Also, is 80 cubic feet of gas a lot to use in a month? I've never lived in a place with gas heat that I paid for.

Kinda depends on how big your place is. Last year's average for us was about 120ish cubic feet of gas per month (we are on the budget plan that averages out the payments throughout the year). This "budget" year, with the mild winter, it is running at about 90 per month. Old house, stoutly built, but windows are not young and far from energy efficient (then again the new furnace IS so that helps), two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, four rooms on the main floor, basement only partially finished but it is heated - just to give you an idea.

I just looked at this for my taxes--my lowest gas bill last year was $40 and my highest was $160. It averaged around $100...gas water heater and stove.

My electric was ~$30/month.

It's a one bedroom apartment, but it has a loft, so heating two floors. I guess I'm used to DC, when my bill in the winter would be $40, but would be $80 in the summer (and that's with me turning the thermostat up to 75 when I left the house).

tacklehugs Bitches

I really wanted to skim, but it was over 1000 posts and I caved to Recent. Miss you all. Busy girl all the time.

Debet, sorry about all the mortality stress. Really pleased to hear your mother's results were good.

Sean! Go, writer dude! Nice to see your font sharing the good news.

Tom, getting layed off after such a long stretch is horrible and emotionally jarring, but my first thought when I read the post was that it was time for a new chapter in Tom's life. I honestly believe this is the beginning of something life changing in a good way.

sj, Nora, and others dealing with this stuff, moving and real estate transactions are just a whole bunch of stress. We have been playing the modification/foreclosure/mediation game with our bank for 3 years now. Rollercoaster of stress. No resolution yet. I wish I actual advice, but all I have are nods of camaraderie and empathy.

smonster, Drama Llama is due for some serious karma. Still believe PB is apparently a son from another mother. B still doesn't get it at all, but I hold out hope he will wake up.

On utilities, if I ever had a utility bill under $300 we would through a party. Living in paradise is grand and all, but costs a lot of electric.

Wish me luck staying caught up here. Miss you muchly.

we are on a usage plan thing...it really keeps costs down.

I've never has gas, but we average more than that per month for oil heat. The electricity sounds just about right.

Laura! I'm sorry to hear that B hasn't gotten things figured out yet.

I have e-mailed our agent about two more houses we want to see this weekend. Onwards. Also, I have to see my doctor today. Don't wanna.

Daniel Radcliffe likes pubic hair.

This just seemed the place to repost that.

The other agent is trying to use my disability as a reason for us to come up on the price of the house, because it happens to be a ranch.

The other agent is trying to use my disability as a reason for us to come up on the price of the house, because it happens to be a ranch.

JEBUS, STOP TALKING OTHER AGENT! Asshole.

but when you show up to your interview with a folder with your resume in colour and colour copies of your certifications, it's not our company you really wanted to work for.

Doesn't everyone do that?

I kid, I kid...

Obsv she wasn't a right fit for your company, but there CAN be people who get all up and anal for interviews, and then work out ok with people in a chaotic field.

OK -- mememe vent: This is the THIRD morning in a row I have woken up in a bad mood because D's ex has been in my dreams, and I am seriously irritated with my psyche. I mean, you all know how hard it is for me to sleep, and then to have horrid dreams with her in my head being wretched for 3 nights in A ROW is just too much.

I am sublimating something fierce, because in every single dream I end up slapping or hitting her. Neither D or I have heard a word from her since I called and left her a VM about the whole Technorati article incident, although we have talked to M (not about that, of course.)

I work so hard to get a normal sleeping schedule, or at least as normal as can be for me, and to have her in my fucking head for 3 nights running is seriously making me cranky. I don't get it: I vent about her (here, and to other discreet friends) and I try to approach it in a healthy way. Maybe because I'm a natural problem-fixer and person who likes to deal up-front with shit, and not being able to assert myself and having to tip-toe around my drama llama is making me crazy, because it goes so against my nature and yet I'm doing it for M's sake?

I dunno.

But I AM signing up for that intro krav class this Saturday right this second, and I am hoping they have some heavy bag work, because I think I need to try to kick the shit out of something. And it's best it's inanimate, and the last time I kicked a wall out of frustration, I pulled a Xander and kicked a hole through the drywall of an old apartment and lost my security deposit.

GRRRRR ARGH STAB STAB STAB