Not so cheap heat

Been running an bit of a mostly uncontrolled experiment here. We got a new furnace two weeks ago, and the house seemed so much warmer. Even with the thermostat set at 67, it was comfortable all over (except maybe for the girls' bedroom, which has no source of heat and faces West, into the wind). The new equip. is more efficient, so I was thinking, hey, forget all the work of keeping a fire in the stove and actually heat the house with the furnace. What a novel idea! So, here we are 2 weeks later and I finally get around to checking the oil tank, only to find that I've burned about $250 worth of heating oil!! Holy moly! Damn the chilly house and oven-like living room (so comfy to fall asleep in though), I'm bring firewood up and lighting the stove!

Home for the Holidays

Perrin at her Jury

Perrin's home! Took the Greyhound red-eye from Knoxville and got in early last Wed. morn. The house is somehow warmer with everyone home (no, it's not just the new furnace). She played her flute jury piece, LOOKOUT by Robert Dick, for Robin and me. Yowza. It's an avante-garde thing where she plays and sings harmony with herself. We were blown away, partly by the realization that people are composing music the likes of which you never imagined, and partly by her skill. If you're wondering about her garb in the photo, LOOKOUT is inspired by Cream's Sunshine of your Love, and Dr. Binder asked her to come dressed like a rocker . On an almost completely different topic, I was listening to AirAmerica Radio the other day, and they interviewed the guy who founded pandora.com. Give Pandora a song title or artist you like, and it generates a radio station of songs with similar characteristics. It's a great way to listen to music. I'm not doing it justice here, you should just check it out.

Hammer On!

It's been a while since I've played a gig for a listening audience and not a room of dancers. Last Sunday I had a gas, playing percussion for the Hammer On! Christmas concert at the Liberty Church. What a great space. The building is a post-and-beam barn construction, and is gorgeous. Sounds awfully good too. And what a fun, and talented bunch of guys to play with. Thank you Randy, Dan, Bob and Mark.

Hoops@Home

The JHS home basketball season started Tuesday night, with the Johnnies ranked in the top 10 in the state. Madeline tells us it's a blast cheering for basketball. The crowd is closer, and much louder (I'm wearing hearing protection from now on). The student section has a whole litany of funny cheers, a bit edgy, but not quite overstepping the bounds of good sportsmanship. It's going to be fun watching the cheerleading squad mature through the season, the girls have heart. We're looking good for a third straight Mid-Buckeye Conference championship, and maybe another shot at the state tourney.