Call the Landlord, Niagara Mohawk, or Put In A Work Order. It’s Freezing In Here!
Picture this: it’s morning and you’re sleeping in your toasty warm bed. You’re in the midst of waking up, and you can feel a slight chill on your face. The alarm clock goes off, and as you begin to stir you realize you’re going to have to put your feet on the icy cold floor. You realize, however, that this isn’t the worst part of the morning. The thought of undressing in the cold gives you all the more reason to stay in bed and skip class.
Finding a place to live during school is a tough decision. Finding a place to live with adequate heating is even more difficult (seeing as how it’s cold 75 percent of the time you attend school). As you may know, the main choices are to either live in the dormitories, on campus apartments, off campus housing, or crawl back home to mommy and daddy.
Living with the ‘rents is probably the most affordable and is the only place in Buffalo to get “free” heat. The drawback of this living situation is either being treated like you’re still in high school, getting made fun of, or going insane due to the annoying nature of your own family. You could try bumming off a friend for a while. It’s free heat, but you’ll most likely be kicked out on the street when you keep the thermostat at 75 degrees.
Speaking of thermostats, the on campus apartments are equipped with such devices. But don’t be fooled, they’re fake. UB thought it would be funny to give students the false security of thinking that they could control the temperature of their apartment. Those buttons and the numbers on the display screen are just for kicks. What really controls the temperature is a little man with a key who comes when you call him. It’s kind of like having a magic heating gnome. So, if your campus apartment is either too hot or too cold, put in a work order because fidgeting with the buttons won’t help. The one plus about these apartments is that the heat is relatively “free.” Sure the rent is outrageous, but you can keep the heat up as high and as long as you want without the consequences of a heating bill.
Ah yes bills, and I’m not talking about our beloved football team. Some students may not know what these are yet. They are slips of paper that demand money from you after you use your electricity, heat, and water. Pretty cool, eh? This is one of the drawbacks of living off campus. In order to keep costs down, the usual temperature in a student’s apartment is between “freezing” and “raisin balls” degrees, so if you’re going to visit a friend bring a blanket and warm socks. Another drawback are the landlords. They seem to disappear in the winter months, leaving you with a bathtub of frozen water to deal with. The good thing is, you’ll be living on your own with only your own rules to worry about.
Finally, the infamous dorms. The dorms get a bad rap for heating, as they should. They are either ridiculously hot or ridiculously cold. There is no in-between, and if you have found a cozy medium, keep the secret to yourself and offer to sell it for a small fee. The problem is the heaters in the rooms. No matter what you think, they are always on or broken. Again UB has played a little trick, this time on the dorm-goers. The knob doesn’t really turn the heat off. You’re better off propping open a window. If the heat is actually off, try turning it back on. It’s most likely broken and you’ll have to call in a work order. Once you’ve adjusted to the heat, the drawbacks are the same with any dorm living. The plus side is you’ll be warm, if not sweating, all winter.
In this issue we discuss student living options to help you decide where you would like to live next semester. It is a difficult choice to make, especially when it comes to heat. I suppose it’s all dependant upon how much money you’re willing to spend or how tolerant you are to extreme heat or lack there of. Good luck with all your home hunting adventures.
Stay warm kids,
Libby Donnoe
