When it rains

 A couple of posts ago I told you about our upstairs AC going out. That saga has been nothing short of a nightmare. 

Just about anyone who knows me will tell you I am not an angry person by nature. I am also extremely loyal, especially when I am treated well. If you provide a service to me, and you do it well, and you treat me well, I'm likely to be your customer for life. 

Unfortunately, that has not been the case with the provider of our HVAC services. They have lost a good customer, and the proprietor does not seem to care. 

Because I have become uncharacteristically angry, Wife has taken over communicating with this guy. 

I will leave it at that, because that's not what this post is supposed to be about. 

Rather, I am going to tell you about another mishap, this one being an act of nature. 

Wife and I were sitting in our game room late Saturday afternoon, watching a Braves game, when it started raining. We heard a few distant claps of thunder. Then, we heard a huge pop, and saw lightning out the window. 

Our electricity went out for a split second. 

The pop was loud enough to startle each of us. Wife got up and looked out the window. She called me over. 

Apparently, the pop we heard was the big oak tree in our yard being hit by lightning. When we were able to get out and look more closely, we saw bark that had flown all around, in the yard and into the street. 

Will we lose the tree? That remains to be seen. I am told we should wait and see what happens. My yard guy, not an arborist, says I'll know by next spring. He also said if I want more immediate information, I can retain an arborist. 

I think for now I can wait. 

Pretty crazy, don't you think? 

Coast to coast baseball

With grandson Hank at loanDepot Park in Miami

As regular visitors here know, I go on (at least) an annual baseball trip with my sons and son-in-law, working toward visiting every MLB park, a goal set by my son Daniel when he was eight (he's now 37). 

Months ago, we decided on Los Angeles and Dodger Stadium this year. We would leave early the morning of Friday, August 11, see games Friday and Saturday nights, and return Sunday. 

With that trip planned, during a visit home earlier this summer, son David proposed a "bonus" trip to Miami to see the Marlins play at home. He had some flight credit that was "burning a hole in his pocket" and he and I could knock off another park (Daniel had already visited this one). 

I initially resisted, but I glanced at my Southwest Airlines points and saw I had enough for a free flight, so I thought, why not? 

So, two weeks prior to L.A., I flew to Miami. Daniel brought his five-year-old son, Hank, who is OBSESSED with baseball. So, this trip consisted of Daniel, David, Hank and me. I flew down Friday night, saw games Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and flew home Sunday night. Didn't even take a day off work.

I will probably write more about this on my Substack with more detail. I am lucky to have had a coast-to-coast baseball summer. Needless to say, a good time was had by all. 

With my best guys at Dodger Stadium

Hot air

 Wife and I have rather met each other coming and going lately. 

With her being retired, she's always up for an invitation to take short trips with friends or go visit the grands. 

I, on the other hand, tend to keep the home fires burning and welcome her back home. 

Last week she was gone from Tuesday to Saturday. While she was gone, I made a quick trip to Memphis, about three hours away, for a family funeral. I drove over Friday and attended the funeral and a gathering of family members afterwards. (As an aside, there were the typical comments about how we should not limit our visits to these types of occasions, knowing that is what we will continue to do.)

I arrived back home Saturday morning. Wife was due home Saturday afternoon, and we had a wedding to attend that night. 

I had a few things to do when I got home, and did not go upstairs, where all our bedrooms are located, until early afternoon. When I did so, I noticed it was a bit warmer there than downstairs. 

I then realized the upstairs air conditioning was not working. 

I performed the usual tasks of turning it off, then turning it back on, checking the air filter (which I had just changed a few days prior) and walking out to inspect the unit outside. 

With all of that done and finding nothing I could interpret as the problem, I sent a text message to the guy who installed this upstairs unit in May, 2022. That's right, this unit that had stopped working is only 15 months old. 

"Is it froze up?" he asked in his return message. 

I patiently asked how in the world I would know that, and he sent me out to the unit to take a picture. 

Nope, it wasn't "froze up." 

I won't go into all the other things he told me to do and pictures he had me take. He essentially instructed me to turn everything off and let it rest. 

Because we had had an unseasonable mild spell a few days last week, it was not terrible Saturday night. Wife and I were able to open windows and turn on fans and sleep comfortably. 

Sunday, with still no upstairs air, I texted the AC guy again, the guy who answered the number posted on my unit that says "24-hour emergency number," which I hoped meant he would get himself over here. 

He said he would be here on Monday. 

He arrived Monday morning and went up into the attic to inspect things. Less than an hour later, he informed me he would have to get a part -- a "blower brain" that had shorted out. "Give me a couple of hours and let me see if I can get it," he said. 

Two hours later I received this text message from him: "They have to order the motor. It could be up to five days."

At that point I called him and said that was certainly not good news. He agreed, but said he had checked all his distributors, and this was the best he could do. He assured me it was under warranty (uh, yeah). 

I asked if he had any suggestions for temporary relief. 

"Get a window unit," he said. 

I then proceeded to tell him, as soon as he got that part, he should get over here forthwith, no matter the time, no matter the day. 

Tomorrow morning it will have been 48 hours since the guy left here asking me to give him two hours. 

Wife and I have each taken a downstairs sofa for sleeping. With my office being upstairs, I am working in the dining room. 

We go upstairs in the evenings and early mornings to take care of necessities such as showering. 

First world pains, I get that. But it's hot, folks.  We're talking mid to high 90s. It's supposed to hit 100 by the end of the week. 

Hoping for relief soon. I'll be texting and calling "the guy" on Day 5 if I've not heard from him.