Interpretation

Allow me to give you (if you are American) a little lesson in Heating and Electric up here on the I of L. If you have oil heat at home in the US you probably are on the schedule of you oil supplier and they somehow know when to come and fill up the tank. No bother at all. And you pay your electric bill after you've used the electricity. Bill comes in the mail, write a check or pay online. Done.

Imagine this...it isn't the same here. Not at all - for some of us.

You must keep an eye on your own oil tank and order more oil when it is low. I did try to do this and was told by friends I'm sure had good intentions not to give it another thought, they'd sort it for me. . . I ran out of oil this weekend. I'm using these to stay warm.

And the way my house is set up to pay for electric, I must say I quite like! There's a box in the closet that is a meter, but kind of in reverse of ours. I'll put the picture below. I go to the gas station and give the lady at the register (petrol station; lady at the til for the Scots) and give her the green and blue "key" you'll see laying on top of the meter. She puts on any amount of money I ask her to; I pay; I go home and plug the key into the meter and I'm electrified, well, the house is. It is quite good for monitoring your use. 

For example, I've guzzled pound after pound using my electric heaters this weekend. Gone in two days what I thought would last at least a week and a half. Oil tomorrow!!!!