2021 Life Logs, Day 141: Energy Audit
Date: Friday, May 21, 2021
Weather: Sunny, Slightly Warmer; High 68, Low, 53 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Morning came early today. I put Shadow in the crate last night and neither one of us got a lot of sleep. When I went to the bedroom and left him in the living room in the crate, he was quiet. But after a while I heard him making noises that seemed like quiet crying. It broke my heart, but I tried to ignore it and go to sleep. All night long, he went through quiet periods and then back to crying. Finally, when the sun came up, he quieted, and we got a good hour of sleep before it was time to get up. This made me wonder if he was having separation anxiety from me or if he is just afraid of the dark. I’ll have to keep working on this.
An energy specialist was arriving at 8:15 am to do an energy audit and Shadow had dog school at 9 am. So, we got up and started our day. I got dressed as quickly as I could so I could spend time walking with Shadow. By 8:15 am we were walking back to the cottage with the Rise Engineering truck following us. Since this was the third audit of the cottage, the specialist really only needed to check the new water heater, recheck that the furnace is properly vented, and recheck the attic. The assessment was done by 8:40 am, so I took off with Shadow to deliver him to his second day of dog school. When I returned, the Rise Engineering truck was still in my driveway. Was there a problem? No. The specialist had decided to sit in the driveway and submit his report so that he could give me a printout of the results before he left. He approved $5,400 in energy upgrades—new insulation in the attic (11 inches of R-40 cellulose), insulating the basement sills, drilling and filling the outside walls with insulation, insulating the bulkhead door, new vents in the soffit, and on and on. And because this is a landlord/tenant upgrade, there is no cost to us at all. Normally a homeowner pays 25 per cent of the total, but if it is a rental, the total cost is covered. The work cannot be scheduled to be done until August or September, but it will be done before cold weather season.
Ollie and I picked Shadow up from school and got a lesson in how to deal with a dog that was overly excited to see us. Ian, the trainer, keeps telling me Shadow is extremely smart and has learned to outsmart all of the humans in his life. It took 15 minutes, but he was able to calm Shadow before releasing him to us. Then Ollie was able to lead Shadow to the car. Patience, patience. It is time for bed and I am still trying to think of creative ways to keep Shadow from crying tonight. Tough love is tough!
