Swelter

My beloved Sis once wrote a short story with this title.  I never thought *we* would be sweltering.

Our 2007-installed Trane AC compressor has never worked right.  When we moved in here last year, the previous tenants had never changed the filters and they had three cats —-> quilts over the air returns.  The unit froze up the first month we were here and we’ve had problems with the stupid thing ever since.  It works fine up to a certain point — so the three technicians we’ve had out couldn’t find anything wrong with it.  But as the daily temps creep higher, the unit runs and run and… runs…while the inside temp creeps higher too. 

My May electric bill was $300.  *dies*  Last week, the unit ran non-stop and the temp still reached 84 degrees in the house.  How much do you think my June bill is going to be?  *dies again*

On the bright side, the problem worsened enough that a tech finally identified the problem:  the compressor.  It’s not out completely, because the unit would still manage to cool the house over night, but by 11 am the next day, it would begin to overheat and shut off.  The unit is a Trane, supposedly one of the best in the biz, right?  Can’t stop a Trane.  *snort*  Well evidently you can’t FIX a Trane, either, because they can’t get a compressor until the week of July 21st.

*dies again*

And of course they told us to turn the unit completely off before the whole thing blew up.  So now we can’t even cool the house off at night.  Did I mention that both That Man and I work out of the house?  At least he’s gone half a day or so gathering information for his job, but I’m stuck here ALL DAY with no air.  Of course the heat index has been over 100 degrees this week with heat advisories.  We rented a window unit and bought another, but that’s only two rooms moderately cooled with three children and two adults needing sleeping and working space.   (Please don’t tell me how bad these two units are going to run up my bill even more.)

Oh, and my office is of course in the attic over the garage, the hottest part of the house. 

So I’m working at the kitchen table right now, dreading that sauna of an office.  I can do a lot of my work away from my desk but I have to have my laptop and I need quiet for my phone-call meetings.  Once That Man is home, we can’t both be in the same room because he’s on the phone a lot and it’s just too loud and distracting.  So I’m going to have to climb those stairs eventually.

And swelter.

I keep reminding myself that pioneers never had air conditioning.  Lynn Viehl wrote a book in a hurricane on a PDA.  Surely I can survive one month in MO with drippy humidity and 90+ degree temps while I write my little holiday novella.  Right?  Just don’t be surprised by all the ice, snow, and cold in the setting — that’s my wishful thinking for cool air!