2:22 a.m. - 2003-11-23
Deep Freeze
The cats like to perch on the monitor when I'm working on the computer. They take turns, although I can't determine how they decide whose turn it is. Last night Miss Kitty obviously pulled rank and insisted on using that vantage point to command my attention. She was intent on conveying something she thought was important and wouldn't leave her perch until I understood the message. She headed for downstairs and I followed. Turns out the pilot light on the furnace had gone out and the beast had quit running. How she of the naturally furred coat noticed the house cooling down before me in my jammies is beyond me. However, if I hadn't restarted the furnace before going off to bed - which had been my intent before the command performance - we could have been in big trouble by morning. You see the temperature outside last night dropped to -35 c/f. Darn cold. Hypothermia is very dangerous and one can die before one wakes. Freeze to death. The other danger with a natural gas furnace is from carbon monoxide poisoning, if combustion is incomplete. I always keep one window slightly open even on the coldest days just to ensure that doesn't become a possibility. Better a higher gas bill than that. Smart cat that girl.
Today was just catch up. Dishes, laundry, and a week's worth of newspapers and e-mail. Good things to do when it's still so cold out. The forecast was for a chinook to arrive sometime this evening. On the forecast tonight the temperature was going up above the daytime high for today. Comments about the loss of sunlight too tonight. Barrow, Alaska saw the sun for the last time today until the end of January 2004. In the far north of Canada some settlements saw their last daylight at the end of October although the will see the return of it at the beginning of January instead. It takes a special person to live in the far north. The pay is great and there are jobs for those who are willing, but not many people can cope for long. The oil companies here usually send their staff in for about six weeks and then bring them back home for three. The facilities they supply to keep people on staff include gyms, theaters, fabulous cooked meals and recreational facilities, but the isolation is still too much for most. The ones who are successful usually love the outdoors - the fishing and hunting - and can endure the extremes in weather. Anyway, I have a fair amount to do tomorrow so I'd better try and go to sleep now dear diary. And yes I checked the furnace. Goodnight.
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