Text 18433, 161 rader
Skriven 2014-10-23 19:44:45 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
Kommentar till text 18370 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
Ärende: Peppers [1]
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Hi Janis,
>> We lived in a total electric apartment very early on in Warick just
>> after we were married... My dad and his business partner had built
>> Unfortunately, the utility bills were _horrendous_ such that we
JK> > Our first apartment had 10' ceilings and was heated with propane. It
JK> was > a converted hotel, don't think there was a bit of insulation in
JK> the building so we ran up some major heating costs. No a/c in the
place either.
JK> That sounds incredibly painful using propane for those kinds of rooms
The rent was affordable, as in free the second year we lived there. We
were managers for the apartment unit that year.
JK> :( We have two furnaces in Windsor which is another reason we were so
JK> happy to move to this house in Ithaca.. In Windsor the main furnace
JK> was oil, the second one was propane. Luckily the propane furnace only
JK> heated perhaps 3 rooms downstairs and one upstairs IIRC. But it was
JK> still expensive since the utility company wouldn't sell "partial"
JK> fills for the propane tanks. You had to have the tank filled.
I know, we had 50 gallon tanks and would have to fill them weekly in a
(coastal) NC winter for several months. We ran out once, just after 5pm
(when the gas company closed) so I called--found out they'd charge a
whopping fee for after hours delivery. I declined, we borrowed an
electric heater for the bedroom that night. I also tried choking down a
cup of coffee (without success) to warm me up. No microwave back then to
heat non coffee flavored water, could have used the percolater for
coffee flavored water for tea. IIRC, we used the electric fry pan to
heat something for supper.
>> started calling the O&R company (Orange & Rockland utility company)
>> the "rape and plunder" co. - it was that bad. :( Luckily we were able
JK> > Outrageous and ridiculous--I know what you mean.
JK> Yes, I'm sure you do :) That was the worst place we every lived for
JK> utility bills.. :( Well, given the size of the living quarters (2
We've had some high bills here, especially last winter.
JK> bedroom apartment with living room/dining area, and kitchen and 1
JK> bathroom) and the size of the bills. It was nice living so close to
JK> "home" but that was the only benefit (grin). My parents owned a huge
Sounds nice for a first place. In the converted hotel had all the rooms
on a straight line, bedroom on one end, then living room, kitchen and
bathroom. We had one of the few apartments with a living room. One unit
had its bathroom across the (former lobby) entry way to the upper floor;
good for a single guy maybe.
JK> meandering colonial house in Warwick, with 4 1/2 acres of land in the
JK> village of Warwick.. so Dad decided to use that acreage for 3
JK> total-electric apartment buildings. Beautiful aparments, but killers
JK> for utilities :( I still remember crying when the builders tore down
JK> the barn and play-house that had been in our backyard throughout the
JK> time I grew up there... :(
My folks owned aboout a quarter acre, surrounded by our one neighbor who
owned several acres. We had run of the surrounding area when I was a kid
but when I was in college, he sold some of it to the town to excavate
for gravel.
>> gas/hot water heat as well, but only baseboards.. When the house was
>> rebuilt the radiators were removed. It's still cheaper than our house
>> in Windsor was though, because it's got much better insulation than
>> the house in Windsor, and that house in Windsor uses oil. ouch. Talk
>> about painful :(
JK> > My folks have oil in their house; they've had some rough winters.
JK> The > natural gas heating should cut our electric bill considerably.
JK> Yes, it should :)
We'll see, this coming winter especially.
>> > Yes, and knowing the farmers is nice too. We trade recipies, ideas
>> for > cooking, etc.
>> That is very nice - I imagine it's a place to look forward to. :)
JK> > Very much so! I was able to get up there today for the first time in
JK> > about a month--got some baby bok choy, spinach, a couple of small
JK> yellow > squash, a small eggplant, a couple of small cucumbers, some
JK> sweet
JK> > potatoes and some snap (green) beans. Steve came home with some more
JK> Sounds really good :) Matt's been cleaning out my jars of dill
JK> pickles already haha.. I didn't do that many, maybe 5 jars. Still
JK> have two left I think. I used a bunch of my potatoes in a dish that
JK> Jamie Oliver had for Fish Pie.. like a shepard's pie, but with fish
JK> filet. That was a really nice recipe.
I stir fried the bok choy, then pulled it out and did a chicken breast
"marinaded" in a soy-ginger sauce (picked up on clearance at Lowe's). It
soulnd tho, like you should have made more pickles go get you thru the
winter. (G)
JK> > Steve took some home made (he made, using my baking mix and kefir)
JK> > biscuits filled with pastrami (from what he made) and swiss cheese
JK> up to > some vendors today. He had requests for the pastrami recipe
JK> and I had > one for the baking mix recipe (home made version of
JK> bisquik).
JK> Neat.. :) I can imagine they were happy to see both!
I've got to take the baking mix one in yet. Need to copy it, with some
basic recipes unless it's in a document file I did for a wedding present
a couple of years ago.
JK> that one. > OTOH, the left wrist has given me more problems over the
JK> years--it
JK> > shatterd, and I'm left handed. One orthopedic surgeon wanted to fuse
JK> it > about 23 years ago; I declined then but it may have to be done at
JK> some > point down the road. I've had 2 surgeries on the right wrist, 3
JK> on the > left but I can still use them.
JK> That's good to hear, sorry to hear about the still expected surgeries,
JK> but I understand.
I'll put it off as long as I can.
>> than when we moved in. In the house in Louisville, Ron installed a
>> parquet floor in the kitchen because I got very tired of the kitchen
>> floor which was covered with a rug.. who could stand a rug in the
>> kitchen? I guess someone who didn't cook much :)
JK> > A rug in the kitchen would be one of those "What in the world were
JK> they > thinking?" when I saw it situations.
JK> Exactly! (grin)
JK> > I think most all of our places have
JK> > had linoleum or something equivalent in the kitchen; the new place
JK> may > get a floring upgrade at some point down the road.
JK> Sure, I can understand that. In the house in Windsor, the contractors
JK> redid all wood floors downstairs, and installed ceramic tile floors in
JK> the kitchens upstairs and in all the bathrooms. They all look so
JK> beautiful. The main kitchen looks incredible. I want to move back
JK> there (grin).
Sounds nice. You would want to live there only until you got the winter
heating bills tho, then move back to your smaller house. (G)
>> CONTINUED IN NEXT MESSAGE <<
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Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28
... Yesterday was the deadline for complaints.
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