We have heat!!

This fall has been the most gorgeous of the 6 years we've lived here in Klaipeda. Low on rain & high on crisp, clear days. The temperature hadn't really gotten all that cold either...until about two weeks ago. And because we live in a post-Soviet society that still uses a few of the old soviet practices at the city level, we (along with the rest of the city) didn't have any heat. Despite how used to this we've become over the years, it's still not fun to be in a house with the indoor temperature in the 50's.

The city heating system works like this: in the fall "they" (whoever they are) wait until the outdoor temperature reaches a certain average over a 3-day period before they'll turn the heat on. If the first 2 days are cold, but it warms up on the 3rd, too bad for us! Once we have 3 cold enough days, certain buildings in certain parts of the city start getting heat. We know it's coming when we come to LCC & other colleagues start reporting that their heat came on the night before. Over the course of a couple days, the radiators in all city buildings will slowly warm up.

Then in the spring, the reverse will happen. They wait for a specific average temperature over a 3-day period & then turn the heat off. What generally happens is we have an early heat wave (like we did last March) and the heat goes off and the temps drop again. Brrrrr!!!!!

Over the past couple of weeks, our apartment has been C-O-L-D!!!! We pulled out the electric space heaters & thanked God that we live in a flat that has a door on the living room. When it was time for bed, we'd move the space heater into the bedroom & get that room toasty next. We are so thankful for the rice bag heater things that Ruth Cowles made for us this summer - after a few minutes in the microwave, those things were fabulous to cuddle with in a cold bed! Thanks again, Ruth!!

A few days ago, we came home to discover that we finally had heat. Hallelujah!!! There has been much rejoicing!! And now (of course) the outside temps have gone up a bit, so we're really VERY toasty in our apartment, but I'll never complain about being too warm. After living here with someone else's finger on my heater-button, I doubt I'll ever complain about being too warm again in my entire life.