When I first moved to this apartment, back in July, ice formed in the milk jug because the refrigerator was set too cold. Not that it was set to its coldest setting; rather, I have been pushing it slowly further and further past the half-way point, unwilling to push the dial all the way over to the warmest setting. After all, “warmest” is not what a refrigerator is for, is it? But meat pulled from the freezer the night before is still hard by next evening. I think I am just too used to overcrowded refrigerators that can’t properly cool their entire payloads.

Now that cold weather has finally set in, though, I have thought about climbing in there to warm up. The heat is not included in my rent, I pay for it myself, but the superintendent had made a few dour remarks about when the landlord would “turn on” the heat, and I dislike spending my after-work hours on household chores, so I had not paid much attention to the heat. Until recently, it’s been warm enough. After a few days here and there of feeling decidely chilly, I got around to asking what exactly needed to be done to get the heat turned on.

Calling for prices at the last minute, I only found two suppliers listed in the “thin” phone book I have (and no better luck with a quick search online). I called both, and at this point only one offered a price-capped plan. So, although their upfront rate was higher when I called (Thursday, I think), I bought from them.

By the time my oil was delivered today, the price had already gone up above the price I locked in–which was already 25 cents a gallon more than the flucating rate quoted by the competitor. I don’t know how many deliveries of oil I will need over the winter, but I don’t feel too bad about the price I still managed to hang on to.

I still feel cold, though. That will go away soon. Just as I began to write this, shivering, I checked the thermostat again, wondering why I felt so definitely cold. I guess I set the thermostat to 58 instead of 68. The furnace had kicked on a couple of times anyway. Yeah, it’s definitely time to turn on the heat.