Here's the setup: A long-married couple we know - we'll call them "Mark" and "Peggy" - keep their thermostat set at a constant temperature all winter long. For the record, that temp is 68°, and please don't bother trying to persuade us to turn it up. I know, some of you keep your houses so warm that a pan of cake batter left sitting on the kitchen counter will bake itself to a golden turn in half an hour, and some could hang sides of beef in your sunrooms. That's not the point of this, as you will see in a minute.The person we are calling "Peggy" in this scenario said, on a day when the temperature outside was almost 50°, that the house had been warmer on the days a couple of weeks ago when it was like 4° out.
"Mark," as he likes to be called, pointed out that the house temperature is a constant 68° day and night, and that while the heating system has to work more on the 4° days to keep the house at 68° than it does when it's 50°, the house stays at the same temp all the time, so the feeling that it's warmer in their fashionable suburban home is illusory at best.
This was followed by a pithy discussion of how warm it is and how warm it ought to be, and so forth.
"Mark", logical and scientific, but with a disarming wit, dragged out the old saw about people believing that a ton of lead weighs more than a ton of feathers, although he does give certain credence to the notion that 60 minutes spent watching Tim Allen on television is much longer than any other hour.
"Peggy", possessed of her own wisdom, and being the person who pays the gas and electric bill every month, pointed out that she "felt warmer" when the heat was running, ended her summation with a classic, "That's what I believe!"
I believe it was best that I put on a sweater and shut up. First time for everything, and I have worn a sweater before.
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