Brrrrr

My nose is cold all the time, I feel like a dog.  My fingers and toes fare little better.  I'm wearing three layers and long socks.

Since these frigid temperatures took hold last weekend, cold air has been streaming through the air-conditioning unit in the living room window.  (It should have a cover.)  Somehow my roomie claims this has never been a problem before (!).  I am not into hermetically sealed houses and am usually the one that keeps a window cracked open in winter to allow oxygenation, but when you have the radiator next to the window at full heat and the room is still cold, then something needs to be done.

Thankfully my room is the warmest, in fact a little too warm, but I do think that the bowl of water on my radiator contributes to the general comfort of my room.  It is attached to the living room, so I leave the doors open in the day so that some heat can flow into the living room.  But I suspect it's too scared to come out.

In the summer, you cannot possibly conceive of winter's coldness, so even if only 2 of 5 rooms have functioning radiators you assume they are going to spread their warmth comfortably around the house, as long as the windows are closed.  No such luck...

I know this is an old house, but surely winterproofing is not too much to ask, since the landladies only live downstairs and they can't be all cold round the edges.  This reminds me of growing up in our old house in London, which was draughty through the original leaded window panes.  Memories of my mother plastered against radiators, yet she always hung up on double glazing telemarketers.  We were all for authenticity, back then.

Then we moved to Texas, leaving behind our turn of the century Tudor style house.  We moved into a cozy modern townhouse, followed by a fairly luxurious new colonial style home with nary a draught, well finished in every corner.  Needless to say, my standards went up.

I like original features, but I think from now on I should choose new constructions...or at least very well refurbished old places rather than merely maintained ones.  Comfort AND authenticity in one place.

End of Rant.

I have another thing to whine about, but that's for later.

I've made my bed really cosy, redraping the swagged voile to completely enclose the top and sides, like a room within a room.

**********

By the way, this week I applied to a couple of cool jobs in another major city south of NYC.  It had been my original intention to job hunt up and down the eastern seaboard while staying with my cousin, using NYC as a base but setting a time limit on my sojourn here.  However, when I was forced to find my own accommodations this changed slightly and I focused only on the local area.  Now that the economy has worsened and I haven't heard back from anyone, it's back to plan A:  expand the search and go wherever the job is rather than forcing it out of just one place.

Time for me to go off and meet my friend Denise for a pizza dinner followed by dessert in the comfort of her home.  It's on the Upper West Side so I need plenty of time to get there, especially on a weekend.