Imagine the loudest noise ever. Add emotional agony. Mix with rising oil prices.
That's the sound of my emotional state right now, folks. You get the picture.
My energy expert friend did me a favor recently and assessed our new house for its energy efficiency. Sitting down with a freshly brewed espresso, he looked me squarely in the eye and said,
"Well, Christine, energy-wise you live in a tent."
He dovetailed his comment with all the wonderful things we could do to make our home more environmentally friendly to the tune of $100,000. But did he take into account the amount of carbon dioxide I'd have to give off just to make that kind of cash?
Nyet.
So this morning, with all the good will I could muster, I peered into our heating room and listened to our burner purring nicely, until I realized it was probably using more oil than it should and that it is consuming at a rate acceptable for the year it was built (1990), but for today's standards eats up more like a dollar of oil per minute. We'll either have to remodel our home or use the same money to send our kids to college.**
Perhaps we should just move into a real tent and power our lives from solar energy. That is, if the sun ever comes out in Germany again. Thunder showers are in the forecast for the next week. Energy-wise a real bummer. At least this house is water proof!
**Editor's Note: To all friends and family, I am exaggerating here for the sake of entertainment. The children will get an education. Honest.
