I’m sick, which means it’s kind of challenging to feel good about life, the universe and everything. However, I am once again reminded that restful naps, a purring cat curled up on one’s feet, warm soup, comfortable hugs, and Luden’s cough drops are good things.
Apparently Indianapolis may have snow flurries tonight. Los Angeles is chilly, but not that cold. It’s been between 65 and 70 in the daytime, and gets down below 50 at night. Yep, that’s fall in the foothills.
It’s time to break out the sweaters, and the layers, because if it’s in the sixties, the office will sometimes be hot and sometimes be cold, and walking out to the car in the evenings after work will be a chilly proposition after a day in an overheated office. I like sweaters, though it’s sometimes difficult to find them with a comfortable neckline that are machine washable and dryable. Dry cleaning is expensive and time consuming, I don’t have room to “dry flat” much clothing in my current apartment, and who really has time to handwash lots of things? I certainly have better things to do with my time than deal with finicky clothing. One or two pieces for special occasions are OK, but everyday wear is a different matter.
It dawned on me some time ago why apartments are not well-insulated here. The renters are the ones paying to heat and cool them, so it’s in our best interest to have insulation and efficient appliances. However, built-in heaters and the insulation of the buildings is paid for by the owners, not the renters, and the owners do not have to pay the utility bills. The expenditure to make apartments cheaper to pay the monthly utilities for would come from the owners, who have no real stake in the ongoing utilities bills. Even the big pushes California is making for people to install efficient appliances and so on are not targetted to renters or landlords, because the benefits and the costs are split. Neither group’s best interests, nor the greater good, can be satisfied because of the nature of their relationship.
Hrrmmm.
Home ownership has a lot of benefits, and a lot of potential drawbacks. In our modern society, much of the youngish adult population is highly mobile and it’s not reasonable economically to commit to living in a single location for years at a time. And many people in my generation were not raised to be handy themselves, so doing even minor home repairs becomes a pricy proposition which increases ongoing maintenance costs. The entrance cost of buying a home is made perceptively more difficult because we as a society have developed a “buy it now, pay off the credit card later” mentality about all sorts of types of purchases, so it’s difficult to discipline yourself to actually save up a down payment. Add to that fact that younger people are just starting their careers and thus make less than they will as they gain experience and recognition, and it’s obvious why so many people of my generation are living in apartments, crammed together like sardines in energy-inefficient dwellings, trapped into high monthly utilities bills and having trouble both saving up for a house and figuring out how to settle down into one. Or even if we should.
Now, I grew up in the suburbs, and my parents worked hard to give our family a feeling of abundance. I have many of the rural values of my father, and many of the values of my mother, who grew up in an urban/suburban setting. Every now and then I just stop and marvel at the sheer absurdity of the modern conveniences that surround us. In some ways, I am a soft person… I work at a (mostly) desk job, I make enough to put a (rented) roof over my head, and all of the abundance of services and goods are locally available because I live in a (relatively) enlightened society whose capitalistic drive provides me with $2 hamburgers and a 24-hour grocery and excellent (if sometimes expensive) medical care and (almost always reliable) electricity, phone, cell phone service, gas, natural gas, and DSL internet connectivity that’s all mine for the buying. I do not wrest my living from the soil or the beasts of the field, I do not live in a harsh climate (although the heat and dryness of high summer here do come close at times), and though I do battle social stereotypes sometimes, legally I am a full citizen with all of the rights and privileges accorded such. In other ways, I am a sturdy person… I am living alone and far away from family, and what personal resources I have accumulated have been from my own effort and that of my parents. I have weathered my own health problems and that of those close to me. I have chosen a difficult educational path and have survived it. I share my knowledge, my expertise, my effort and my caring with others. I try to actively make a difference about issues I care deeply about. It’s sometimes a very strange dichotomy, wishing for simpler times and yet feeling comfortable in the modern world.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a few essays I’d like to write for either this journal or my website, that I haven’t had the time to actually write yet. The list includes spoiling ourselves, Woozle Hunts, the move and the summer I spent exploring, the various summer camps, distilling experiences into understanding an unshared history with those close to us, faith and celebrating the passage of time, children’s books, and beauty.
But now, I think I’m headed back to sleep, because sleep is a very good thing.