![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Fine.
I'll admit it.
I am a bit bitter today and just "not in the mood" but this just rubs me raw.
Holiday Lights Can Burn Hole In Wallet: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15763468/
Holiday Lights Can Burn Hole In Wallet
Every November, it starts small.
"Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clause are going to be right there in that place, candy canes all down the side."
A string of garland here ....
"The nativity scene goes there."
a string of lights there.
"I've got lights on the deck already ..."
Until Elsie Thielbar's home on Madison's east side is as bright as her disposition.
"It was my husband's idea and now he's like I don't know if I want to do this anymore and I'm like you have to! I'll cry if I drive around the neighborhood and see everyone's lights and we don't have any!"
Not to worry, they have lights aplenty, but spreading Christmas cheer costs them a pretty penny.
"Year before last, we had the biggest light bill ever. It was $485 for one month. That was at least $250 more than it usually is."
19,000 bulbs illuminate the Madison downtown area during the holiday season.
Mary Carbine of the Business Improvement District calls it a gift to downtown shoppers.
"And this year, they're also a gift to the environment because with community support from MG&E and the division of energy, we converted all of these lights to energy saving LEDs."
Carbine says LEDs use one tenth the electrictiy of a regular light.
By switching, they're saving enough energy to heat 19 homes for a year.
According to MG&E, burning one string of standard lights 8 hours a day for 45 days will cost someone like Elsie $7.65.
That same string of LED lights would only be 23 cents.
Something Elsie might want to consider, because she says next year will likely be bigger and brighter.
"Every year we say we're not gonna do it and every year we go and get more things to do it with!"
So. Okay. If you have enough money just sitting there to spend $485 a month to light your Christmas lights - just fuck you. How about you use to that to pay for someone elses' heat bill for the winter? You say it is an "at least an extra $250 on top of your normal bill"? Well, my heat is about $135 a month for winter - you could afford to pay for two people heat for the entire month with that difference. I have to add additional blankets to the kids beds and my own and practically sleep in a sweatshirt and you get to light your house up with a tacky nativity scene to prove how god-loving you are during the holiday season.
And sure, the City is switching to LED light - saving enough money to heat 19 homes for a year - where is that savings going to go? Are they going to send out a bill to 19 people saying "We Paid It!!!!" or are they just going to adjust it out of the damn budget and still keep harping us for the money. It isn't even that cold yet and still, things are tight. Get a perspective people. This is stupid.
I'll admit it.
I am a bit bitter today and just "not in the mood" but this just rubs me raw.
Holiday Lights Can Burn Hole In Wallet: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15763468/
Holiday Lights Can Burn Hole In Wallet
Every November, it starts small.
"Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clause are going to be right there in that place, candy canes all down the side."
A string of garland here ....
"The nativity scene goes there."
a string of lights there.
"I've got lights on the deck already ..."
Until Elsie Thielbar's home on Madison's east side is as bright as her disposition.
"It was my husband's idea and now he's like I don't know if I want to do this anymore and I'm like you have to! I'll cry if I drive around the neighborhood and see everyone's lights and we don't have any!"
Not to worry, they have lights aplenty, but spreading Christmas cheer costs them a pretty penny.
"Year before last, we had the biggest light bill ever. It was $485 for one month. That was at least $250 more than it usually is."
19,000 bulbs illuminate the Madison downtown area during the holiday season.
Mary Carbine of the Business Improvement District calls it a gift to downtown shoppers.
"And this year, they're also a gift to the environment because with community support from MG&E and the division of energy, we converted all of these lights to energy saving LEDs."
Carbine says LEDs use one tenth the electrictiy of a regular light.
By switching, they're saving enough energy to heat 19 homes for a year.
According to MG&E, burning one string of standard lights 8 hours a day for 45 days will cost someone like Elsie $7.65.
That same string of LED lights would only be 23 cents.
Something Elsie might want to consider, because she says next year will likely be bigger and brighter.
"Every year we say we're not gonna do it and every year we go and get more things to do it with!"
So. Okay. If you have enough money just sitting there to spend $485 a month to light your Christmas lights - just fuck you. How about you use to that to pay for someone elses' heat bill for the winter? You say it is an "at least an extra $250 on top of your normal bill"? Well, my heat is about $135 a month for winter - you could afford to pay for two people heat for the entire month with that difference. I have to add additional blankets to the kids beds and my own and practically sleep in a sweatshirt and you get to light your house up with a tacky nativity scene to prove how god-loving you are during the holiday season.
And sure, the City is switching to LED light - saving enough money to heat 19 homes for a year - where is that savings going to go? Are they going to send out a bill to 19 people saying "We Paid It!!!!" or are they just going to adjust it out of the damn budget and still keep harping us for the money. It isn't even that cold yet and still, things are tight. Get a perspective people. This is stupid.
Tags:
no subject