Did you leave the $$$$ running?

Today, it became official. Summer is here. 100%. I received my first utility bill with summertime, all the time a/c. At least I was expecting it. These things are always nastier when you least expect them. You know, Spanish Inquisition and all that.

My total utility bill, including electricity, water, sewer, and trash, was $318.97. This time last year, it was $287.33. So, there was quite an increase. Of course, last year, I wasn't much of a bill watcher. I was just a payer. Now, I'm a watcher and a payer.

In fact, it wasn't until late last summer that we realized that we had a massive water leak on a faucet out back. The faucet next to our a/c drip pipe went unnoticed because there is always run off from the a/c, so soggy ground was nothing new there. That leaky faucet was tripling our water bill. It wasn't until I became a bill watcher that I investigated the money leak in the back yard. Amazing, it was fixed for $6 and 15 minutes of DH's time.

So, as soon as I ripped open the big bill today, I pulled up my energy consumption from the last twelve months to see how I did. In the last billing cycle, we used 2,379 KWh. (Suffering from insomnia? Click on that link and you'll be out, well, like a light. Holy Cow! I thought I'd get a little info to help me with my blog, and wow, after two minutes, I remember why I cut high school science classes to smoke behind the fine arts building. But, I digress.) So, I'll stop trying to understand kilowatts, and just know I want to use less of them.

Last year, for the same time period, we used 1812 KWh. That's a pretty big difference. So, I asked myself what was different. Well, it rained and rained and rained last June. So much rain, it was like the Vietnam scene in Forrest Gump when he talked about the rain. In fact, it rained so much, Hoot and I about killed each other. It was too soggy to get out and go any where and the parks were all mud pits. We stayed indoors a lot last June.

This June, we have had .02 inches of rain. It's been hot and dry. The air is filled with dust and dried pollen, the grass crunches under your feet, and it is generally miserable outside. Weather wise, Hoot and I are at the opposite end of the spectrum this year, but spending about the same amount of time indoors this year. I hope this is not the way we spend our entire summer.

Now, our family tag line has been, "Did you leave the money running back there?" We frequently move from one end of the house to the other, and are bad about shutting off lights. Over the last few months, we've gotten better, but it still happens. Even Hoot shuts off lights when he leaves a room now. It is a fantastic habit, and I hope we keep it for good. Shutting off the water is also something I have to be conscious about. I'm bad about using the water full blast whenever I brush teeth, do dishes, shower, or even just wash hands. I can't say I remember every time, but I try to remember most of the time.

In the mean time, I'm going to hope for some rain. It might accidentally cool something off for even an hour or two, and hey, we can retire the water hose for a while.