Day 30 Without Heating
Well, it has been a month since we had our heater uninstalled, and we are now well and truly in the depths of winter. I’m ashamed to admit it, but my family finally made me cave in. We are burning through all the wood in our house like party pies at a kid’s party. I’ve lost control, and the girls now dance around the lounge room chanting about how good it is to have heat again. We will be out of material to burn in days, and then what? We still have more than half of winter to get through. If only our landlord had allowed us to get central heating installed. By now, we probably would have used it so much that we’d need a central heating service. Melbourne is experiencing its coldest winter ever, and we’re going through it without so much as a portable heater. Burning materials in the wood heater will only last so long. My family has made a huge mistake, and I am powerless to stop them.
Day 34 Without Heating
Oh, how I wish that I could be paying for ducted heating repairs. Near Melbourne, I would be searching for someone to perform such repairs. But alas, we have no ducted heating system to repair. We have no true heating system at all. We are doomed.
Day 35 Without Heating
We burned the bed frame yesterday, which means we are officially out of firewood. The temperature outside has dropped to the lowest yet, and ice spreads across our house as quickly as fire. If only it was fire. I worry that we will not make it through the day. This is why I wanted to conserve our burning materials. What do we do now? We need something to put in the wood heater.
I’ve got it! Oh, I’m such a fool. We burned the bookshelves, but we never thought to burn the books! That will keep us going for a few more days, at least.
After that? I don’t want to think about it.
– From the diary of a very anxious tenant.