I returned to the Mothhouse after two days. With the extra space heater in the bathroom, it seemed reasonable that the water pipes would have thawed. \u00c2\u00a0On the contrary, the cold water in the kitchen was gone now. \u00c2\u00a0Only the warm water in the kitchen remained, and in the bathroom neither the faucet nor the shower worked (same as Monday). \u00c2\u00a0Luckily the cold water in the kitchen returned some minutes after I drew some hot water. \u00c2\u00a0I suppose the two water pipes lie so close that the heat from the hot water melted the ice in the cold water. Evidently none of the other pipes are close enough to benefit from that heat, though. \u00c2\u00a0Sucks, but I guess that’s the way the ice crumbles.<\/p>\n
I moved the new (small, expensive) space heater to the last room in any way associated with water, namely the washing room. \u00c2\u00a0I have not moved in with the washing machine yet, so the only thing there is the hot water tank. It is not particularly warm on the outside, but that is supposed to be a good thing. \u00c2\u00a0Still, if there is any room on the ground floor that might possibly be below the freezing point, this would be it. \u00c2\u00a0Particularly the floor, walking on it in thin socks was painful. \u00c2\u00a0(The thick wool socks are amazing insulation. I put them on afterwards.) I placed the heater on the floor and it is still running. \u00c2\u00a0You are not supposed to use them in so small room, but then you are not supposed to let your water pipes freeze either. \u00c2\u00a0And luckily the room is long, so there is nothing even remotely near in front of it.<\/p>\n
Even so, I don’t think the problem is the air temperature. \u00c2\u00a0I think the problem is that the ground under the house is frozen, and the pipes go through that frozen foundation without enough insulation. \u00c2\u00a0This may have worked when people used them every day several times a day. \u00c2\u00a0This may be the first time the water has actually stood still during a long period of intense cold.<\/p>\n
This seem to be all I write about when I am here. \u00c2\u00a0But the truth is that I kind of like the house, even though it is worse than the one in Nodeland in every way I can think of. \u00c2\u00a0It is older, it is smaller, it is less practical, it has an upper floor instead of a basement, it is not furnished and did not even come with a coat rack. \u00c2\u00a0The location is beautiful, but so far I have only seen it twice, otherwise it has been dark. \u00c2\u00a0But it is kind of cozy, and just the right size. \u00c2\u00a0And it is not full of other people’s stuff, so I don’t feel like a guest in someone else’s home. \u00c2\u00a0The other house also had a wood stove, but this has a wood stove AND wood, which means I actually use it to heat the living room rather than just retreat to the home office like I have done the last four winters.<\/p>\n
Of course, once I have the computers up in the study, I may retreat there anyway. \u00c2\u00a0But so far I have not even heard from the company that should install fiber-optic cable before Xmas. \u00c2\u00a0And I don’t expect them to do it while the cold is this extreme. \u00c2\u00a0Any outdoors work should be postponed till we get milder weather again… if we ever do. So far, it is just getting colder and colder. Although the long-term forecast still fantasizes about milder weather from this weekend, except it is now expected to suddenly start on Sunday. \u00c2\u00a0I have read, not many years ago, that if the weather is dominated by a high-pressure area (as it is now) the best forecast is always “the same weather as yesterday”. \u00c2\u00a0Sooner or later it will be wrong, of course, but it is impossible to know when, and until then it is right each time…<\/p>\n
In other news, I’ve got a bad cough and a sore throat tonight, but I am not convinced that this is Moth-related. \u00c2\u00a0My nose was stuffed with gunk this morning after all, and I had not been here for two days then. \u00c2\u00a0It does not really feel like an allergy: \u00c2\u00a0No running eyes or nose, no sneezing, just \u00c2\u00a0coughing up small lumps from my bronchies. \u00c2\u00a0Perhaps I should get more sleep, but then when would I re-watch Hikaru no Go? At least the bus travel gives me plenty of time for brainwave entrainment. \u00c2\u00a0Using mostly LifeFlow 2 (2Hz delta).<\/p>\n
And now it is once again the time when the bus rolls out from Mandal. \u00c2\u00a07 minutes later it should be on the bus stop. I better be there or there definitely won’t be much sleep tonight!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I returned to the Mothhouse after two days. With the extra space heater in the bathroom, it seemed reasonable that the water pipes would have thawed. \u00c2\u00a0On the contrary, the cold water in the kitchen was gone now. \u00c2\u00a0Only the … Continue reading