so, i got my cleaning done - the bathroom and kitchen are both totally done, cleaned and completed for long term tenancy. it's actually a very nice bathroom, and i'm happy about that. next up will be the second bedroom, which i'm using as a dining/living room & library. it's big enough for a couch and a table with a laptop/tv on it - and some shelves in the corner. but, i'm going to get through 08/16 first. hopefully, i can get a good chuck down by the end of the weekend.

i also got my first electricity bill and was a little thrown off by it.

i was expecting something a little higher due to the fact that i've done something like 40 loads of laundry this month. but, a closer look at the information pulled out a lot of spikes that i can't currently account for and i'm going to have to figure out why. my immediate suspicion is that i may have the hot water tank attached to my circuit, meaning i'd be paying for heating...

frankly, that's not the end of the world. i don't mind paying my own hot water in theory, it's just that the lease says the landlord is supposed to pay for it. so, if i can convince myself that this is actually what's happening, i guess we need to figure out if it's intentional or not, first. but, i may actually prefer to see a small rent reduction - $20 or $30 - and send the cost to the oesp, instead. due to the way the system works, i'd rather take the costs on my myself, because i can offload them. i just wish he was upfront about it.

i need to be clear: i haven't convinced myself of this, yet. i'm going to need to check the hourly usage and piece it together. but, it is the initial hypothesis.

the background rate also seemed unusually high. in my last apartment, i was using 3-5 kwh base - meaning things like lights and appliances, and the laptop that i have on pretty much all of the time. it's more like 8 here. that's almost twice as much, and there isn't a good reason for it.

the only thing that i can finger as the cause - and the data seems to support it - is the light bulb in the bathroom. i guessed that this thing might be a little more powerful than i'd like, but i seem to have drastically underestimated it. it turns out that it's actually a "heat lamp" rather than a bulb. 175 W. i didn't really look at it or analyze it, but now that i am doing so, having this one bulb on for a few hours a day may have literally doubled my base electrical costs.

i took it out this evening and replaced it with a regular bulb. we'll see what kind of difference that makes over time.

so, i'll be in bed for the next few days, focusing on the rebuild - and carefully keeping track of my electricity usage.