I wrote this yesterday and forgot to post it. You know why? I’m an idiot.
Yesterday was interesting, we had no heat or hot water from 11 PM on Friday until 9 PM on Saturday. My roommate let the super know in the morning, he said he was working on it. I texted him in the late afternoon, he said he was on it. I can understand that it’s not always possible to fix things immediately. There are a limited number of people capable of repairing furnaces and on days when it’s 16ºF with a windchill of 4ºF they will be in high demand. What upsets me is his not saying that they are having trouble getting someone, so I’d know I’d be in for the long haul.
Thanks to physics things weren’t that bad. How fast a body cools depends on its surface to volume ratio; it loses heat only through its surface but holds heat throughout its volume. If two objects have the same shape the larger one will have a smaller surface to volume ratio as the surface area goes as the square of the linear size the volume as the cube. That’s why it’s harder for small animals to stay warm than large ones. Apartment buildings are large compared to private houses. They hold heat well. The activities of the people inside were enough to keep the apartment at 55ºF, at least in my roommate’s room. I turned on a small space heater in the living room and the oven and boiled a large pot of water on the stovetop. I wore two hoodies and eventually put on long underwear. In other words, I dressed like it was evening at Falcon Ridge. Those measure plus coffee and hot chocolate kept me going.
The best part is that when I posted about it on Facebook so many people offered to help. Many people said I can stay at their place. Some of these offers came from people that I’m not close to. They are simply good compassionate people. One close friend lives in a studio apartment so she offered to pay for a hotel. As it wasn’t unbearable, I stayed home rather than have to face getting dressed and having to travel by public transit. One friend thought it might be because we disagreed on politics. While I can understand people fearing that it’s not true of me. I know that people I disagree with can still be good and kind. It gets more complicated than that even. Even people that views I consider immoral can be good and kind in other situations. I was once caught in the rain waiting for a bus in the middle of Pelham Bay Park and a stranger offered me a ride. When I thanked him, he said he couldn’t not help someone in distress like that. When talking I discovered that he was a vehement racist and complained about the blacks on City Island. We have to learn that people can have seemingly contradictory mixes of virtues and sins. Was that “Good Samaritan” that gave me a ride a good person or bad? The answer to that depends on where you draw the line. I prefer to not draw a line. He is what he is. I accept his kindness for what it is, kindness. I accept his racism for what it is, terrible.
I had a COVID-19 test on Friday. I forgot that the place I usually go to shuts down early on Fridays but came across another as I took my walk. My usual place has both rapid and PCR and gets the PCR back to you the next day. I once waited ten days for a result from someplace else. The huge lines for testing are gone so I figured the labs are no longer backed up. The booth said that you get your results back the next day. Guess what I didn’t. I still don’t have it. If it doesn’t come by tomorrow, I’ll get tested then at my usual place. I’m going to the Knick game but don’t want to go if I test positive. As my roommate did, which prompted my test I want to be extra careful. I have been symptomless and very carefully with my roommate. She’s been wearing a mask when outside of her room. I’ve been wearing one whenever she might be around.
Now to make breakfast. Today’s mission is to leave the house. It looks beautiful outside. I’m going to appreciate it.
I just remembered, I wanted to talk about a dream I had in the unheated bedroom. My bedroom is much colder than the rest of the house. That’s by choice as I like it to be cool when I sleep. Perhaps I just wanted to justify not taking the AC out of the window. That normally works great but not when it’s cold and windy and there’s no heat. My room was probably down in the 40s. I pulled the covers tight around me and curled up in my sleep. It even affected my dreams. In one I was in a hotel room at a convention that might have been NERFA. I was in bed and cold and pulled all the covers around me just as I had in real life. Then I noticed that there were two other people in the bed, and I had stolen all the covers! I felt terrible and couldn’t believe my uncovered bedmates didn’t take them back. What were they doing in my bed? Sleeping, I wasn’t even aware they were in the bed until I rolled over and saw them. That’s when I started questioning the entire situation. Why were we sharing a bed? One of the people in the bed is a friend but the other wasn’t her wife. Why was that? When I start questioning a dream that means I’m about to wake up, and that was exactly what happened. The only part that hadn’t changed on awakening was that it was cold, and the covers were gathered around me. If anyone else was in the bed I would have stolen them.
Wise Madness 