Brr. Day two of our cold siege. Since I am home 24/7 and needing to concentrate, it does not make sense for me to skimp on heat. I don’t heat like a maniac, having spent so many years in drafty, unheatable, places, but I do feel that wanting to be comfortable while wearing flannel pants, wool socks, and a wool sweater is not unreasonable. I’ll even add a tuque in the evenings without feeling put upon.

I headed out and had the 30lb propane tank filled, leaving me with a quarter of my on board tank as a back up. Propane costs have been creeping up over the course of the last two and a bit years. It’s now $27 to fill a 30lber in Osoyoos compared to $23 back in ’08 and $20 in ’09 in Surrey. It’s still better than $40 in Dawson!

Since I was out, I also got some groceries to tide me over since the roads are getting slick and people out here don’t know how to drive in winter. To be fair, they are better than Vancouverites, but that’s not saying much!

Having given up on finding on outside job this winter, I’ve been crunching numbers to see how much it would cost me to go south for a couple of months vs. hunkering down here and paying for heat. The current conditions are a pain, but do not justify fleeing. If we were to face a long stretch of minus ten or less in daytime temperatures, I’ll reconsider.