Not giving thanks alone this year

Last issue, you read what Tribune columnists Alison Stewart and Doug Blough had to be thankful for, and also on this page, you’ll read Don Amend’s take on the holiday. Never one to avoid a bandwagon, I have afew things to be thankful for (besides Ashlee Simpson) that I’d like to share with you.

Of course, I have the typical things to be thankful for, like having a roof over my head. Even though over the past month, that’s about all my apartment has provided at times. I live in a very old house converted into a duplex, and as me, my rooommate and our neighbor have found out, the electrical wiring leaves something to be desired. Since I am a thrifty person (editor’s note: unthinkably cheap) we’ve been trying to heat our house with space heaters instead of using the gas heater because of astronomically high natural gas prices. But as we’ve learned not once, not twice, but three times, a space heater is too much for our electrical grid to take. And once the power has been blown, it’s not as easy to fix as throwing the switches in our breaker box. It’s our neighbor’s breaker that controlls our side of the house, and our breaker that controls hers (don’t think about it too hard, your head might explode).

The third time it happened, we couldn’t get our neighbor to flip the right switch until the next morning, so I slept with two pairs of sweatpants, four shirts and four blankets to keep warm (I was still cold). And the next morning, I showered in the dark (when showering in the dark, make sure you know where the soap is at all times).

I am also thankful I get to spend Thanksgiving with some friends this year. To be honest, Thanksgiving isn’t that important of a holiday tome, but even I felt a little sad last year alone in my apartment. Sitting in front of the television, with an under-cooked frozen turkey
saturating it.

So I’m sure yesterday was better than last year. As for our Thanksgiving spread, it may not even measure up to last year’s frozen dinner. I think we’ll have the typical turkey and mashed potatoes and the like, but my friends’ and I collective cooking skills are about as strong as President Bush’s approval rating. I hope your Thanksgiving was as good as I’m sure mine will be. After all, anything is better than siting alone, in the dark because the power has blown again, wearing four shirts and eating tear-salted turkey.