After it was rebuilt, many people comment on the fireplace in my room. I always had one; it just was hidden behind the bed. Mom and dad attempted to light a fire in there shortly after moving in, but it was so smoky that they never did so again. When we rebuilt the house we had it fixed up as best as possible, so now we're trying them out not only here but also in the living room. First, we discovered we have no fucking idea how to start a fire. All these years my uncles were the ones to handle everything and would spend any family gathering sitting in a semi-circle and poking at the flames for hours. Second, we have no idea how to let it continue. It burns brightly for about an hour and a half and then fizzles out. I'm trying to figure out if we should throw in another log — of course you need to put in more fuel once one burns out — but two logs being completely immolated in an hour and a half seems pretty insane, not counting all the smaller pieces of wood we throw in to help start the fire. Well, this gives me an excuse to have more fires in my room as I experiment.

What surprises me the most is this thing is not generating any heat. If you're within six inches of the hearth it's pretty warm, but after that nada. Even when I'm sitting at my desk I feel nothing.