Saturday, October 22, 2011

Last year, my cosy little studio apartment was never cold. Heat was included in my rent, so not only could I have the thermostat set however high I wanted, but I also had neighbors to the left, right, and below who were also doing the same thing. I was on the top floor, and in these buildings that were apparently built before the invention of insulation, heat rose into my apartment quite nicely.
This year however, is not quite the same. Not only do we pay for our heat (thus it is set at 62*) but we also have a very large apartment. A large apartment with lots of windows. Lots of windows that are probably older than I am and although they are weird and have two sets of glass (storm windows anyone? Yes? No?) they do NOTHING as far as temperature regulation. They are also coming out of the runners, so there is a lovely draft charging into every room of the house (except the bathroom - I might have to take over when it gets colder. I will make my own flag and everything) through the windows and two outside doors we have. We generally have a lot more outside wall then I did last year.

So what do you do when your house leaks cold air?
You plastic wrap it:



And let me explain, this is not some brilliant idea that roommate Nichole came up with because she is from Green Bay and her family figured it out. Oh no. This is just commonly accepted here. Giant plastic sheets show up at the store with the Halloween decorations. Marquette always puts out flyers for a service day to help "Winterize homes of the elderly in Milwaukee." Like it's normal.

...

This is not normal.
I am using double stick tape to attach shrink wrap to the walls of my apartment and then using a hair dryer to make sure it's in place so I don't freeze to death. HOW IS THAT NORMAL?! WHY WOULD ANYONE CHOOSE TO LIVE IN A PLACE WHERE THAT IS NORMAL????????

As a note, I have no idea if the newspaper is a normal thing. But after last Tuesday it seemed like a good idea and I don't really care how it looks.
Last Tuesday was the day that reminded me of why I hate it here. It had been SO NICE up until now. I had been having a good time with the roommates and classes (for the most part) I can put up with. I was ENJOYING MYSELF. To the point where I may or may not have forgotten that it will get miserably cold.
But then we woke up on Tuesday. It was cold, and raining, and windy. I sat in my room trying to do homework and I couldn't feel my toes. It was the kind of cold INSIDE OUR APARTMENT that makes it so you can't think about anything else except not being cold anymore. I'm currently sitting here, in two pairs of socks, a shirt, a long sleeve shirt, a hoodie, wrapped up in the blanket my aunt crocheted for me, and I am still cold. I've got two layers of plastic on each window so far and I'm about to add another. Nichole told me that last year they had to do 5 layers for my room and the one at the other end of the hall - the ones with two windows and a full facing outside wall. Nichole and Marie only have one window each and are much better protected as far as how the building is set up.

No comments:

Post a Comment