Its not really a catastrophe- not at all, in fact. Its just that sometimes I think my father is a bigger princess than the rest of us.
So, about 6pm Dad checks the thermostat. The temp is 66 degrees and things are set to keep the house at 70. Dad says "I bet we are out of propane." He goes outside, and indeed our tank says 0. None. Nada.
His reaction is to get worried and kind of mad and to call all the numbers to see what we can do. Not necessarily a bad thing, except its 6pm on Superbowl Sunday and there is a propane shortage in the midwest.
Mom and I point this out. We say "there is a shortage, we may not be able to get propane and if we can it may be more than $5 a gallon, is it really worth it?"
I should also mention that when the propane people came and filled the tank this fall they noticed a leak and apparently they were supposed to send someone out to check it. No one ever came. Dad- manager of the house since hes been retired- never followed up with them, so who knows how much money leaked out of that tank. I dont think we've ever run out of propane before and Saturday I was almost blown away by the smell of propane just outside the front door. (Today he tells the propane people that the wife has noticed the smell for a couple of weeks but never said anything. Um. Excuse me, you knew there was a leak when they FILLED THE TANK.)
So we have no propane. Dang. Not cool. But you know what we DO have? Electricity. Water. Food. Animals (they can help keep us warm) and wait for it. A buck stove. A wood burning device that can be used to heat the house- damn, what a concept.
So while dad is running around mildly panicked about not having propane and being absolutely totally sure that they will come out to FILL the tank Monday when he calls mom builds a fire. And since its starting to precipitate outside and our wood isnt covered... I bring in several loads of wood so that we have dry fuel to feed the fire.
I know that being without propane could be a bad thing. But I just wasnt seeing it last night. Really. I mean, come ON. We have the means by which to keep the house relatively warm.
Mom and I were ready to tackle the rest of the winter propane-less. But dad isnt having it.
Today, first thing out of his shower he calls the propane people and asks for propane. They will deliver tomorrow, Tuesday and its not $5 a gallon, not even $4 a gallon- so thats nice. But here's what I find pretty funny: they arent going to send someone out to check the line for a leak until Friday. Ok. Wait a second. Lets fill up a tank with a known leak on Tuesday and not check the leak to see how big it is until Friday.
Does anyone else see how this could be a MAJOR waste of funds AND resources?
While theres a major propane shortage in parts of the country, lets fill up a leaky tank, SO WE CAN LEAK PROPANE OUT BECAUSE WHAT THE HECK? really? REALLY?
Also, whos responsible for the line? The gas company says they wont know that until they check it. My dad is retired, my mom is the sole source of income in this household and lets fill up a tank (for the second time this year) so that it can LEAK while we wait for someone to check the line and oh-by-the-way we might be responsible for fixing the line.
I think, at the end of the day, my rant is not about the propane as much as about money. I know I am not perfect, and yes, I am probably somewhat of a financial burden on my parents, but you know what I did about that? I went and found a job- a steady, part-time job. And I am working to be very aware of the money I spend and how I spend it.
I know that it might be distorted, but since dad's retirement, I see him spending money like its going out of style but the heart of the matter is that for about 7 months my mother was the ONLY one making ANY money in the house. And since I was aware of this, I worked hard to cut down on my spending rather than keep spending money as much as I was. I am thankful that my family has the means that it does, and I hope that I can be careful about MY money so that I can function in the world, on my own, when it comes to that.
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