“Due to cold weather, hurricanes, and short supplies, natural gas costs in California are increasing as much as 40% this winter.” This is what our PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric Company) bill says. It’s true – at least we can personally testify that the part about cold weather and the increasing prices is very very true. The bill doesn’t really mention anything about energy and geo-politics, unlike the president in his last state of the union (“America is addicted to oil”, which we can also testify as very true if car-use is anything to go by.)
Anyway, our ecological reflexes (shaped in europe, they turn out to be very different from ecological reflexes here, where many people make a point of going to the organic supermarket, but then use the car to do so) made us decide to turn off the jacuzzi in the garden, cause surely to keep the water temperature so high must cost a fortune in terms of energy. First marÃa waited for me to arrive so i could try it out, then we said let’s wait till the end of january so we can clearly see the difference between the january and the february bill (and then you never know, it might turn out to be reasonable…), then came february with a little outburst of spring and all of a sudden we used the jacuzzi a lot more, and now it’s march and i’m leaving the house, and the jacuzzi is still there. Ah, goodbye jacuzzi, very fond memories of you remain. And of the beautiful relaxed (who would have guessed, but yes…) afternoon marÃa and me spend there, until we were fish, before my moving out.
ps – these are pictures from earlier warmer days, what marÃa is doing there would be very dangerous now…
