Dreh Die Heizung An

Why did I show you a part of my e-ticket from 2 years ago? Because the night before February 19, 2008, I got home very late (I'd forgotten an important book at a friend's house and had to go back in the muddy night), turned off the heater, climbed into my bed, and slept for a couple of hours before heading off for an adventure in New York and then in Salt Lake--my first time back in the States since moving to Germany.

While I was in the U.S., I got an email from my roommate, saying we'd gotten a bill for a Nachzahlung, meaning what we had paid each month for heating hadn't been enough and we had to pay a whole bunch after-the-fact. The whole bunch was so much, in fact, that in the time since February 18th, 2008, I haven't ever turned my heat on again. Yesterday evening was two years since I've heated my apartment, and every friend of mine knows that we have had two freaking cold winters (I'm pretty sure I've pulled off below freezing temperatures in this room of mine) and I was always freezing even before I went anti-heat.

Well. You know I do weird things like that. I've learned not to complain as much about the cold and to put up with friends saying, "Dreh die Heizung an!" I've learned to put on several sweaters and use a rice bag on my feet and to hold glasses of hot tea. I've learned that I definitely want heated floors in my house some day.

You know I like to reach goals. And I think two years is a pretty darn good accomplished goal. And now I'm going to turn it back on.