Years ago, I stopped reading articles about why couples fight. Boring. At least to me. Durf and I appeared to be outliers, because none of our issues were ever on anyone's list. Then one day a headline caught my eye: "Thermostat Wars." Aha! What a relief it was to discover that there were others who put this issue front and center!
Don't laugh. How would you like it if you had to go stand on the porch in zero degree temperatures just to cool off because the house is a sauna? It's enough to get your blood boiling. Or what about having to put on three layers of clothing while sitting in your office even though it's 95 degrees outside? Seriously, it's hard to maintain your equilibrium.
Over the more than 30 years Durf and I have shared living space, I have discovered that Durf has a very narrow range of comfort. It goes from 68 degrees to 68 degrees. Summer, fall, winter, spring. 68 degrees. I, on the other hand, adjust to the season. So if I had my druthers, I'd keep the house at 84 in the summer and 66 (65? 64?) in the winter.
Before you howl, let me remind you that adaptability is a virtue!
But Durf and I don't really fight in the traditional way. We have mastered the art of stealth fighting. So there I was working away in my office yesterday when I noticed sweat dripping down my face onto my papers. I looked up and saw that the outside temperature was about 50, but inside the house it was (gasp) pushing 70. I tiptoed out of my office and very quietly pulled down the cover to the thermostat. AHA, it had been turned up! I rewound it to a breathable level and tiptoed back to my office.
I dare say Durf does the same thing because I find I have to make several trips a day to the thermostat.
We're still married, though, and I don't see that changing in the near future. I can only assume the thermostat wars are not as fatal as the money wars.
Although I'm happy that our marriage is safe for the near future, I'll risk that and say POPPYCOCK! I'm hardly a temperature freak. In the winter the house feels fine to me when the temperature is 68, but Twila loves to turn it down to 64 - then she sits in her office with a 1500w space heater blasting on her while wearing three layers of clothing. In the summer we only turn on central AC on very hot days; otherwise I have an AC in my office that keeps me comfortable, and at night we use a fan.
ReplyDeleteHe said, she said.
ReplyDeleteeccentricity lives but gallantry is dead in Loveland.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Anonymous! Exactly!
ReplyDeleteeccentric? seriously? i never think of myself as eccentric. hmmmmmm.
ReplyDelete