It started in the late 1970's when there was the gas rationing. They
said I had to curtail driving and insulate my house. I had the whole
house insulated, caulked and weather stripped. I also added a wood
stove. For the next few years they said we must save more energy, so
I added more insulation, replaced the doors, and put vents in the
attic. At the same time I quit driving except when I had to, and took
one short vacation each year. Then things seemed to calm down in the
later 80's and into the 90's. I started driving more, took more
vacations and did nothing more to the house.

Around the turn of the century we again began to hear about conserving
energy. Everytime I turned on the tv they said we must reduce our
energy, insulate, and drive less. Once again I insulated, putting
another 8 inches over the inner walls. I reduced my heat from 72 to
68 in the winter, and I quit driving except when I had to. Every year
they repeated this same message, and I found myself insulating again,
and again. I replaced all the windows with double layer energy ones,
and cut my thermostat to 65, then 62, and then to 58. I shut off my
air conditioner completely, and stopped all vacations, and any other
use of the car except for emergencies.

In the last few years they again said we must cut back our
thermostats, so I reduced mine to 50. I once again added one foot of
insulation on the inside of the walls, and insulated over the windows.
I also parked my car for good when the gas hit $3 a gallon, and
lowered my winter heat to 48, then 45, and down to 42.

It's now 2007 and the gas prices have gone thru the roof. Once again
they said on tv that we must lower our thermostats and insulate. I
just shut off the furnace entirely, and added another 3 feet of
insulation on the inside of the house. This time I also covered the
doors, so in order to get in an out, I have to remove all the duct
tape holding the insulation in place. My car no longer starts from
sitting too long. They also said to caulk, so this time I covered the
whole house with caulk on the outside. I also shut off the water
heater and removed all sinks and the tub. Only the toilet remains,
and I only flush it once every month. I removed all but one light
bulb in the house and threw out the refrigerator.

Well, last week they announced that we must cut back more on our
energy use. I could not turn down the heat anymore, could not drive
less, could not shut off any more lights, and all I could do was add
more insulation. But now I have a problem. All this insulation has
reduced my 1600 sq. ft. house to a 160 Sq. Feet. The insulation has
used up all the space, and I had to toss most of the furniture. There
is no more room in this house. If they tell me to insulate one more
time, and I know they will, I'll have a house that is completely
filled with insulation, leaving me no room to get around But, I'm
sure they will tell us to insulate again, so I am preparing. I set up
a tent in my yard right next to my car. so I can use the car as a
kitchen and sleep in the tent. The only problem is that the senior
program that used to deliver food every week to us elderly people had
to stop delivering because of the gas prices, and since I dont have a
running car, I guess I wont need a kitchen. So, I may as well just
stay in the tent, and forget the car. At least I still have my
flashlight for light, and the little heat it puts out....... until
the batteries go dead anyhow.....

Well, I better go. I am having the electricity turned off today, so
this computer won't work anymore.....

Joe

wrote in message
...
It started in the late 1970's when there was the gas rationing. They
said I had to curtail driving and insulate my house. I had the whole
house insulated, caulked and weather stripped. I also added a wood
stove. For the next few years they said we must save more energy, so
I added more insulation, replaced the doors, and put vents in the
attic. At the same time I quit driving except when I had to, and took
one short vacation each year. Then things seemed to calm down in the
later 80's and into the 90's. I started driving more, took more
vacations and did nothing more to the house.

snip

Well, I better go. I am having the electricity turned off today, so
this computer won't work anymore.....

Joe

I see the problem with this logic. To save energy, first turn off your TV.

"Mamba" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
It started in the late 1970's when there was the gas rationing. They
said I had to curtail driving and insulate my house. I had the whole
house insulated, caulked and weather stripped. I also added a wood
stove. For the next few years they said we must save more energy, so
I added more insulation, replaced the doors, and put vents in the
attic. At the same time I quit driving except when I had to, and took
one short vacation each year. Then things seemed to calm down in the
later 80's and into the 90's. I started driving more, took more
vacations and did nothing more to the house.

snip

Well, I better go. I am having the electricity turned off today, so
this computer won't work anymore.....

Joe

I see the problem with this logic. To save energy, first turn off your
TV.



I remember, also, back in the 70's when the gas company said we had to cut
back our thermostats to conserve on the consumption of natural gas. Then,
the next year the gas company petitioned (and got) for an increase in the
price they were allowed to charge for gas. Seems that users had cut their
thermostats down so much that they were no longer making the profit they
were guaranteed by the commission. So, consumers ended up paying just as
much for heat but getting less of it. A few years earlier, the local
electric company only billed consumers every other month because bills were
just so low that it didn't make economic sense to bill monthly. Then they
were bought out by ComEd, who immediately started billing monthly, saying
that it would be more convenient for consumers. But, would you believe that
the monthly bills soon became as much as what we used to be billed
bi-monthly. Makes one tend to become a believer in "conspiracies", don't
you think?

Tom.

On Nov 15, 7:05 pm, "Tom G" wrote:
"Mamba" wrote in message

...



wrote in message
.. .
It started in the late 1970's when there was the gas rationing. They
said I had to curtail driving and insulate my house. I had the whole
house insulated, caulked and weather stripped. I also added a wood
stove. For the next few years they said we must save more energy, so
I added more insulation, replaced the doors, and put vents in the
attic. At the same time I quit driving except when I had to, and took
one short vacation each year. Then things seemed to calm down in the
later 80's and into the 90's. I started driving more, took more
vacations and did nothing more to the house.

snip

Well, I better go. I am having the electricity turned off today, so
this computer won't work anymore.....

Joe

I see the problem with this logic. To save energy, first turn off your
TV.

I remember, also, back in the 70's when the gas company said we had to cut
back our thermostats to conserve on the consumption of natural gas. Then,
the next year the gas company petitioned (and got) for an increase in the
price they were allowed to charge for gas. Seems that users had cut their
thermostats down so much that they were no longer making the profit they
were guaranteed by the commission. So, consumers ended up paying just as
much for heat but getting less of it. A few years earlier, the local
electric company only billed consumers every other month because bills were
just so low that it didn't make economic sense to bill monthly. Then they
were bought out by ConEd, who immediately started billing monthly, saying
that it would be more convenient for consumers. But, would you believe that
the monthly bills soon became as much as what we used to be billed
bi-monthly. Makes one tend to become a believer in "conspiracies", don't
you think?

Tom.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Not conspiracies. Just facts of life; world facts that is.
If there is only so much water and we pollute/waste much of
it ........
If there is only so much oil and much of it is managed by big world
business..................
If there is only so much air/oxygen in the atmosphere .........
If there is only so much nature/land/trees/plants/ocean/fish/mammals
etc. there are going to be pressures. etc. etc. yada, yada
Pressures will lead to competition; as we use up more and more of the
earth's materials (we call them resources but they are not
inexhaustible!) ...........................
What we are starting to see now is just a minor start of what will be
incredible changes/shortages for things we now take for granted!
Won't be around in 50 years time but it will be interesting!
Perhaps we need to reduce world population especially in those regions
(countries) which consume the greatest amounts and percentages of
(there's that word again!) 'resources' on this planet!
Here endeth the sermon .................. !!!!

And every year we add more and more things (electric) that we can't turn
off without pulling the plug - only a little here and there but all
those little bits add up to a large bunch.

Ed

On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:34:30 -0800, EO wrote:

And every year we add more and more things (electric) that we can't turn
off without pulling the plug - only a little here and there but all
those little bits add up to a large bunch.

Ed

You mean like all those little black transformers that are used for
almost everything we buy these days, and remain warm as long as they
are in an outlet? Or how about all the tv sets and computer monitors
that have the "instand on" feature. It's instant on because it's
never fully off. I have a master switch for my whole entertainment
center and computer equipment. When that switch is shut off,
everything is fully off. Besides saving energy, it also saves the
equipement during lightning storms.