Couch 209: The Kummer Couch

I guess. The issue is that the duplex I'm living in didn't isolate the units. If I turn on the heat, I am paying to heat the whole house. My unit is only like 1/3 of the house... and I'm also the only one who can turn on the AC and heat. The other unit has window units for AC but I can tell the air cycles between the units. There isn't anyone living in the other unit now, though. If there was, they'd be out of luck because I am not paying to heat a whole house. I especially can't afford it since I will have to pay to cool the place in the summer. I need to save my pennies for that...

The Onion:
5 Things To Know About ‘Cats’

Apparently expired Klonopin doesn’t really work.

Rescheduled session in 40 minutes. *gulp*

I have to go to work on very little sleep. Considering I’ve only been with these people since September I’m not really hoping for a holiday bonus check but a girl can dream, right? Last year with the other family on my last payday before Christmas they handed me my pay for the week and then also handed me a separate envelope with a generous amount of cash. Oh well! I’ll miss that this year.

There should be hazard pay for dealing with that 4 year old.

And more hazard pay due to the germ exposure, plus a bonus HAZMAT suit.

son was up from 4 to 5am he has a bad cough so I sat with him til it settled and he slept. meaning I hardly did. I'm exhausted and still barely eating. can it be spring now?

full day of work to go.

Where's the thermostat though? If the thermostat is also in your separate, enclosed area, the rest of the house
may get some warm air but it only runs until your area is warmed. You're in control of it. Anyway, the point is that some utility companies will pay your heating and cooling bills if you can't. There's no need to suffer needlessly if programs exist to help you.

Oh poor him. Taking a domestic violence course is stupid?

Of course it will be to any "man" who thinks it's okay to behave that way with his partner.

I'm not going to comment further, but you deserve so much better than the way H is treating you.

My supermarket also sells mini heaters which can be plugged in, with a timer which might be cheaper than heating the entire house.

I hope it went well Lost.

The session I booked with another T for my sister today cancelled. The company said they'd give me a refund though.

Did anyone see a T as a adolescent?

NP - the thermostat is in my area, but the AC bill was outrageous over the summer. I understand what you're saying, but if the air is cycling through the whole house via the vents, then that means I will have cold air coming into my space, right? That's what I was thinking, anyway. I'm basing that on how every time I turned on the AC over the summer, I could tell when the guy in the other unit was smoking. It was horrible. I also don't think my thermostat is reliable at detecting temperatures. I had to set it at 76 or else I was freezing.

I will look into what you're suggesting, though. It hasn't been that bad up until now since I'm in the southeastern US and on the coast. Last week it actually got hot for a few days. But now that we're getting down to freezing temperatures, it is a bit miserable. My space heater does eventually warm my bedroom but it takes hours to do so. I actually have two, but I can only use one or it causes the power to go out.

Yeah, I'm using a heater in my bedroom, it just takes hours for it to heat the whole room. And it's kind of inconvenient that it's intolerable to be anywhere but my bedroom starting around 6 or 7pm.

C did starting at 16.

I started seeing a therapist at 16 too.

I texted my sister wishing her good luck at her appointment. She said thanks and if I still want to come and am able to then I am welcome to stay with her. Honestly, it just feels awkward. She didn't want me to stay with her before so I don't see how anything has changed. I really am not interested in imposing and I'm still kind of upset about how things went down yesterday. I don't feel comfortable staying with her or the mother knowing I'm not wanted. And I also feel a bit angry because it felt like she took away my reason for being able to inflict my presence by uninviting me to take her to her appointment while I was in the midst of packing. And actually, now that I think about it, I'm really pissed off that she phrased the text this morning as "if you want and are able to come." I wanted and was able to come last night! I did not come because she said she was getting someone else to take her to the appointment and she didn't want me staying with her. So wtf.

Maybe you could turn on the heat and just set it at the lowest the thermostat will go, even if it's like 50 or 55. Or just turn it on at night.

Could you ask your landlord to go into the other apartment and have them shut all the vents? You might still be getting cold air from there even if you're not running the heater.

Is there an option for you to buy a heater with a fan? Those move around the air (and thus the heat) more, plus you can point them at yourself and feel cozy warm even if the rest is cold.
Other than that layering cloths is an old trick used by people in cold climates.

I started at 13. It didn't actually help until I was 19. Didn't really understand what therapy was at 13.

Yes, I did.

Liz was back to being regular Liz instead of Evil Twin Liz today. I felt like we finally made progress on healing The Rupture. I am feeling less reactive and more reasonable in general, so I was able to tell her how I felt without really stressing myself out too much. We talked a bit about how she became a trauma trigger for me. I like that I have her and Amy to bounce things off of because they're so different. It's a huge relief to feel like maybe my relationship with Liz can be saved after all.

Have you got all the basic heat-saving measures covered? Polythene over windows, closing curtains or blinds at night, using hot water bottles, layering clothing, woolly hats, radiator reflectors, draft excluders, etc.