Popsicle Toes

As you might know, since I harp on it every year, the heat is not turned on according to the weather, it's turned on according to the calendar. The date the heat comes on is November 15 and it goes off on March 15, regardless of actual outside conditions. Of course, I'm lucky enough to live north of the whatever river because of you live south of it, you don't get any heat at all. Also, since this is state-sponsored heat, it is landlord paid — by law.

But it's cold. I've been cold for a good two and a half weeks. I've been wearing wool socks for twenty-four hours a day (that's right Celess, I put the socks on in the morning and only take them off when I wake back up and hop in the shower). I get home and, in Mr. Rogers fashion, change out of my work clothes and into, not a zip-up cardigan, but a down puffy.

It's the awful dread of the icy grave that pains...

Well, this morning I woke up to my cold apartment, got dressed, ate, and headed out to school — only to discover that it was raining. Ugh.

I took a moment to deal with my frustration and considered my options. A taxi is possible, but would involve waiting outside for a taxi in the rain. A bus involves the same thing, and while the bus is cheap, it takes two buses to get to school and there's always the possibility of running into a train. A taxi has the same problem, of course. So biking is really the only way to go, even in the rain. It's just so much quicker, and I really had to go to school.

Fortunately, I remembered that I had (fortunately) brought my rain pants (rain trousers?) with me. So. I switched out my fur hat for a ball cap, unzipped. Y hood, and donned my rain trousers and headed out.

Fast forward to my return journey. It was later. Darker. Colder. And raining harder. I'm not scared of the rain having once spent ten days of the bicycle in the rain, but it's nicer when the apartment is warm in the other end. Still, I have a stellar hot water heater and plenty of dry clothes (and a supply of wool socks and a down puffy).

I walked in the door, stripped off my wet clothes, and headed to the shower — only to realize I forgot to bring my slippers with me. Standing on the cold, tile floor with bare feet is not fun. So, even though I had already removed my socks, I figured it would be better to get my slippers before getting warm in the shower.

I stepped out of the bathroom. Wait, this tile didn't feel so cold. Wait, my laminate floor didn't seem so cold, either. Hold on. Hold. On.

Is the heat on?

I scurried back to the bathroom (which has an old school radiator) to check said radiator. It was warm!

Yes. I have heat. I suspect I have the 18th National People's Congress to thank for keeping us all warm and sedated here in the capital.

- Do you really care this was posted using BlogPress from my iPad?

Location:Beijing, China