This is my first winter living on the west coast and I did not expect it to be so cold, I thought this part of the country was always warm and sunny year round.

• That’s what it shows on tv, anyway.

This house has a nice wall furnace that worked well. However, when the earthquake hit, it stopped working all together. As if the earthquake wasn’t frightening enough, then I had to deal with the lack of heat. I assume that the city had turned off the gas to the entire city. After all, you don’t want fires to start. I was really suffering without a furnace or hot water but I could make do without the stove for a few days. The microwave still worked just fine. I went out and got a little space heater to make the house a little bit more comfortable. But I would make sure to turn it off before leaving just in case another earthquake hit. I don’t want to catch the whole block on fire. I was complaining about all this to one of my neighbors, when she told me that each house has its own gas shut off switch. After an earthquake, you simply have to go turn it back on yourself. She then went ahead and showed me how to turn the gas to my house back on. My stove hot water heater and, most importantly, my wall heater all started working once again. Then, wouldn’t you know it, we got another small earthquake just a few days later. After the ground stopped shaking, I went outside and turned my gas back on. I am becoming a pro at this.

More about air conditioning