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today i was figuring out ways to stay warm in my house. after a cold night, the place was like a freezer this morning. i was there with my father, who brought along an old fashion electric space heater, the kind with the red hot heating coils, the kind that's notorious for accidently setting houses on fire. with my floors covered with paper, the only safe place to put that thing was on top of the stove. this was only a temporary solution. next, with a knife i cut open squares in the rosen paper on the floor to expose the forced air heating vents. my father and i went down to the basement and lit the pilot light for the gas burner (i could hear my upstairs neighbor already had his on), and i went back into the house and fired up the thermostat to 68 degrees. i've never experienced forced air heating, having never lived in a house with this type of warming technology. i hear it's the most economic, usually works best for a first floor residence because the hot air doesn't have to travel as far up, versus say, the second floor. it's a very simple kind of heating, i have rectangular holes in floors of each rooms where warm air comes out of. i'd occasionally stand by a vent and put my hands over the hole to feel the warmth. very soon the house was all nice and cozy, allaying my fears that the place would be cold all the time. all the vents exhale hot air except for the one in the hallway closet, which sucks the air back in. the bathroom is especially cozy, a small space with the door closed, it gets nice and toasty, i almost want to sleep in there.

when my father left, i made some canned soup (beef barley, heat and stir, nice and easy), eating it in front of the tv in the living room, served directly from the pot on top of a trivet resting on a barstool/makeshift table. i put out the rest of my grapes, plus snacking on some pretzel sticks. for a while i was on the phone with the unemployment department, asking about my latest benefit check that i haven't received for a while, nor have i gotten one of those biweekly postcards to send back to get more benefit checks. i was told they'd send me a new postcard tomorrow but i'd have to call back again on friday in order for them to void that missing check and issue me a new one.

i primed the trims in the guest bedroom today. not completely done, there's still the matters of the doors (door frames all set though), the single window frame, and the ceiling trims. i boiled some water and made some tea, celestial seasonings' sleepytime herb tea (chamomile & spearmint). flavoring was good, but i'm not sure about these mint teas, i associate the taste of mint with oral hygiene (dental floss, toothpaste), and feel weird about drinking mint to relax. i'm still trying to find that favorite tea, i know it's out there somewhere.

after 6pm my father came back to give me a ride to belmont. while outside in the car, i bumped into joel who was just dropping by.