34.4

That is the average number of kWH of electricity usage for the month of August. I was floored by the energy bill this month. That is way below the usage at any season over the past 3 years. I’m giddy with excitement.

So, I thought I’d list the specific things we have done to cut back on our energy usage. We must have been so wasteful before.

• Temperature. First and foremost, was using the heat and AC less. We lived with a temperature of 78 F instead of 76 F this summer. It was totally bearable.


• Thermostat. Bought a programmable thermostat and scheduled it to adjust the temperature of the house when no one is there and in the middle of the night.


• Fans. Opened the windows on cool nights and used a fan. If the temp was below 78 F at night, we opened the windows and turned on some fans to circulate the cool air. This week has been a great example. It got in the mid 80s during the day, but went to the low 70s at night. The kids actually wanted blankets at the breakfast table in the middle of August!


• Timers. We put many devices that are constantly draining energy (such as cable boxes, digital picture frames, wireless router) on timers. These things don’t need to be on in the middle of the night or the middle of the day when we’re not home. So, we used our Christmas Light timers to manage them. It’s been working really well and we never have to think about them.


• Clothesline. We installed a clothesline to run the dryer less (dryer is a huge energy hog). I especially like it for sheets and stuff that take a long time to dry.


• Lights. Turn them off. It is so basic, but I have always been the worst at this. I am 33 yo and still scared of the dark (especially a dark basement). But I have been MUCH more diligent about this.


• Bulbs. Switch to compact fluorescent (CFL). We just have to make sure that we dispose of them properly as they do contain mercury.


• Weather Stripping. We’ve been making sure the weather stripping around the doors is in place. Next step will be to revisit the insulation.

I think winter is still going to be a challenge. The HVAC cools much more efficiently than it heats. We have a whole slew of other ideas to try out for the winter, but hopefully our efforts will continue to pay off.

So...

So, we got our next electric bill and it was our lowest usage to date! Even as the weather has gotten hotter. I think it may have something to do with the fact that the kids are in day care rather than being watched in the home, but I'll celbrate anyway!

Some Truly Geeky Anticipation…

My husband and I are eagerly awaiting the delivery of our latest energy bill from Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE). We don’t have a gas line, so all of our energy usage is found in our electric bill. I literally keep clicking on the site to see if it is available (today they will release it).

“What is so exciting about our electric bill?” you may be asking yourself. Well, under the fearless leadership of my husband, we have been seriously trying to minimize our energy consumption (as many American families seem to be these days). It’s actually turned into a fun game for us - putting power strips on timers, finding our absolute tolerance for heat and humidity, measuring the wattage of all of our appliances...

As you can see from the pretty line/bar graph below, our 2008 daily usage (in blue) is down from our 2006-2007 daily usages by ~20kwH a day (with the exception of January when our heater was not working correctly). So, naturally, you can see why it is with eager anticipation that we await the delivery of our July electric bill. Is our trend continuing? Will we have our lowest energy usage ever?! We’ll have to wait to find out.

Geeky Things: A Cubicle Playset for Adults

I know when I am very bored at work, I have always wanted to have a little cubicle playset of my very own to pass the time. In the spirit of Dilbert cartoons and Office Space, "The Cubes - Cubicle Playset" available at ThinkGeek. lets you enter the fantasy land that might be your very own job. Maybe you are not the "Unix" guy, maybe you have always been the "Windows" guy and you've just always wanted to be the "Unix" guy. Well, now you can PRETEND TO BE THAT GUY with your very own Cubicle Playset.

Did-You-Know What Company Filed the Largest Tax Return in History?

It is almost February. Tax documents are arriving in the mail on a daily basis. If you feel overwhelmed by completing your taxes, imagine how it was for General Electric (GE) in 2006. They e-filed a tax return that, if printed, would have been 24,000 pages! According to the Tech Republic, this was the largest tax return ever filed. Talk about overwhelming.

Source: TechRepublic, Geek Trivia: A Tax to Grind

P.S. Can you believe there is a "Geek Trivia" newsletter? Lucky for me!

Structure

I've spent this last year delving into the blogging world a little bit more and seeing how good ones work and organize themselves. I don't expect this one to be a "good one" - I mean it is just for fun for me, it really has no point other than my stream-of-conscious ramblings. My main goal with it right now is to get myself to write more and to write more freely - just in case something useful pops out while I'm not paying attention.

So, in that spirit of getting myself to write more, I think I may add some structure to the site as an experiment. I'm thinking about:

• Know-It-All Mondays - Where I impart unsolicited advice to anyone who happens to stumble by about some random topic that I think I know everything about.
• Did-You-Know Wednesdays- this would just be useless geeky trivial facts that I unearth and propagate
• Geeky Things Fridays - This would be geeky things I've done, heard, or seen that make me smile and appreciate the geekiness in life.

So, I'm going to try this for a month or so and see how it goes.

Geek Couple at Work

Yes, I IM with my husband from time to time while we are at work. Here is an example of how geeky we are:

Husband: Here's a brain teaser for you.
Husband: 1=5, 2=25, 3=125, 4=625, 5=??
Sent at 10:05 AM on Tuesday
Me: Oh come on
That is too easy
3125
Husband: Or is it...
I didn't ask for the next number in the series. If you look back 1=5 therfore 5 must = 1
Me: Assuming it was an equation
Assuming it was pattern matching, or an equation to solve
If it is pattern matching, that is the wrong answer
If it is a mathematical problem, that is the right answer
Even then it is not the right answer. In math 5 cannot equal 1
The whole premise of the question is flawed if it is not a pattern matching question.
Husband: Someone sounds bitter.
an even worse answer would be ? since it also said 5=? but I won't go there.
Also there are no units shown 1 can equal 5 depending on the units.
Me: I'm not bitter, just right
If no units are shown, there are no units.
Husband: You're right. Also if the units are different than they are not equal they are equivilant.
Me: who gave you this "brain teaser" you should harrass them
Husband: Coworker. I will
BTW. I answered the same as you.
Me: Good, because that is correct :)

Sums up our entire relationship.