We were getting low on fuel oil on Friday so I called the HEAP office to see if I could get another allotment. I was told they were about out of funds for this winter, and I had to run out of oil and apply for an emergency allotment. When we got up Monday morning to the quiet sound of no furnace running, I called them back and after leaving a message twice during the day, they finally called me back late in the afternoon and I was told that I had already gotten my normal number of allotments (2) and emergency allotment (1) and that was all I would get this year. I called my fuel oil service, and they said I had credit with them for a partial minimum delivery and just had to pay the difference ($300 instead of the full $600) so I ordered it. Unfortunately, it was too late in the day to ensure a delivery the next day unless I wanted to pay the special delivery fee ($ 200). I said we could wait till they got to us which they said would be Wednesday or Thursday.
Yesterday Jeff put a fire in the woodstove and slowly the house lost its chill. He kept getting up and tending the fire until nearly sunrise and while he complained about how cold the sheets were last night, I was comfortable (wearing sweatpants, long sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, and fuzzy socks...let's just say he was not dressed as well) with my microwavable beanbag warming up the bed around me. This morning the house wasn't exactly warm, but it was a lot better than it was the previous morning! The dogs were still huddled as close to me as they could get without being on my bed...making it a 2-dog night!
I had an appointment for an INR this afternoon, but Jeff stayed home in case the oil delivery came because the driver would have to come inside and restart the furnace. I drove to town and after my good INR (a 2.8) I just drove back home without any trouble. I won't say much about the a***hole in the red car who raced over the hill from Little Falls, passed me on a double line in front of Cooperative Extension (across from the former Massaro's Florist), got in the left lane when the highway split, passed everyone in their path on their way down the hill and ended up in a long line at the stoplight by Hannaford's, still there at the stoplight at Rte. 28 and when I turned into Bassett Healthcare, the line was just stopping for the stoplight at King St. It would have been nice if a trooper had been able to ticket this creep for speeding/reckless driving, but I'm satisfied that they were totally annoyed that they had to slow down as they traveled thru Herkimer.
About an hour after I got back home, the dogs started announcing someone was in the driveway and it was...The Oil Delivery! Jeff and the driver agreed a lot of this year's HEAP funds went to illegal immigrants. I've just checked my oil delivery receipts for last year and we had gotten 3 deliveries thru HEAP but this year we got only 2...and we did not get an emergency delivery. We've always tried to stretch our fuel oil by using the woodstove but as we get older that's becoming harder to do. And while I am sorry that people from Mexico and South America are not comfortable during our winter, I do not think it's fair...or right...that American citizens have to suffer because of it. Maybe it's time to think of Americans first.
No comments:
Post a Comment