Gratitude Journal #34
Seattle just kind of skipped fall this year. Not entirely, but it really did seem like we went from 70+ degree days to needing the heater on overnight. Right now, we are getting fall like weather, in that it is getting into the 50s during the day, but mornings are below 40. And that may seem like typical fall weather elsewhere, but you have to remember that Seattle spends very little time below freezing, even in the middle of winter, so the fact that we are starting our mornings in the 30s means it is pretty cold for us. It also means it is time to prepare for winter.
Gratitude Entry #80 – Nobody Died! Or even got hurt.
Okay, if somebody had died or gotten hurt, that would actually be a really big deal, so it seems silly to be grateful for this in my “little things” mindset for this series. But the chances of anyone dying or getting hurt were pretty low. Of course, you are probably wondering if I am high right now, as you have no idea what I am talking about.
Friday, we got up on the roof. I swept leaves off the roof and cleaned out the gutters. This involves sitting near the edge of the roof and leaning over the gutters to get all the leaves and debris out of them. While I was doing this, C was placing gutter foam in the gutters. We are hoping that this will mean that next year, we do not have to clean out the gutters.
But C is afraid of heights, so he is always extra nervous being on the roof, and honestly, me being up there bothers him, too. He is always worried one of us will fall. And getting back on the ladder to get off the roof is always the scariest part. But, we got on the roof. We got the work we needed to get done up there done, and we got off the roof. And nobody died, or even got hurt. And that is worth being grateful for.
Gratitude Entry #81 – Programmable thermostats
The contractor that we bought our house from did some really nice work in the house. But they also did some things that made no real sense. We moved into the house at the height of winter last year, and one of the things we quickly realized was that our thermostat was not programmable. At first we thought the contractor had just kind of gone with the cheapest model, but that was not true. The contractor went with one of the most expensive models of thermostats. It is one that was meant to be controlled via bluetooth or your home’s internet connection. The problem was, in order for that to work, you have to have a specific set of wiring for your furnace. Our furnace did not have that kind of wiring. So we could not control the thermostat online. That made this very expensive thermostat function as the most basic model out there. And last year, we lived with it.
This year, I did not want to live with it. I want the heat to come on a few minutes before I get up in the morning, and I do not want to have to remember to go turn it down every night. So, we bought a programmable thermostat. And today we got it hooked up. So tonight, the heat turns down without me having to do anything more than I have already done. And tomorrow morning, the heat will come on 15 minutes before I have to get out of bed. This is most definitely something worth being grateful for.
