tok dilemma

The idea for this blog came from my mom; thanks mom! By now I think most of you know that most people here heat their homes with wood stoves.  I on the other hand have a radiator that I plug in and uses tok (I was going to write it in B. but then I realized it is exactly the same), electricity.  I don't quite understand the whole workings of the fuse boxes here and the whole electrical workings but have been told to only have 3 things plugged in at one time or 2 things plugged in and my boiler on.  I've blown fuses before (at least that's what I think I did) and watched when Bi Sali fixed things in my fuse box.  My fridge stays plugged in all the time (#1-actually there was a time about 3 weeks ago where I unplugged it.  I didn't really need it; it was colder in my kitchen than it was in the fridge; and I could find other things to plug in that were more important! It's back to being plugged in now) and my radiator stays plugged in most of the time when I'm at home (#2-it was/is more energy efficient to keep it on all the time.  Now that it's not in the single digits and below during the day it's not as important to keep it on at all times.  And yes mom I did ask!).  Which means that I have to choose between working on my computer (pretty much all my work is done on the computer), cooking something on my hotplate, chilling out and watching tv, having hot water, or using the washing machine.  Now it's really not that much of a dilemma now that it is warming up.  Usually I use my fridge, radiator, and computer.  I turn my boiler on early in the morning and leave it on for a couple hours ( I do that while I'm sleeping since tok is cheaper after 10 at night and it eliminates the boiler from the possible choices) and usually have hot water most of the day.  I have to be careful, especially on the really cold days, that my water doesn't get cold before I use it (I think everybody knows cold showers are no fun, at least on colder days )!   If I'm needing more hot water, or have been gone for a couple days, I leave it on for 3 or 4 hours.  I have an older boiler and it doesn't heat as fast.  Usually what I do is wake up at 4 and turn on my boiler, go back to bed, get up at 6 and turn off the boiler, and then lay in bed for about 30 minutes before getting my rear in gear and take a shower.  That's on days I take a shower.  I admit during this seriously cold spell there were days where I laid in bed debating whether or not to take a shower since I had showered 3 days ago (when your bathroom and everywhere around you is freezing-no vents in there to warm up the place- smelling good and being fresh kinda go out the window!  And WHEN it's that cold you don't even want to go anywhere to be around people!  And I'm lucky, Nargis' shower is  below her house and to get to it she has to go outside.  I'm not sure if that's very common here or not, to have the shower be outside.  I know most toilets are outside and again I'm lucky  but I live in an apartment and not a house.  Some people have done repair work on their houses and their toilets/bathrooms are inside).  The tv isn't that much of a dilemma except on the weekends ( I've gotten hooked on Gilmore Girls in English and like to watch tv while I eat meals; there are some pretty cheesy but good movies on the "tube." I have gotten away from this a bit but the weekends are when I allow myself to watch in English) or when I want/need to watch the news.  Since I eat in he stol during the week (hostel cafeteria) I don't use my hotplate during the week and sparingly on the weekends (not much air flow in my kitchen and when I use the hotplate the moisture in the air creates mold.  It took me awhile but I learned to open the kitchen door a little to solve that.  However, when it's cold outside having the kitchen door open even a little is kinda chilly!  And keep in mind I only heat my bedroom).  You know, now as I'm writing this I'm finding it interesting just how much I've learned, figured out, and found ways around things  that I never would have thought of in the states or just didn't concern myself with because it wasn't an issue.  I was talking to Jez during our seriously cold spell and she was telling me how she learned how to work her apartment so she didn't get so cold at timesas well as for other things.  The more I think about it, she's right!  Even the subtle things I find myself exlaining to you all.  I catch myself and I think "yeah, I guess I did have to learn that!"  Ok, this blog is seriously long and I think I'm done.  Love and hugs from a sunny (yea) here!!