Central heating

How many countries in the world provide central heating, and air conditioning for family dwellings, do you think?

The US, and parts of Canada.

Almost every other country in the world needs to heat their homes, or a few rooms, or only one room at a time. They use gas, some use electricity, but almost no country uses “central” anything.

Here in Mexico, we use layers of clothing to warm ourselves. Some have electric heaters, as do we, though we never use them. Some have gas heaters, which have an actual flame, safety regulations are horrendous. Some have a small ”fireplace”, and I use the term very loosely, but most use some form of element to keep warm.

A few of the families we know actually sleep several people to a bed, covered by 2, 3, 4 layers of blankets. Imagine that. Trying to sleep with 3 other people in your full sized bed; not queen, or king, but full sized bed.

I won’t say that you should be grateful for the warmth you have when you wake up, and it’s 25ºF outside, and you have to shower, and/or shave before you dress, and go to work, but it’s actually 75ºF, just as you programmed your central heating to be when you get up. Think about getting up to 25ºF, and your house is actually 25ºF, and you have to shower, and/shave at that temperature.

We stay in bed until it’s about 60ºF. Period.

If you have to get up to pee in the night, well, that’s on you. You run to the bathroom, on the incredibly cold tile floor, do your business, run back to bed, and put your freezing feet on the legs of that amazing spouse next to you, with whom you sleep.

Until next time, stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.