Warning signs

For the past few years my wife has been looking at the thermostat and asking, "Who turned this up?" and turning it back down.

The rest of us stoutly denied touching the instrument, but there it was, set for 72 instead of 69.

It looks like nobody was lying. Last night the thing decided that spontaneously shifting its setting wasn't good enough and what it really needed to do to get a little attention was to leave the control circuit open permanently.

That was at 2AM. It has departed the wall to live in an HVAC repairman's barrel of junk, and my wallet is lighter. But at least the house is warm again--it was 17 outside and blustery.