Air Conditioner

I'm still working on the five questions from Dick, just in case you're wondering. My house has been entirely too hot to focus on anything like that.

Last week, when we had yet another Texas storm, the outside unit of my air conditioner stopped working. Of course, I didn't notice it until the next morning when I woke up in a pool of my own sweat. I don't know if the storm had anything to do with it, but it seems too coincidental to me not to mention it.

Anyway, I made an online claim with my home warranty company and miserably (but patiently) waited 48 hours for them to call. On Friday, I couldn't wait any longer and called. The claim had never been received. So of course, I had to wait all weekend as I roasted in my own house, and called the company back today because I couldn't imagine lasting one more night in 90-degree heat. Luckily, the contractors were able to make it in less than two hours from when I called.

Before they got there, I was sure to clean as much as I could. Despite the fact that my house has been miserably hot, I have been cleaning a little every day to keep it under control. However, today I made sure everything was spotless. Floors, kitchen, dusting, bathroom, bedroom - done. And trust me - no dog hair on the floor is a serious measure of successful cleaning.

So when the doorbell rang, Lewis and Winston (my two barkers) went crazy. All the girls just sat there and wagged their tails, so I put the boys away and answered the door. When I greeted the two men, they both backed up when they saw Daisy. I assured them she was friendly as she calmly stood there looking up at them. But I could already sense the judgement. Who is this crazy lady with GodKnowsHowMany dogs?

I led them outside and showed them the unit. One of the men, covered head to toe in tattoos, told me with as many dogs as you have, it probably just needs a cleaning. He replaced some part and made a comment about how much dog hair was in there. I poked my head inside and quite honestly, I've seen more dog hair in my computer tower. But I didn't justify anything, I just waited for them to be done. The tattoo man then went into my bedroom where the inside unit is. He explained with as many dogs as you have, you should be changing the air filter once a week. And with as many dogs as you have, you should let me charge you $250 to acid wash this unit, which your warranty company won't cover (of course).

Argh. I'm hard enough on myself when it comes to my house. I take a lot of pride in my home, and quite honestly, if I didn't tell you I had dogs, I'm fairly confident you wouldn't be able to tell when walking through my front door. But I always dread when repair people come over. I never want to be that person that causes them to go back to the office and say, "Hey boss, you'll never believe this story about the crazy lady with five dogs! Her AC was so nasty..."

Oh well. I'm going to go watch the temperature on my thermostat drop.