It is day three of no a/c. Day three of autumnal equinox. Day three of sleeping stark raving maddeningly naked as I shopped around for a decent price on a condenser coil.
In South Texas, the fear of car or home air conditioning failure in the dog days of perpetual summer rival only the fear of no WiFi. It’s not something you plan for beyond the biannual maintenance and filter changes. But it lurks, finding inopportune times to strike. Visitors coming into town? Vacation days? Mounting bills from family expenses? Count on the a/c to fail. For the past three nights, my only source of comfort has come only from fans. A symphony of them in fact. The box fan at the window to push out the humid air. A portable fan at my feet and a misting fan near my face. The ceiling fan above me, a way to hypnotize me into sleep.
More than the heat radiating from my body, it was the work of getting an a/c serviced that had me sweating. It was a warranty call on my barely 4 year old system. But wait! I didn’t have warranty on labor…and although I am saving $3000 because of the warranty, I will have to pay just that much to have it installed. Weird. Because the system installed brand new was only $8,000. Had I not registered the unit under the warranty, I would have had to shell out $6,000 for a new coil…or go the economical route and buy a whole new system.
It’s a vicious cycle this a/c business. It will inevitably happen again, but I will be ready with my symphony of only fans.