Monday I learned that if you have a programmable thermostat which has batteries and you let said batteries go dead, the thermostat won't work anymore and your house will be really cold when you get home after being gone for 14 hours. When I say "really cold", I mean that I put new batteries in the thing and watched the digital readout zoom down like an elevator in a highrise: 67, 66, 65, 64, 63, 62...all the way down to 49, 48, 47...at which point I stopped looking, put on long johns under my jammies, and went to bed. After I heated up my bed with a blowdryer.
Tuesday I learned that if there's a Winter Weather Advisory that includes the phrases "treacherous travel" and "near whiteout conditions" that my usual 40-minute commute to work takes 80 minutes. I got there 15 minutes before shift change, which I consider my greatest accomplishment so far this winter.
Wednesday I learned that although the Brave Little Toaster (my Kia Soul) can make it through terrible driving conditions including black ice and drifts of snow on the highway, it cannot get through bumper-deep snow in the alley behind my house, despite my best efforts. After nearly an hour of trying various things to get my car unstuck, I abandoned it at the edge of the alley jack-knifed in front of my neighbors' SUV. I'm glad they didn't want to go anywhere.
Thursday I learned that on the coldest day of the year when there's a Wind Chill Warning in effect, people who clear snow can charge top dollar for their services. I paid a guy 40 bucks to dig out the Toaster by hand and make a path from the alley to my carport, and I consider this money well spent.
I can hardly wait to see what new learning experiences I have next week.