Thermostat: Dominated

Roomie Claire and I have noticed an intense drop in temperature in these last few days. We've no longer an air conditioning unit in the window, which is the first step in the winter transition. But, we've been staring at the whitewashed (oh yes, whitewash still exists) metal radiator in our room, and drawing a blank.

This miserable radiator- the likes of which I haven't encountered since I was ten, and my parents controlled all things atmospheric- laughed at our every attempt to extract heat from it. In fact, it is probably an endothermic system, which has been sucking up our meagre body heat to warm itself. It probably eats our food when we aren't looking, too.

Tonight, lacking slippers and facing a wind chill of 39 degrees, I attacked the block of metal, quite determined to make the heater work, or make a maintenance man come work. (Someone was going to work, and this room was going to be warm.)

I found the two little steam valves on either side of the thing, and asked a neighbor to show me how hers are set, and SHAZAM! One little twist of the valve, and that cretin is roasting quite nicely.

I've made a sign for my door for all to see and experience my joy.


Why, yes, I do rock, and am accepting applications for a personal assistant and whipping boy for when I rule the world. Today, the radiator; tomorrow, the world.