hellobeautifulcreatures

The gentleman on the other end of the line was sobbing. A moment ago, he had been yelling at me, but when that didn’t work, he turned to an emotional plea. He told me about his wife and children that he needed to support, his mortgage, his car payment, his utilities. He probably would have tried bargaining, but we both knew that would go nowhere. This conversation was about one thing: ending his unemployment benefits. I wish I could say I was moved. But I was two hours into my shift, and he was already the second sobbing person I had talked to. I knew there would be many more before my day ended. It was December 2010 and I was working as an operator at the Pennsylvania Office of Unemployment Compensation. It was a rough month. Many people were ending their run on unemployment compensation after collecting for nearly two years. It wasn’t because they had jobs. It was because the special period of extended benefits that allowed people to stay on the program ended every December. None of...

T ankless water heaters have been in use all over the world for fifty years, largely because of smaller homes and higher energy costs outside the United States. In fact, tank water heaters are only used in the U.S. As natural gas and LP prices rise (as they have for the past decade) it will cost consumers more to heat water. Imagine cutting water heating costs by 50 to 70 percent – think tankless water heaters . Tankless water heaters – often called “on demand” water heaters – only heat water when needed. Tank water heaters , on the other hand, keep the water hot all of the time and, when on standby, loose about 6 degrees an hour. Heat in the form of Btu’s also escapes up through the flue pipe constantly . Tank water heaters are incredibly inefficient and yet are used in the majority of American homes. Tank water heaters have a life expectancy of around 10 years, depending on incoming water quality . Tankless water heaters , on the other hand have a life expectancy of 20 plus ye...