If nothing has changed for you lifestyle-wise, Sophia, something is going on. That's crazy.
One of the more interesting books I've read came out in 1999 and was called Centenarians, and was interviews and photos of (you guessed it!) people who were born in 1899 or earlier. They included a woman who was Strom Thurmond's babysitter (!), a man who, when he was 7 years old, spent part of a train ride through Wyoming chatting with an old guy across the aisle who he found out later was Buffalo Bill, and other really fascinating people.
I'll have to pick up that book. My dad's father was born in 1899. He died in 1990. I remember watching all the hubub about the Berlin Wall with him, and being struck when he said, "I remember when that wall went up." He was a WWI Vet, too.
Even the WWII Vets are getting scarce -- which makes me kind of weepy.
Definitely ask the power company. Were the earlier values (like from last year) read or estimated? Because if they were based off the place being vacant or something, that might have thrown things off. Because you call them, go read you meter.
Mine is read electronically now, and for comparison, my monthly usage for a 750 sq ft apartment, with gas heat (means electric blower) runs on the order of 200-250 kWh in the winter months (I don't wanna talk about summer.) And I'm not particularly energy efficient. Computer is always plugged in, as are all other appliances and a filtering fan. So. I'd think something is crazily up with your bill unless you have all electric heat.
Sophia, you might also want to check and see if any part of the building besides your apartment is on your electrical circuit. Not sure exactly how you'd check that. (Your landlord might tell you, but s/he might not know or might just tell you that only your apartment is on your circuit just so you'll leave him alone.)
Maybe your electric company could tell you. Or maybe you could call them and just tell them your electricity consumption is way higher and you aren't doing anything different - they might help you investigate.
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clearly we do not have magic in our hearts.
That's the cheapest excuse I've ever read.
That's just sloppy graphic design. They need to not be defensive about it.
I may just be in a pessimistic mood. If so, that's only because I've been paying attention.
Is it a sad statement that I found this inspiring? Uplifting, even?
You wouldn't believe the vengeance a traumatized goat can wreak.
Um, actually, I would. You see, there was this time a friend was preparing a meal for a group and one of the main courses was goat. Only, the goat hadn't been killed yet. Uh huh. Downhill from there ...
Business formal question:
I have a suit. It's a size 6 and the tags are still on it. Moving on. It's a pretty theoretical question, since I don't see myself hitting the stores before my next interview, but if I were looking to find a skirt or pair of pants to most businesslikely go with my black linen Nehru-like jacket, what colours are best? Given the black-matching nightmare, of course.
My idea of business dress includes fire engine red, but judging from the email my recruiter sent, I'm some sort of professional Jezebel in that way. In fact, recruiter says "conservative colored (black, blue, etc.)".
Currently, in a step down from what I consider suited, I've been interviewing either in black or grey (funereal, even for me) or a vintage shantung number in beige and blues.
You can match black or grey to it in that setting.
I've been listening to this and giggling today. It's a mp3 snippet of a recent performance at the Met where a soprano briefly loses control of her vocal cords: [link]
