Megabyte
Me
My ISP accords me 1000GB of internet
data each month, a quite generous amount since I don't
have cable. What this means is that I currently use
about 1/20th of my allotted supply. In a few months
my ISP is going
to raise my rates, seemingly becasue they just can,
and we'll begin, again, the now almost
ancient
of pas
de
deuxs:
The Dance of Consumer Displeasure.
It begins with me bowing to my call center partner,
then asking them what I can
do
to get
my rate
back
down.
Then
we both
step to the right and turn.
Step- two-three.
Their reply will
be that my old
plan is only available at the higher rate but, if it
will help, (turn-two- three) they can give me slightly
faster speeds for the now higher rate. Then we both
step to the left, bow, and give one another the finger.
Then I kick the ottoman.
This happens every year. Rinse and repeat. It's a
scam. I'm tired of it.
So, from here on, at the end of each month, I pledge
to autoplay HD Youtube videos on several
computers 24/7 until I burn through nearly all the
bandwidth available to me. Even though the
energy cost to the ISP is probably trivial it'll make
me feel like I'm getting my money's worth.
----------
Speaking of utilities, this is the
time of year when about the only electrical appliances
in my home that
use any appreciable amount of energy are my computer/monitor
combo
plus
the 'fridge. It's nice to have a baseline of my monthly
energy usage/greenhouse gas production.
So last month
I was poring over
my
online electric
bill, which graphs my daily use, when I noticed
that
on
one particular day the amount of electricity use had
doubled. A quick backward calculation revealed it
was wash day. Four loads of wash and four loads of
dry.
 That
bothered me a bit as I like a nice flat graph-line
in such instances. In answer, since North Texas has
no paucity of
sunshine this
time
of
year,
I decided
to
install
a clothesline. I wanted something retractable, as little
of an eyesore as possible, so I bought this little
device made by Honey-Can-Do.
It has a 40-foot line, a swivel hinge, and it only
cost
$10.
Perfect.
I'd never used a clothesline before (Seriously!) so
I wasn't prepared for the amount of sag a load of wet
towels
can induce, even on the tightest line.
Even worse, my first attempt resulted in a load
of my good t-shirts on the
ground when the anchor
at the far end broke
free of its mooring.
I also wasn't prepared for the time it took for the
wash to fully dry. The shirts took most of the day,
and the towels I had to leave to fend for themselves
overnight. In
both cases the finished result was sort of... crunchy
as there was no softener used in the drying process.
So, once dry, I ran everything through the dryer for
a few minutes with a dryer sheet. Perfecto!
Feeling smug I later did a quick check of my energy
usage chart which revealed.... not much change from
before. That was due, no doubt, to my limited clothesline
space which meant two full loads of laundry
had to be dried the traditional way. Next time I'll
stagger wash days to make better use of the sun.
There's no doubt that this avocation will
soon lose its novelty, especially once winter closes
in, but
for
now it's
a welcome diversion.
=Lefty=
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