So one of the odder things in my house is the way my parents wage a largely silent war - on electricity.
Dad is a turner on person. If he could have every light in the place on at full blast, I know he would. He has a real thing for lighting, in fact he is like a little moth in any Home Depot electrical department. If it's bulbs or switches, it doesn't matter, he loves it all. He is such a turn on person that he rarely turns a light off.
Enter Mom. Her Cheapness is a true turner offer. She would like the minimal lighting in any given circumstances. Daytime or nighttime she is equally determined to turn it off. "Can you turn off the light?" is one of the most common phrases heard at the H.C.
I suppose if I was tall enough to reach a switch, I would fall in Mom's camp. I like it dark. I see better and hiding is easy. You would think the dimmer switches would have eased the battle lines, but no, not really. Dad still likes it all the way to high.
So friends do you like the lights on or off?
P.S. To the people who found this post by title only, sorry. As I re-read this, it probably wasn't what you thought you would find here... and the old post about Mom being a swinger was only in regards to my feather toy.
Sorry friends, Mom has been very worn out this week from work and hasn't been commenting much... but she is lurking.
ReplyDeleteMom understands...she's trying to help me comment, but she's falling behind in her duties.
ReplyDeleteMom is laughing because dad turns on all the lights too, and mom turns them off!
Haha! Your house sounds like our house! Our dad is always turning on lights and leaving them on...it must be a guy thing...and mom is always turning them off...she says it has nothing to do with being cheap (tho she is)...she likes natural light better than fake light...
ReplyDeleteHi Fin!
ReplyDeleteNo worries... Glogirly has been less than blog-helpful as of late. Found out last week, to my disgust, that you and I share the same V-E-T. I believe you call yours "Crackpot Vet."
I'm getting a good laugh out of your human's light wars. The townhouse has more dimmers in it than Home Depot, Lowes and Menards combined. When the electrician GG hired to install them came to the door late in the afternoon the day before Thanksgiving, he was laughing and laughing. He said the shop made a typo on his orders because it said that he had to install 30 dimmers. 30 dimmers! Can you imagine! He wasn't laughing when he left the townhouse at 8pm that night.
mew!
Katie
(Glogirly's Cat)
Definitely low light or off=it's better to nap and pounce in the dark...xo...Calle, Halle, Sukki
ReplyDeleteI'm torn - I can be better admired with the lights on, but lights off means it's snuggle time in bed with Mummy.
ReplyDeleteOur mom likes several little lights in the corners of the room. She's not the "strong light from the ceiling" type of mom. We're okay with that. She told us that the other type of human had a bare light bulb in his room! He moved to a bigger place last weekend and mom is determined to take matters in her lighting hands this time.
ReplyDeletePurrs!
Our humans have that same conversation ALL THE TIME. The Big One turns them all on and wanders away, and my OTW wanders down his way and turns them all off. Sometimes she turns off the one he's using 'cause she's annoyed!
ReplyDelete~Jack
Sorry Fin. . . but we fall into the "cheapness" category for two reasons.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all we're trying to live as green a life as possible and that means conserving energy.
Second, by being cheap with the lights, our 'lectric bill is so low (as are all our other bills) that Momma only has to work a part time job to pay for it and that leaves lots of time for the important things in life -- US! We love the time she spends with us AND we love the dim light so it's a win-win situation for us.
Yep, sounds like here too...exactly. As for us, we like that natural light too, otherwise we like the lights dimmer...but I can reach those switch things.
ReplyDeleteWell we would ne "ON" by instinct in our howse, but because we try to be ECO friendly, and 'cos dad moans abowt the electricity bill, we are "OFF"!
ReplyDeleteWe prefer natural light though (espeshully sunshine).
Your mom and dad sound a lot like our mom and dad!!
ReplyDeleteOur human falls in line with your mom--lights off as much as possible. Single income=energy conservation to save on bills! She does have night lights strategically placed in hallways and the bathroom, in case she has to get up in the night.
ReplyDeleteOur Mom is a lights on kinda girl. She leaves them all on until she goes to bed and then she turns them all off (she says it's for melatonin production, whatever that is). When the Ball Guy comes over, he likes as little light as possible. We're okay with both. Being a cat is awesome, eh?
ReplyDeleteWe don't care one way or another, but The Mommy leaves most house lights off just because she only 'lives' in a couple of rooms most of the time. There, she leaves a couple of lamps on but mostly not overhead lights on, just whatever she needs to do the job; she prefers sunlight if possible but it's not always bright enough the way the rooms are set up. So it just depends on the day/weather/situation sometimes!
ReplyDeleteWe love the title of the post, by the way... MOL
Purrs and hugs,
The Kitty Krew
LOL Fin, that sounds very much like the battle our mum and dad fight. dads never switches anything off after him and it drives mum mad.
ReplyDeleteThough I love to pinch pennies with the best of them, my eyesight isn't that great and I love to have bright lights to hep me see. At night, there is so much activity (and so much for Snafu to get into), I want to be able to see what crashed on the floor as quickly as possible...lights on in the other room help with that.
ReplyDeleteThat's just me...
~Lisa Co9T
Out Mom is of the cheaper variety too. She has a light by the computer and one other light here in this room. But we like being in the semi darkness and can hide really well. That is really funny Fin about the lights on and off. Must be fun to watch. Have a nice bright day.
ReplyDeletewow!I fall in with moms camp, during the day its no lights just windows, when the sun goes down she turns on one light...while she needs it not to mention every bulb in the house is one of those energy savings bulbs....she gets it from her dad he's the same way he gets so angry when he sees his electricity bill go over $100. My dad on the other hand he turns lights on and just forgets about them its not that he wants them on he just doesnt realize he's left them on, mom says my uncle her brother is the same way, he will fall asleep with the lights on. LOL
ReplyDeleteMy Mom likes the light to see by, but she hates it when Dad leaves a tv on a walks away from it, so she is always shutting of one or other of the tvs that is unwatched. She figures tv burns more electricity than the lights do.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... Well we like it dull light or no light cos it's so funny to play about in! We know Mummy like to sleep in the dark cos she doesn't like to play with us when she's lying in bed with her eyes closed. Daddy keeps a little lamp on saying to Mummy that the heat will keep us warm! xxx
ReplyDeleteMy human likes some, but not all lights on, and her boyfriend sometimes forgets to turn lights on after dark. So they're not too much different. But if the electricity in the whole house goes off, you should see how freaked out my human gets! It's really funny! I think it's mostly because of the internet, and not so much the lights. Half the time she packs up her laptop and leaves! Me? I really don't care. I know all my online friends will still be there when the lights come back on.
ReplyDeleteIt's opposite in our house. Mum has all the lights on but half dimmed, and dad goes around moaning about wasting electric and turning them off.
ReplyDeletesame here both of the other beans turn lights on like you wouldn't believe, but our mombean keeps turning them off! the darker the better, the darker the sleepier!
ReplyDeleteFin, you're talking about our house! It's the same here. Mom says she can trace Dad's route through the house 'cause he leaves the lights on in every room. She goes around after him saying "Don't we give enough money to the electric company?!"
ReplyDeleteWe're also a lights on/lights off house; with Chuck wanting them on and me wanting them. "The Boys?" They don't much care...except for Jonny, he seems to want to be under the covers a lot.
ReplyDeleteHi Fin! First we had to say we loved your disclaimer! It is very funy.
ReplyDeleteWe are kind of both at our house - though mom is the one who usually complains when someone (dad) leaves too many lights on. But sometimes mom turns a bunch on too.
We are definitely turner-offer in this household because we are trying to conserve energy. Only one light is allowed on in any one room and only if there is a person in it. SS insists on that has nothing to do with cheapness.
ReplyDeleteLove your PS!!!!
Mmmm... we like dim lighting in this house. Especially at night. Mom says the bright hurts her eyes.
ReplyDeleteVery funny, as usual. Dad being like a moth - especially funny. The man loves a dimmer switch.
ReplyDeleteHey, how are those Catamy Awards coming along? Hee hee heeee!