I just three days ago closed my upstairs bedroom window…and it’s been snowing for a few days. The heat has been turned on, and it is just too darn hot and stuffy upstairs…thermostat and the person controlling it are downstairs behind closed doors, so the window being open doesn’t effect the furnace…and my son is a smoker, so we appreciate the fresh air. Once Grandma gets her kerosene heater going in the kitchen, she will shut the furnace way down, and we will be freezing up here…but for now, it is really hot.
I’m guessing your neighbors have the same problem.
I used to keep one upstairs bathroom window open year-round (except for the very coldest days) for my cat to use. Do they have a cat? If so, there might be your explanation, as long as there’s a porch roof or convenient tree or fence for easy feline access to the window.
Back in 1982 (I think) Boulder police broke the case of a missing 3-year-old boy because neighbors reported an apartment had a window open in the middle of winter. Come to find out, it was to air the place out after the kid’s body had been stuffed in an HVAC vent for a couple of days until it could be disposed of. Gruesome story, but that’s where my mind went. Details here: Classified Ads - Front Range Classifieds, Colorado, scroll down to Michael Manning.
When I was in college in Minnesota, I had this German American friend. She liked it cold in her room, and sleeping under twenty pounds of down comforter. I saw her room one day and the window was open. In Minnesota! In winter! There was at least an inch build up of ice on the window ledge - the INTERIOR of the window ledge.
I thought she was nuts. “I like fresh air” she said. She was a good friend, and I can confirm nothing nefarious going on, other than being what I thought was nuts.
I just came home from the grocery store. There are no cars in the driveway and no lights on. The window is open and the curtains are blowing in the cold wind. I would think if it is to circulate air for smoking purposes, they’d close the window when they’re not home, to save on the fuel bill. Ditto liking a cold room for sleeping – open the window and it’ll get cold mighty fast. But wouldn’t you close it during the day?
Well, I realize I sound like a nosy neighbor. I don’t like busybodies and I don’t want to be one, so I won’t speculate any further. I really don’t care what they’re doing if it’s legal, and frankly, if they’re ripping off the gas company by not paying the huge fuel bills, it’s no skin off my nose.
Maybe they’re related to my neighbors. They run their air conditioning in the summer and leave all their upstairs windows open. If we were on speaking terms with them, we might tip them a WTF comment, in case they were just forgetful. However, they’re obnoxious and dumber’n a bag of hammers, so we just let it go.
I think there’s something smelly in that room. Probably nothing as nefarious as a dead body, but maybe they have indoor cats and that room is where the litter boxes are (or there are no boxes and it’s the cats’ bathroom). Did you see the Messiest House in America on Clean House? The family had cut a hole in the floor of a closet and it was filled with desiccated cat poop. They hadn’t had a cat for two years. My ex-SIL had a room set aside in a brand new house for the cat boxes, which she never bothered to clean.
I don’t think it’s for smoking. Two incessant smokers aren’t going to notice or care about the smell of smoke.
Hmmm. Well, we know they have two beagles, who are out in the fenced backyard at various times, so I’m fairly sure we’d know if they have cats. It’s a very pet-friendly neighborhood.
The grow house makes more sense to me. He seems more like a stoner to me. The house has no basement.
If you really, really want to know, could you try to stop by when you are both home to ask? Maybe bring over some holiday cookies as an excuse. They still might not know… The teenage son could have meant to do something about it, got distracted by girl/text/xbox, and never thought of it again.
And the reason is that last year I noticed that my neighbors basement light was on a lot. He is two houses away from me, but right on a corner where our whole block gets our mail. Everytime I went for mail, I noticed that his basement light was on. Even during the day. After a week or more of constantly being on I asked another neighbor about him.
Long story, somewhat shorter: He was found dead in his basement!! :eek: He was a Vietnam vet who was in a wheelchair/roundabout part-time. He lived alone. I guess he had fallen down the stairs, and was there all that time. UGH. If only someone had checked sooner. I am not sure, but I don’t think he died immediately.
Another freaky thing…the basement light was left on, even after he was found, and was on for months, before the house sold. I guess no one ever went in there, or checked it.
So everytime I got the mail, I tried not to picture him down there.
A new family has moved in.
Time Stranger, we might just end up having to do that. I can only think that if the parents use the other upstairs bedroom, this might be the daughter’s and she left the window open when she went to college and they are so stupid they haven’t noticed that icy draft of air coming from under the door and never saw the open window when they drove up to the house every day since.
And if that’s her room, then the son’s room is the downstairs room with all the condensation and no curtains. He must be a real heavy breather.
That. Or it’s the 15-year-old son’s bedroom and he smokes pot in there, keeping the window open and the door closed so his parents don’t smell it. Month after month, those poor parents try to figure out why their heating cost is so high…
