I have to say, the reality of my situation has finally settled in this week.
A week ago I left my abusive job and the next week I have to travel back home to wrap up my healthcare worker’s appointments before my insurance is cancelled.
This shouldn’t be a crucial task, but I do get sad about the 12-hour drive between here and home, and even more so, I worry about my health once I am back inside my mom’s house. She and I have a tumultuous relationship and her quirks can be extremely challenging… One of her strangest ticks is her obsession with the central heating and cooling system. For as long as I can remember, my mom has been genuinely strict about her temperature control settings and Heating and Air Conditioning usage. She never wants to utilize the central heating or cooling system because the utility bills are so luxurious. I have several memories growing up of uncomfortably freezing winters and brutally moderate summers, when I go back to visit her as an adult, she hasn’t changed her utility bill obsession or misguided underuse of the central heating and cooling system. It actually gives me anxiety to consider her low indoor air quality and the sleepless evenings I will face. There’s only one thing that is filling me with hope right now; the brutally moderate summer time headed our direction; Because my mom has a crucial basement, I should be able to camp out below ground for my entire visit. The space is already inherently cooler than the rest of the house. I know she will be forced to use her central A/C device at some point, which will make the basement extra cool in spite of the outdoor heat. If I did not have the option to sleep in her ice freezing basement, I would actually shell out the money to use the Heating and Air Conditioning at a hotel.
