ENERGY CRUNCH HITS HOME

Last week I realized that everything was getting out of hand. The grocery bills are skyrocketing. The utilities are still too high. We've been spending too much on gasoline.
As I sat at the dining room table drinking my Chai tea, I decided my next project would be to cut the budget. Large corporations do it all the time.
From now on everyone will have to be energy conscious.
I decided to sit down with each family member and discuss my new plan.
I started with Jason. I tried to explain that it isn't necessary to pre-heat his soldering iron for an hour. It's also not necessary to lie on his bed with headphones on listening to the stereo while he's watching his favorite tv show without the sound.
Julie was next on the list. "Why do you need all these curling irons?" Do they really need to be plugged in all day? You know, we're not running a beauty shop."
"Mom, just trust me. I do need four curling irons. Each one of them does a different part of my hair."
"Why do you need hot curlers, too?"
"They are for the back of my hair."
As I walked around her room with my clipboard in hand, I noticed the iron was also plugged in.
"How long has the iron been on?"
"Gosh, Mom, I don't know. I ironed my blouse this morning."
"It's 6:00 at night", I protested.
I was beginning to realize why our electric bill is so high.
Amy's reasoning for leaving the light on all night was because she saw "something on the wall".
"Why can't you turn the light on to make sure it's just a shadow, then turn it off and go back to sleep?"
"Because Mom, something might come out of my closet."
By the time my husband got home I was feeling pretty defeated.
"You know, I've been talking to the kids this afternoon about being more energy conscious, but they don't understand.
He walked over and put his arms around me.
"It'll be okay." Then he sat in his chair to read the paper.
"By the way," I turned to him. "We got the phone bill today. We've got to cut down on the long distance calls."
He lowered the paper and waited.
"How many calls did we have?"
"There were four".
"Well, how much were they?"
"Seventy cents."