"Kev vs. the Cold" Update: So Far, I'm Winning

A few months ago, I noted that, even though I'm no fan of cold mornings (and, true to form, I've been pushing waaaay too many snooze alarms lately), I still felt that it was necessary to try keeping the thermostat at 68 degrees this winter due to the prospect of high heating bills. Even though we've pretty much had a warmer-than-usual winter thus far, there were still a lot of people suffering from "sticker shock" from their December bills, which included that little icy snap a few weeks before Christmas. So even though the gas company is saying that any spike would be short-lived, I was still uneasy when I opened my latest gas bill today. But while several people (with around the same size house as mine) were quoted in the paper as saying that their bills were in the hundreds of dollars, mine was a very palatable $69.62--not much more than during the height of winter last year. I breathed a sigh of relief.

So one thing's for sure: The 68-degree thing evidently works. The little adjustments I've had to make to keep warm inside--wearing a hoodie, wearing socks more often, sleeping under a comforter--have been totally worth it. And I'm sure that the new heating and cooling system that I got this past spring has been a big help too. I shudder to think how much energy my tired old system and its tattered ductwork would have been wasting this year. So it may not have been the most exciting birthday present, but it's turning out to be the gift that keeps on giving.

Grandma didn't really get run over by a reindeer...but in Australia, she got bitten by a snake while watching TV. (The venom didn't actually enter her bloodstream, so she was OK.)

What is it, girl? Grandpa Timmy fell down a well?: Also in Australia, a 90-year-old farmer was rescued by a cattle dog whose name actually is Lassie.