July hits the fan
(because the AC didn't work)
The saga begins:
July fourth is a rather big deal in the US, the day of independence: hot dogs, flags and fireworks. Importantly, it's a day off too. This year, July 4th ended up on a Tuesday. I thought, what a great idea to take of the 3rd too, and have myself a three day weekend and only have to pay for one day of that from my vacation time.
As we plan to sell the house and move this year, we're not going to go on vacation, so burning up the days wasn't the big deal it might have been. To that point, and to the fact that we're trying to fix up the house to sell, I added Friday, June 30th giving me FIVE ENTIRE DAYS OFF!
In order to fix up the house, pay off outstanding loans, credit cards, etc we refinanced a little of the equity in the current house. This will come up later.
Date: 6/30/06 Temp (F): 1080 Friday
The A/C is still dead, though it keeps struggling. We can get down to 80, but only over night, it's 85+ during the afternoon inside the house. Any more than that and the AC pipes freeze. Figures they're keeping themselves cool, while we suffer. Yesterday, a saleswoman from Hoverround came out to see if Chelsea was eligible for one of their chairs, and the BIG question: would the insurance pay for it? She brought one with her and had Chelsea run it around the house. Our house is so small and crowded that by the time she got the thing moving, she ran out of room. This afternoon, a notary is coming by fill out the paperwork for the refinance.
Date: 7/01/06 Temp (F): 1100 Saturday
We were out late last night. One the notary left and we'd signed away the next 30 years, we went out to look at paint and other materials to fix up the house. The AC repair people hade been there on Tuesday, and
were closed for the weekend. They said we needed a new compressor.
Although the house insurance will cover the cost of the compressor, there's allot of money involved in things they WON'T cover, and it'll take a week to get the thing. Our real estate agent came by to suggest some things we could do to make the place a bit more sale-able. We spent the day cleaning the place for her inspection and about dropped from the heat and the exertion. We decided to wait on the materials until the loan comes through
Date: 7/02/06 Temp (F): 1030 Sunday
While in church, my stepfather collapses. Because he'd had a heart transplant a couple of years ago, the first thing they fear is rejection, therefore he's in the ER. My wife and I pack up and spend the afternoon in the ER, watching him be miserable. But - the ER is cold! I haven't been cold since February, and the temperature is making me sleepy. Fortunately, there is a limit of two visitors at a time in the ER, and me, my wife, my mother and my sister are all squeezed in there. I found a third chair, but I had to stand. It's what keeps me awake. I spend the entire day there waiting for them to open a bed and leave as he's taken to the ICU.
Dates: 7/03/06 & 7/04/06 Temp (F): 1060 (both days) Monday & Tuesday. I spend ALL DAY of BOTH days sitting in waiting rooms reading a book. My stepfather eventually gets transferred to the Mayo clinic, but so far, no one can figure out what's wrong with him. My productive weekend is shot. The benefit is, I'm out of the hot box I call home.
Date: 7/05/06 Temp (F): 960! Wednesday
It's only 96! That's because we've started what we call our Monsoon period, and though we didn't get much rain (our house didn't get any!), it's as humid here as it is in Minneapolis, so we're all still miserable. Chelsea has taken my mother to Mayo while I'm at work. The AC in the house is working much better, but that's only because it doesn't have so far to go from 96 degrees. Because Chelsea is with Mom, I have to take a few hours off work while the AC repair guy comes out ONCE AGAIN to "fix" the problem. This time, he's going to install the compressor at a premium price. This takes three hours or so, this gets taken further from my vacation time. Chelsea is notified about a death in her family.
Date: 7/06/06 Temp (F): 1040 Thursday
It's hot again, but the humidity hasn't let up. Now it's Phoenix hot
and Minnesota humid. The new compressor isn't helping. My stepfather
is still in Mayo, but they think he'll get out today or tomorrow.
Date: 7/07/06 Temp (F): 990 Friday
Sam's club has a portable AC. My windows open side to side, so the typical "in window" AC won't work, but this one is freestanding and has an exhaust hose that adapts to my window style. It's pricy, but less than we've spent on any single "repair" so far. So we decide to get it. The Sam's Club we go to doesn't have one in stock, the one that DOES have one is closed, so I have to get it tomorrow. I call the AC people again, he tells me that I need a brand new air conditioner. The full thing. He's going to talk to the insurance company to get them to pay for it, the same "uncovered price" applies. The insurance company wants a second opinion. They're sending someone else around - on Tuesday.
We got the loan money! It won't clear for another two weeks.
Date: 7/08/06 Temp (F): 1050 Saturday
I haven't slept in almost two weeks. Every time I lay down, the sheets end up sticking to me because I'm bathed in sweat. We could, quite possibly stay with my folks, but their AC is out too, and they live in a trailer (pronounced little tin box). I'm starting to loose it, big time.
Our AC is now OFF. There's nothing coming through at all. Again, the reason it's under 100 is because of the monsoon. The rain, which would cool things off considerably, has once again avoided my house. I bought the portable AC. I brought it home and unpacked it and spent a miserable hour assembling the components. It's hotter in the house than it is outside and just as humid. I'm bathed in sweat by the time I get it assembled and ready. I plug it in and glorious, wonderful life giving cold air rolls out of it. For three minutes. Then it pops the circuit breaker. OK, well, maybe that was an aberration. Reset breaker - pop again. Reset. Pop. Once more. Pop. Move it to the bedroom. It runs FINE! No problems. It might make sleeping a bit easier, but it doesn't help while in the rest of the house. I close the door to the bedroom and wait. No sleep, lots of running, massive pressures at work and the unrelenting heat is starting to get to me. Seeing the relief of a portable AC taken from me at the last minute is the last straw and I collapse into a blithering pile of sweat. While slicing an apple, I put a great gouge in my thumb. I run to the bathroom where we keep the band aids. I turn on the light, call for Chelsea to help with the gauze pad. She readies the pad, I pull the thumb from under the tap and POP goes the circuit breaker. The portable AC will run - only in the bedroom and only if the ALL the lights in the bathroom are off.
Date: 7/09/06 Temp (F): 1100 Sunday
We stock up on ice cream and frozen fruit. There's no point in showering, I'm beginning to see vultures in the living room. The dogs are now beginning to resent having to outside to go to the bathroom, and it's in the low 90s inside the house. From sheer desperation, I call HOTELS.COM to set something up in a motel that will take dogs. They have no openings for tonight so I set up for Monday and Tuesday night.
Date: 7/10/06 Temp (F): 1080 Monday
I call the local hotel to confirm the reservation. Yes, they take dogs. They take dogs UNDER 30 pounds. When I spoke to HOTELS.COM I specified that my babies aer around 50lbs, and was assured that it was OK. I was so affected by the heat and the stress, I literally did not remember what company I spoke to, but I had the confirmation number. I called Travelocity and all the other online people I could think of. The guy at the hotel told me it came up as PriceLine, and I called them, but the confirmation number wasn't one they'd ever heard of. The guy at the hotel assured me that the order had been placed incorrectly and that I wasn't going to be billed, as I had called and canceled. The second opinion AC people called and said they'd had a cancellation and would I like them to come over right away? More time off my vacation pool, but I was desperate. They came out and the man said, "Well, why didn't the other guy clean your coils?" Coils? I have coils? Apparently, we all have coils and it's considered "routine maintenance", which is a technical term for "not covered by insurance". The cost? Same at the uncovered compressor repair. This summer alone, we put the same amount of money into the AC as we originally paid for it. It takes the afternoon, but he pulls out enough dog hair from coils to fill a 7-11 thirstbuster, puts the unit back together and turns it on. Cold, wonderful air spills out of the grates and the house begins to cool off. in one hour it goes from 98 to 87. In the next hour, it goes from 87 to 95. The pipe isn't freezing, now but it's blowing hot air, like it's on FAN instead of COOL. It's seven PM, the AC people have all gone home for the evening and I discover that the emergency message system they have set up doesn't actually do anything, because no one checks it. It's another sleepless night.
Date: 7/11/06 Temp (F): 1110 Tuesday
I call the AC people first thing in the morning. It reaches 100 degrees here by 10AM. Ironically, the technician comes out at the same scheduled time we had set before. After an hour, he determines that when the last guy cleaned the coils, he pulled a wire while re-inserting the unit, causing a short, so that the board inside the AC never got a call to turn on the compressor from the thermostat. He snipped the wire, re-twisted it, and we have AIR!
OK, that's the air saga. Since then, although we've had cold air in the house every day (thankfully, as we've hit 1200 recently), I STILL haven't caught up on sleeping and fall asleep if I sit still for more than three minutes at a time.
I did get charged for the hotel. I couldn't remember the name of the man at the hotel I spoke to, and he didn't record my cancellation, but HOTELS.COM did reduce the charge to one night and gave me the balance in credit for the next time I actually DO go on vacation.
I brought the van in for repair on Friday AM as it was under extended warranty. It took all of Friday, all of Saturday and today ... the mechanic went home sick. So now I can't get it until tomorrow.
This weekend, I spent a great deal of the loan money on something that will, in no way, help to sell the house, but that's the next entry.
You asked for details.
Be careful what you ask for.
July fourth is a rather big deal in the US, the day of independence: hot dogs, flags and fireworks. Importantly, it's a day off too. This year, July 4th ended up on a Tuesday. I thought, what a great idea to take of the 3rd too, and have myself a three day weekend and only have to pay for one day of that from my vacation time.
As we plan to sell the house and move this year, we're not going to go on vacation, so burning up the days wasn't the big deal it might have been. To that point, and to the fact that we're trying to fix up the house to sell, I added Friday, June 30th giving me FIVE ENTIRE DAYS OFF!
In order to fix up the house, pay off outstanding loans, credit cards, etc we refinanced a little of the equity in the current house. This will come up later.
Date: 6/30/06 Temp (F): 1080 Friday
The A/C is still dead, though it keeps struggling. We can get down to 80, but only over night, it's 85+ during the afternoon inside the house. Any more than that and the AC pipes freeze. Figures they're keeping themselves cool, while we suffer. Yesterday, a saleswoman from Hoverround came out to see if Chelsea was eligible for one of their chairs, and the BIG question: would the insurance pay for it? She brought one with her and had Chelsea run it around the house. Our house is so small and crowded that by the time she got the thing moving, she ran out of room. This afternoon, a notary is coming by fill out the paperwork for the refinance.
Date: 7/01/06 Temp (F): 1100 Saturday
We were out late last night. One the notary left and we'd signed away the next 30 years, we went out to look at paint and other materials to fix up the house. The AC repair people hade been there on Tuesday, and
were closed for the weekend. They said we needed a new compressor.
Although the house insurance will cover the cost of the compressor, there's allot of money involved in things they WON'T cover, and it'll take a week to get the thing. Our real estate agent came by to suggest some things we could do to make the place a bit more sale-able. We spent the day cleaning the place for her inspection and about dropped from the heat and the exertion. We decided to wait on the materials until the loan comes through
Date: 7/02/06 Temp (F): 1030 Sunday
While in church, my stepfather collapses. Because he'd had a heart transplant a couple of years ago, the first thing they fear is rejection, therefore he's in the ER. My wife and I pack up and spend the afternoon in the ER, watching him be miserable. But - the ER is cold! I haven't been cold since February, and the temperature is making me sleepy. Fortunately, there is a limit of two visitors at a time in the ER, and me, my wife, my mother and my sister are all squeezed in there. I found a third chair, but I had to stand. It's what keeps me awake. I spend the entire day there waiting for them to open a bed and leave as he's taken to the ICU.
Dates: 7/03/06 & 7/04/06 Temp (F): 1060 (both days) Monday & Tuesday. I spend ALL DAY of BOTH days sitting in waiting rooms reading a book. My stepfather eventually gets transferred to the Mayo clinic, but so far, no one can figure out what's wrong with him. My productive weekend is shot. The benefit is, I'm out of the hot box I call home.
Date: 7/05/06 Temp (F): 960! Wednesday
It's only 96! That's because we've started what we call our Monsoon period, and though we didn't get much rain (our house didn't get any!), it's as humid here as it is in Minneapolis, so we're all still miserable. Chelsea has taken my mother to Mayo while I'm at work. The AC in the house is working much better, but that's only because it doesn't have so far to go from 96 degrees. Because Chelsea is with Mom, I have to take a few hours off work while the AC repair guy comes out ONCE AGAIN to "fix" the problem. This time, he's going to install the compressor at a premium price. This takes three hours or so, this gets taken further from my vacation time. Chelsea is notified about a death in her family.
Date: 7/06/06 Temp (F): 1040 Thursday
It's hot again, but the humidity hasn't let up. Now it's Phoenix hot
and Minnesota humid. The new compressor isn't helping. My stepfather
is still in Mayo, but they think he'll get out today or tomorrow.
Date: 7/07/06 Temp (F): 990 Friday
Sam's club has a portable AC. My windows open side to side, so the typical "in window" AC won't work, but this one is freestanding and has an exhaust hose that adapts to my window style. It's pricy, but less than we've spent on any single "repair" so far. So we decide to get it. The Sam's Club we go to doesn't have one in stock, the one that DOES have one is closed, so I have to get it tomorrow. I call the AC people again, he tells me that I need a brand new air conditioner. The full thing. He's going to talk to the insurance company to get them to pay for it, the same "uncovered price" applies. The insurance company wants a second opinion. They're sending someone else around - on Tuesday.
We got the loan money! It won't clear for another two weeks.
Date: 7/08/06 Temp (F): 1050 Saturday
I haven't slept in almost two weeks. Every time I lay down, the sheets end up sticking to me because I'm bathed in sweat. We could, quite possibly stay with my folks, but their AC is out too, and they live in a trailer (pronounced little tin box). I'm starting to loose it, big time.
Our AC is now OFF. There's nothing coming through at all. Again, the reason it's under 100 is because of the monsoon. The rain, which would cool things off considerably, has once again avoided my house. I bought the portable AC. I brought it home and unpacked it and spent a miserable hour assembling the components. It's hotter in the house than it is outside and just as humid. I'm bathed in sweat by the time I get it assembled and ready. I plug it in and glorious, wonderful life giving cold air rolls out of it. For three minutes. Then it pops the circuit breaker. OK, well, maybe that was an aberration. Reset breaker - pop again. Reset. Pop. Once more. Pop. Move it to the bedroom. It runs FINE! No problems. It might make sleeping a bit easier, but it doesn't help while in the rest of the house. I close the door to the bedroom and wait. No sleep, lots of running, massive pressures at work and the unrelenting heat is starting to get to me. Seeing the relief of a portable AC taken from me at the last minute is the last straw and I collapse into a blithering pile of sweat. While slicing an apple, I put a great gouge in my thumb. I run to the bathroom where we keep the band aids. I turn on the light, call for Chelsea to help with the gauze pad. She readies the pad, I pull the thumb from under the tap and POP goes the circuit breaker. The portable AC will run - only in the bedroom and only if the ALL the lights in the bathroom are off.
Date: 7/09/06 Temp (F): 1100 Sunday
We stock up on ice cream and frozen fruit. There's no point in showering, I'm beginning to see vultures in the living room. The dogs are now beginning to resent having to outside to go to the bathroom, and it's in the low 90s inside the house. From sheer desperation, I call HOTELS.COM to set something up in a motel that will take dogs. They have no openings for tonight so I set up for Monday and Tuesday night.
Date: 7/10/06 Temp (F): 1080 Monday
I call the local hotel to confirm the reservation. Yes, they take dogs. They take dogs UNDER 30 pounds. When I spoke to HOTELS.COM I specified that my babies aer around 50lbs, and was assured that it was OK. I was so affected by the heat and the stress, I literally did not remember what company I spoke to, but I had the confirmation number. I called Travelocity and all the other online people I could think of. The guy at the hotel told me it came up as PriceLine, and I called them, but the confirmation number wasn't one they'd ever heard of. The guy at the hotel assured me that the order had been placed incorrectly and that I wasn't going to be billed, as I had called and canceled. The second opinion AC people called and said they'd had a cancellation and would I like them to come over right away? More time off my vacation pool, but I was desperate. They came out and the man said, "Well, why didn't the other guy clean your coils?" Coils? I have coils? Apparently, we all have coils and it's considered "routine maintenance", which is a technical term for "not covered by insurance". The cost? Same at the uncovered compressor repair. This summer alone, we put the same amount of money into the AC as we originally paid for it. It takes the afternoon, but he pulls out enough dog hair from coils to fill a 7-11 thirstbuster, puts the unit back together and turns it on. Cold, wonderful air spills out of the grates and the house begins to cool off. in one hour it goes from 98 to 87. In the next hour, it goes from 87 to 95. The pipe isn't freezing, now but it's blowing hot air, like it's on FAN instead of COOL. It's seven PM, the AC people have all gone home for the evening and I discover that the emergency message system they have set up doesn't actually do anything, because no one checks it. It's another sleepless night.
Date: 7/11/06 Temp (F): 1110 Tuesday
I call the AC people first thing in the morning. It reaches 100 degrees here by 10AM. Ironically, the technician comes out at the same scheduled time we had set before. After an hour, he determines that when the last guy cleaned the coils, he pulled a wire while re-inserting the unit, causing a short, so that the board inside the AC never got a call to turn on the compressor from the thermostat. He snipped the wire, re-twisted it, and we have AIR!
OK, that's the air saga. Since then, although we've had cold air in the house every day (thankfully, as we've hit 1200 recently), I STILL haven't caught up on sleeping and fall asleep if I sit still for more than three minutes at a time.
I did get charged for the hotel. I couldn't remember the name of the man at the hotel I spoke to, and he didn't record my cancellation, but HOTELS.COM did reduce the charge to one night and gave me the balance in credit for the next time I actually DO go on vacation.
I brought the van in for repair on Friday AM as it was under extended warranty. It took all of Friday, all of Saturday and today ... the mechanic went home sick. So now I can't get it until tomorrow.
This weekend, I spent a great deal of the loan money on something that will, in no way, help to sell the house, but that's the next entry.
You asked for details.
Be careful what you ask for.
posted by methatiam | 4:41 PM
|
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