waiting for the AC blow (Godot)

The compressor went out on the heat pump right at the start of the heat wave weeks ago. Not realizing what the problem was, we waited a sweaty day to see if it would heal itself, then spent a few steamy days poking at various bits of apparatus to see if that would cure it. Finally, DH visited out neighbor who makes a living working on heating and cooling systems. He's a good neighbor. He came over, pulled things apart, used complex power tools, got to demonstrate his mechanical acuity, and diagnosed the problem. And wonder of wonders, when I showed him the paperwork, he pointed out that we are still under warranty!! And all this for just one cold beer! This is a GOOD neighbor!!

So I called the heat pump people and a week later they were able to send out someone to officialy check it out. Someone had to hang around and wait till he showed, and I work part-time, so it was my day that got curtailed. Oh well, there are other days to run errands. I can always feed the kitties canned tuna if we run out of cat-food. (see them jump for joy)

Then, after the nice young man came, pulled the heat-pump apart, and diagnosed exactly the same as our neighbor, we had to put in an order for a compressor. And wait. The heat wave has blown out a LOT of heat pumps in the US. The compressors are now at a premium. and once it arrived, the installers were all busy installing other people's pumps, and we had to wait in line. We were scheduled for sometime in September. But Wednesday afternoon we got a call that there had been a cancellation and if one of us could be home on Thursday, they could install our compressor. Just because I'm not working that day, it doesn't mean I had planned to be quietly sitting in the house with my hands folded. But I re-scheduled my plans and begged the heat-pump people to come. I was still in my bathrobe when the nice young man arrived at 7:45. I had to be in the house while he worked, and since it was a moderately cool day, I decided to catch up on three months of ironing. As a Texan friend of mine once said, "Ah ain't an arhnin' woman."

My spritzer bottle ceased to spritz but could only dribble pathetically when I squeezed both trigger and soft-sided bottle simultaneously. So there was a brief ironing hiatus while I emptied my emptiest spray bottle (Febreeze. The couch, chairs, rug and closet now smell springtime fresh. As do all the shirts, skirts and linen napkins I spritzed with the water-filled bottle thereafter.) I ironed till my legs ached, sat for lunch, then stood and ironed some more. I finished the job!! This is the first time I have had nothing needing to be ironed in - well, I don't remember when we used those linen napkins. Christmas? Thanksgiving? I am SOOO pleased and proud! And we will, by god, wear polyester-blend knits for a few days!!

Oh, and after 4 1/2 houurs, the heat pump got fixed too. So we have freshly pressed clothes and a cool house. It was a good morning's work!

DH likes a cooler house than I do. Luckily I finished the white harlequin sweater last night. Tres cozy, and it looks really, really nice. Too damn bad that Blogger won't load my pictures. Bad blogger!