Silent Night, Cold Night

As I type this, I can barely keep my eyes open I'm so sleepy.  I was awake most of the night last night and it's caught up with me bigtime.  I woke up at about 1:00 and had to go to the bathroom, and as I was walking back to bed, something very strange occurred to me:  I hadn't heard the furnace kick on since I went to bed at 10:30.  My bedroom was cool, but that's nothing new; I usually keep the vents 75% of the way closed because I like it cool.  But this was a little bit cooler than my normal cool.  I grabbed my fleece blanket and put it on top of the sheet and blanket and attempted to go back to sleep.  I didn't want to wake up the 'rents, because I knew they needed rest from being sick, and I also knew that they have a very heavy and warm wool blanket on their bed so I knew they would be warm.

For the next three hours I tossed, turned, and started thinking about having to buy a new furnace.  I thought of every worst possible scenario.  I knew we couldn't call our good friend Bob who is one of the best HVAC men in the city, because he's dealing with his mother's funeral, so I told myself that we would just have to handle things ourselves, even if it meant depleting my savings to help the 'rents buy a new furnace.  At about 4:00 I couldn't stand it any longer.  I got my little Mini Mag Lite and crept down the hall to where the thermostat was.  I wasn't surprised when I saw that the thermometer said it was 56 degrees in the house.  I was surprised, however, when I saw that the thermostat was on 50. I was groggy and felt like a zombie, and I can't really remember what I muttered under my breath, but I'm reasonably sure it was something to the effect of "WTF?"  I turned the up to 70 and in an instant I heard the furnace kick on.  The sound was as if a choir of angels were singing.  I went back to bed and before I drifted off to sleep, I wondered how long it would have been before the 'rents figured out that the thermostat was set on the coolest tempterature? 

When I got up at 7:00, the house was almost back to it's normal temperature.  I told Mom about the Case Of The Mysterious Thermostat and she vouched that she didn't touch it yesterday.  She cleaned the hallway carpet, but she said she's positive she didn't getanywhere near the wall where the thermostat is.  Later on, I called home to question Dad about this, and he swore in court that he didn't touch the thermostat either.  He saaid that he was cold all night long, however.  I asked him how come he didn't go check the thermostat if he was cold and he said "I was sick."  I told him "Yes, you're sick with the flu, but your legs weren't paralyzed."