Jan 8

Right now it is just after 2 PM Central time. It has been a beautiful day here is southeast Texas. The sun is shining and the temperature is in the low 60’s. I know some of you are suffering a horrible winter and I can only say I have been there and I feel for you. I spent 4 winters in Bismarck North Dakota.

After lunch I was washing up the dishes. I looked up from the sink to see this. This is looking basically to the southwest.

To give you a better perspective I took this picture from a few steps back.

Then I went outside to the corner of our back yard for this shot.  The door on the extreme right is the same as can be seen in the first two pictures.

In the second picture above you can see our family room has one wall that is basically all windows.  These windows face west.  As a result the room is flooded with afternoon sunshine.  On days like today when the sun is bright that room can get quite warm.  There is something else about this house that can make it even worse.  The view below is from the door entering the house from the garage.

There are a couple of things to note.  First the doorway left with the light coming through it goes into the kitchen.  It is the only way to get from where I took the picture to the front part of the house.  The other two doorways on the left are the office first then the bathroom.  So basically the house is divided into two parts with only one doorway between them.  In the picture above you will also see a grill on the ceiling.  This is the air return for the heating and cooling system.  On the wall across from the kitchen doorway is the thermostat.  All of this means the front part of the house can be significantly warmer than the back part.  Such is the case right now.  The sun warms the rooms.  However the thermostat is located in a cool section but not cool enough to turn on the furnace.  With no furnace, the blower does not circulate any air.  I know if you are freezing your butt off your attitude is probably “SO WHAT?”  And I agree.  Hope you have a great day.