An old line says marriage lets you “annoy one special person” and this is true.

Having said this but before I begin, I want to say hello to my dear readers. It is good to be speaking to you again from the confines of a period where I cannot do any work for money unless I want to incur some wrath from the U.S. government.

It is difficult but writing is like a muscle. If you do not do it when necessary skills in the area will atrophy. So, for the moment I am going to be doing some blogging, maybe a bit of sending content to outlets for free down the road and wanted to start out this process with an observation about my dearest and most imminent spouse.

We have been living together now for more than a month after years apart. She has my heart and like the quote above suggests a quirk which I find very perplexing.

Some wear odd clothes, others will have belief in wild and clinically insane conspiracy theories and in her case the thing I cannot wrap my head around is her insistence in making sure most things are not plugged in when not used. This applies even when a device is turned off or connected to an active power strip.

I first learned of this when we began dating, have struggled to remember it given my bumbling nature and, not knowing as much about home issues given my background resolved to look into the matter for a final conclusion. Earlier this month I contacted electricians and below are a few of the responses I received:

“She’s right. Standby consumption is real,” one wrote. “Whether or not it’s worth unplugging everything to eliminate is going to be a personal decision. I’ve seen it claimed that standby power can consume as much as 10 percent of delivered power. When you think about the entire grid, that’s a lot of wasted energy.”

You should not care if your partner believes in ghosts, likes the toilet paper a certain way in the holder or whether they like to unplug things a lot.

“Yes, it uses power and costs money, but we’re talking a few watts and a few dollars,” a message from another reads. “But this usually misses the forest for the trees: most houses have much bigger wastes of energy. If you’re worried about utilities then start with getting the most out of your HVAC systems by insulating and sealing air leaks, etc. That will save far more money with less aggravation.”

Experts and reports have confirmed both of these takes are true and when I brought this up with her, she noted any money saved is good money. While I was tempted to respond with a huff and retort as I have seen in some, I instead thought quickly:

“What am I doing?” I wondered to myself. “I should be chill and let this go.”

For the moment I am proud to say I have followed this path. There are many bits to argue passionately for or against in life but the trivial like this are not in that category. You should not care if your partner believes in ghosts, likes the toilet paper a certain way in the holder or whether they like to unplug things a lot.

If you do, all it equates to is missing the forest for the trees, as one man said above.

Evan J. Pretzer – Fiancé

Monday, Jan. 11, 2021