Plan B

It's much cooler here today. In fact, the house was only 75 degrees earlier instead of 88 degrees. I was actually considering a sweatshirt when I returned from the appointment with Chicken Little, my financial advisor.

The first guy never showed up last night to get his cash to buy the equipment for my new heating and cooling systems. I was distressed. My friend Christine had offered for me to call a friend of hers, but I said no, I was all set....so I contacted Christine and said, hey, I need that number after all....I called, and second guy came out today.

I figured that meant another week without a/c, but the guy has his own business and at least I would be dealing with a licensed, insured business instead of a guy working for a licensed, insured business but on his own time.

His eyes are about the color of this font. Very nice, polite, got along well with the dogs, the cat even came out, he seemed trustworthy. He played with the thermostat, went outside, went in the basement, and told me he thought it might be something with the thermostat. I just stared at him in shock.

We went back upstairs, and he got out his little toy to check the voltage - I forget what that tool is called - voltmeter? -and I walked out of the room for a minute. The next thing I remember is hearing my air conditioning kick in. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry.

For almost no money at all, I have an invoice that says I have working units that need no repairs at this time and do not need to be replaced. My vents are readusted, the humidifier pan is cleaned, the thermostat is reprogrammed (I think he was making himself useful to justify his service cost and labor bill), and I am all set.

Two minutes later I hear a knock at the door. There was the first guy. He had lost my phone number but wanted to be sure we were still good for Saturday. I assumed he also wanted his money. I said thanks, but no thanks. Everything is running fine now.

In his defense, I did say I thought the unit was dead. I had myself done everything the second guy did to the thermostat, with no luck. I asked him what he did, and he explained it to me step by step, and I had done the same exact thing several times.

Karma, I guess. Who knows? It could die again tomorrow. I sure hope not.