Cold

Had a nice respite from work over the Thanksgiving holiday in Huntington Beach. Lots of family and friends gathering at our house. I kept telling people that, "don't ask me where the _____ is, I don't live here anymore". But apparently they felt I knew more about the whereabouts of ____ than the current residents. That was a hoot. Although I was a guest, it still is home to me.
As I arrived back in Reno, I was greeted with a nice lash of winter. A wee bit of snow fell on Sunday and Monday, but the real killer was the bone chilling temperatures. I quickly have found all the "winter" clothes that gathered dust and spider babies while in SoCal. We had low temperatures in the mid teens and highs struggling to get above freezing for the first half of the week, but the last couple days it was sunny, so the highs jumped to the low 40's. As I am typing this I am assessing a 40F temperature differential between where I am typing and HB, in fact it is a good 15 degrees colder in my house than outside of Callie's house.
Of course, to those residing in the Midwest I am probably a big puss; nonetheless, I am not too macho to admit that I am cold. With the cold, there are a few cool things that happen. Namely, that fountains freeze over such that their waterfall forms an ice-slide, creeks freeze over and form a nice glisten about them, and some pretty neato ice-crystals with their intricate formations await me at my car every morning.
Speaking of the cold. My gas bill in my tiny apartment has 150% that of my parents 5 bedroom monstrosity of a house. Let me say for the record that I have never turned on the heater (attested for the fact that the temperature routinely drops below 50F in my house at night), and that I take quick showers (unlike my siblings). So I am pretty confused about the situation, have called the gas company and they tell me that my apartment has used upwards of 60 therms per month prior to my arrival. Now, unless the previous tenants were meth-heads using the apartment as a chemistry lab, I am calling bullshit. Either there is a gas leak, the appliances are about efficient as our government, or I am graciously providing hot water to all my neighbors (who I have never met). Yet as I am typing this I sit in my apartment bundled away drinking copious amounts of hot beverages and looking at sales of vodka on the web (very likely a much cheaper alternative to even daring to turn the heater on, even though I don't drink). What gives?

Oh yeah, here's my link of the week courtesy of the weather underground...