I’m not from these parts, and I feel that’s an evident fact.
When I moved here I knew there would be a lot of adjustment before I could fit in with the locals, even though I never expected that I would have so much toil to do with our own psyche… You see, I’m the sort of lady who hates spending money.
I try to keep our energy bills as low as possible because I don’t like to see money flying out of our bank account! This is one of the reasons that I enjoyed the Winter here – it’s relatively warm, so you can get away with using a small portable heating device or even a fireplace to survive the chilly season. This was a brand new experience for me, as someone who grew up in the freezing northeast. The concern is… that same utility bill savings does not apply to the moderate season here. The summers are brutally warm and humid, and they require advanced air conditioner every single day if you want to be comfortable, hell, you have to run your AC into the ground if you just want to avoid heat stroke. This was unexpected and horrifying to me, as I watched our energy bill climb day after day with the cooling system operating at its lowest setting. I was perspiring through our shorts and the utilities were still higher than I had ever seen them. I started to panic about the biweekly indoor temperature control. It didn’t help when our AC equipment broke down and I had to call for a professional cooling system repair service. Hundreds of dollars flowed out of our hands that day. Now, I’m considering what other occasions I have for next summer. I’m terrified to face the warm and balmy air all over again, but even more afraid of giving up our new home. I was just starting to be accepted here.