In which I whine

[dragojustine]

So I have been bitching at everybody who will listen for the last two days about our cold snap. The list of woes goes:
1. I can only use two appliances at a time without throwing all the fuses. Seriously. A computer and the furnace- OK. A computer and the microwave- OK. The oven and the washing machine- OK. But if you try to, say, leave the computer on, run the washing machine, and pop a snack in the oven? Sudden plunge into darkness.
2. No hot water below when it's 45 degrees. Okay, because the public showers here aren't too bad, even if you do have to do a pretty extreme case of the shower-limbo (tall people know what I mean).
3. No insulation. Barring modification, it's exactly the same temperature inside as outside. You just get protection from windchill. Basically, I'm living in a cardboard box.
4. The furnace stops working below 35 degrees. Seriously, the little magic gremlin that makes the hot air just got... fed up, or something, and left.
5. My pipes froze. With two days of dishes needing to be washed in the sink and a week's worth of laundry to do, natch. So I've been having to trek to the public bathrooms to fill up my little water bottles. Heh.

So for the last two days it's been the same temperature outside my fridge as inside it. I had no water and no heat and it was below freezing outside for three straight days and maybe about 45 in here. I spent my entire time huddled under dozens of blankets in the cold, shivering. I debated getting a space heater, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't run the space heater and the computer at the same time without serious risk of fliping the fuses every few minutes. It was very 'little matchstick girl.'

But now it's 42 degrees outside, so while I still don't have HOT water, I have water, and while the furnace still isn't working very well, I think it's back up at about 60 in here. So I can wash my four days of dishes, and I spent an hour checking every way I could think of to check, and there are no leaks in the plumbing, and maybe tomorrow it will be warm enough that I have hot water for laundry. Score!

The problem, of course, is my Yuletide fic. I was going to binge Sunday-Thursday and finish it... except for Sunday-Tuesday straight, I was so cold my hands were perpetually numb. I managed to get my actual paid work done by microwaving a bowl of water to dunk my hands in. Seriously- type two sentences, shove your hands in steaming water. It actually worked pretty well! I had to re-microwave it every few minutes, but hey. Anyway, that got my actual WORK work done, but there was no way in hell I could write like that.

So now I have about 36 hours to do my Yuletide fic before I have to fly out, and I have two students and I have to pack in that time. And that sucks, because this story had the potential to be really good, but it's going to come out mediocre and unpolished now, unless I blow the deadline by two days and finish it on Sunday. Which then makes the mods scramble for a pinch-hitter, because Yuletide doesn't do extensions, so I shouldn't do that.

*sad* I don't know. I really liked that story, but I just couldn't write when I couldn't stop shivering, and I was with students during normal business hours so I couldn't go to a library or anything, and the cold screwed with my body rhythms so I was sleeping 12 hours a day because it was the only way I could keep warm... *sigh* I'll do my best in this 36 hours. An all-nighter might be called for. At least I'm warm now.

Comments

[als-wonderland.livejournal.com]

*hugs you and warms you up*

I am outraged on your behalf.

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you
*greedily claims hugs*

[wyomingnot.livejournal.com]

*hugs and pets*

Wow, suddenly I feel all warm at home now. And you know how not-warm I keep my house!

Please tell me you pestered your landlord.

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Sadly, there is no landlord. I'm living in a mobile home the family owns, and it's just not meant to be lived in at these temperatures. *sigh* Possibly I could get the furnace fixed, but I can't afford to, and other than that... just nothing to be done about it.

Anyway, thank you for the hugs!

[hilarytamar.livejournal.com]

God, that sucks, and absolutely warrants any bitching you may care to do. I'm so sorry. You probably won't believe me if I tell you I'm pretty sure a mediocre Yuletide fic from you is quite likely to in fact be good, even if it's not superb, but I suspect it may be true. In any case, I hope you get some rest and stay warm.

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. *hugs*

[hilarytamar.livejournal.com]

(What I actually think, of course, is that you couldn't write anything but remarkably good fic if your life depended on it, but then I'm biased.)

[sid]

So, where do you complain LOUDLY about the sub-standard conditions? Is there somebody we should all be sending threatening letters and emails to? {{warm hugs}}

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you for the offer!

*greedily accepts warm hug*

[amara-m.livejournal.com]

*sends hot cocoa and warm hugs*

That just sucks, darling. Wish I could help in some way, but other than offering my virtual hugs and cocoa, I got nothing I'm afraid!

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Aw, the hugs are much appreciated! Thank you

[wendy.livejournal.com]

I had no water and no heat and it was below freezing outside for three straight days and maybe about 45 in here. I spent my entire time huddled under dozens of blankets in the cold, shivering.

Never, ever do this again. Just come over here and sleep on my couch or something!

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I just got, like, stubborn. Heh. I never claimed to be smart. But really really thank you.

[fakymcfakerson.livejournal.com]

That sucks. :( :(

I can't do much about the lack-of-heat (although at hardware stores, they have polystyrene insulation, you might be able to build an unattractive inner wall?), but to keep your pipes from freezing, keep the water on- just a trickle.

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

I definetely should have done that, with the water. Next time for sure. Thanks.