit card.  At the end of the month, when the credit card bill comes due, it is "paid for."  Additionally, I "round up" the charges.  This serves several functions.  One is to allow for putting money aside for savings.  Another is in case I forget to write some purchase in, hopefully the extra will cover the amount. And most importantly, by deducting the amount from my bank balance, I stay within my budget.

I rarely use the credit card for emergency purchases, but when I do, I am grateful that the extra money is in a bank account. I am blessed that way.

I have not had to work on a budget in a long time.  I am thinking I may want to, again. 

Spontaneity…Or The Lack Thereof

I have bemoaned my lack of spontaneity in the past. The weekend of October 15th, I had a very nice time, enjoyed watching some TV sports, went to a pottery demonstration, went to a co-worker’s garage sale, all on my “agenda.” I cooked out, which was not planned until fairly last minute…I even fixed the outside burner without planning to. Those are small things, but things I did fairly spontaneously…


It was a beautiful weekend. I think that I may have some more fun experiences if I were a little more spontaneous when the weather is so nice… I am sure there are other times I would enjoy activities if I were more spontaneous.

The Vacation Lingers

I took a very relaxing, very refreshing three day weekend last weekend.  Usually, when I take a trip, I enjoy the trip but do not necessarily come back refreshed.  First of all, as a child, we did not take a lot of overnight vacations.  And, when we did, they always seemed to be stressful: money was tight, my mom did a lot of the work to get ready and go, and we stayed someplace where my mom had to do meals and housework... So a lot of the emotional atmosphere of the vacation was not leisure but business as usual, or even stressful.

I am very task oriented, so "letting go" on a vacation has been hard for me. I tend to plan trips that require certain itineraries or activities that also put pressure on me.

And, I am so anal about my work, that I feel required to "get ahead," not leave anything for my coworkers who are covering for me, to the extent that I feel obligated to work extra-hard to get ready to go.  When I return, I feel the need to get "caught up" right away...So, I put a lot of pressure on myself at work in regards to preparing for and returning from vacation.

My most recent weekend trip was different:  while I "worked ahead" at work, and did some weekend chores during the week, getting ready to leave town was not that stressful. And returning to work was not stressful.

Mostly, though, the plan for my vacation included some specific activities, but nothing required an exact or compact timeline.  While I like camping trips, I stayed in a motel, and had little maintenance chores to do for myself.   Part of what made the trip so relaxing was that I drove through long stretches of beautiful countryside:  What I think are beautiful prairies and plains, rolling sand hills, canyons small and large, coniferous and aspen forested mountains with babbling brooks or rivers chasing the winding road... Just gorgeous. 

This was one of the most relaxing trips I have ever taken...And, amazingly for me, as the work week progressed, and I found myself dealing with the stressors of the day, I was able to take myself back to that relaxed floating feeling I had while I was away...

I do not recall ever doing that with a vacation before...I wonder if I have had other trips that I could have done that with, but did not...Surely, this is not the FIRST time in my life I had a trip that was that relaxing, that stress-free, that enjoyable...

Taos Serendipity

Taos is not one of the areas of New Mexico I had previously visited.  I am not sure why, but part of it was because my impression of Taos was that it was a high tone artists colony, an environment in which I would be very uncomfortable.  That may be true.  It was there today, and there are some very posh art galleries.  There are also lots of typical tourist trap artsy-fartsy places that hope some of the posh rubs off on them by association.

On my trip to Capulin Volcano, I did not even consider going from Raton, where I was staying, to Taos, at first.  But, then I Iearned that the Annual Fiber Festival was being held.  I thought that might be an interesting activity to attend...So, my second day of the trip was the ride through Cimmaron Canyon over to Taos.

The trip was breath-takingly spectacular:  High mountains, wide canyon valleys, hills, lakes, aspens turning gold. Part of the trip through the canyon was on narrow, twisting roads with steep ledges.  Not unlike parts of the Berkshires where I used to ride and drive when in Massachusetts.  I loved it...

As I drove west, I saw pronghorned antelope, a mule deer, black-billed magpies, crows, red tailed hawks, Swainson's hawks, another unidentified hawk, and vultures, and a ground squirrel. Returning home, I saw antelope, a Golden eagle, black-billed magpies, crows and a ground squirrel... Good sightings.

As I drove through Taos, I did not stop at the Fiber Festival...I drove straight on to the Taos Pueblo, which is still inhabited by some, and has various shops... There had just been ceremonies the later part of September.  The wares were good, many reasonably price, but nothing I found I wanted to buy...I wish I had found something. I took the self guided tour, enjoyed the babbling brook and shady perch of a bench for a while, and then returned to Taos.  On the way back to town, I bought gasoline at Indian Reservation prices...

I went to the Fiber Festival.  There were some interesting animals, a few demonstrations, lots of stalls of yarn, and some very good music.  I ate a lamb pattie in a tortilla with fixings.  I watched a knitting demonstration for a few minutes... I knit...If you knit, I think watching a knitting demonstration of typical normal stitches with no narration is more boring than watching grass grow. Frankly, I like to sit in the back yard and listen to the grass grow while I read, knit, computer or what have you. But watch the grass grow? No.

So, I wondered throughout much of the rest of commercial Taos...I have already written my impression of Taos...But, as I said the return trip was just as spectacular, made even more so by the contrast in lighting by some black as night storm clouds to my left, and the setting sun behind clouds, as I looked in the rear view mirror... Truly a good vacation day.

A Day on The Road

I enjoy a day on the road. I enjoy it especially if I have no deadline, and I can just take my time.  Today was such a day.  I got up later than planned, left later than planned, but still got to my destination in plenty of time to complete my plan. 

Then, I went on to my motel, a dinner at a local restaurant, and a tour of the town where I am staying.

I am fortunate to have some creature comforts where I am staying that include TV and wireless interest... So, I am glad for these creature comforts.

My trip as originally planned had some holes in it. I discovered more activities as time went on, and may have more to do than time... But, it a good trip.

More than one person has mentioned to me that they enjoy the anonymity of travel: for various reasons. I had not thought of that before, but it is nice:  no expectations, no demands, no responsibilities except to participate appropriately in travel...

Pushing Deadlines

So many people that I know say that they do their best work against deadlines.  Although they may have plenty of lead time for whatever activity, or project, they wait until they are close to the deadline and finish the project. There are those who would say that when faced with a deadline, the adrenaline rush helps them to complete the project.

I have to wonder about that... I do not like to work against deadlines, although, at one time in my life, I was an "adrenaline junkie."  Now, I like plenty of time to complete tasks and projects. I like to have time to plan things, and schedule things, and do things ahead of time. I like to review what I have done, and check things out, and make sure things are okay... I like to be satisfied with what I have done.

Even when I have "emergent" situations at work, I have models, and past experiences to fall back on that give me plans for handling such situations... I am glad for that...I like to plan ahead, be prepared, and be ready for whatever contingencies may occur.

Start Early and Hit the Ground Running

I had an appointment this afternoon, and decided that when it was finished, I would go home, not back to work.  But, I went into work early, having prepared everything I needed to on Wednesday, to "hit the ground running."  Having done so, I was able to accomplish as much in 4 hours as I often spend all day working on.  Part of that has to do with having cooperative coworkers who facilitated my tasks by getting patients in and out of their cells (remember, I work in a psychiatric prison) so I can interview them.

Maybe there is a lesson in this.  I do know that I get impatient doing the preparatory work so when I see patients, I can  just focus and concentrate on that.  Several times lately, I have forced myself to do the preparatory work so that I could just see patients.  It works. Lesson in life.

Calendars

It is July 8, 2010. I was at Barnes and Noble tonight for the Mystery Book Club. The last time I was at Barnes and Noble was June 10, 2010, for the Mystery Book Club. In June, I did not do much browsing, but tonight, on my way out, I did.


And, I saw a table of calendars. 2011 calendars. I did not recall seeing them last month. But they were out now, and they may have been out then. I am wondering if it is early for 2011 calendars to be out.



But, a few weeks ago, I received a complimentary calendar in the mail. It starts with July 2010 and goes through December 2011. This makes a little bit of sense for me. But having 2011 calendars seem a bit early. Who is planning their life for 6 months from now? Not me.



I have previously mentioned in this blog my habit not to bring a calendar to a meeting, so I can have a chance to plan and ponder before making a commitment. This gives me some power and control.

I understand that by September or October, people will need to start planning their lives into January... But why are the calendars out now? 

Making Plans versus Being Spontaneous

I can be very spontaneous about activities, and sometimes am.  But, I know myself, and know that I do better if a I have a plan.  It does not need to be a detailed plan, but there has to be some semblance of an idea or possibility that the activity will occur, before I usually engage in the activity.

I think this is in keeping with my somewhat rigid sense of rules and right and wrong.  I can be flexible, and I understand about grey areas.  But I do not like to break rules, I like to do the right thing just because it is the right thing to do. 

But, if I am contemplating an activity, and have considered it for a while, when the time comes, I frequently act swiftly.  So, while that is not total spontaneity, I do act quickly and on what some might think impulse.  It is just that they do not realize how much mental energy I have already put into the activity.