Our air conditioning went out over the weekend. July 10th, in central Florida, temperatures soaring into the nineties and there we were with no a/c in the house. It made for a very tense weekend. With the excessive heat and the famous Florida humidity, we were all on edge and short tempered. To add to our irritability, we just had the same thing happen last summer and we have yet to pay off the credit card bill from having that repair work done.
It is now Wednesday and I sit here in front of my computer next to the thermostat that reads 88 degrees. Yes, that is right, 4 days later it is still not fixed! To make matters worse, we had someone look at the broken unit and it turns out the problem this summer is exactly the same as last year. We paid $600 to replace a broken part last year only to have the new replacement part go out again this year. The bill this time, will be another $600. Like I said, Tim and I have been a little frustrated the last few days.
To make the situation bearable, Tim ran out Saturday night and bought a window air conditioner. Of course, that, too, went on the credit card but it has helped tremendously and the kids have loved camping out on the family room floor, sleeping in sleeping bags in the only cool, comfortable place in the house. So, we have found a way to beat the heat (sort of) but in doing so, we spent even more money that we hadn't budgeted for. Ironically, we have been trying to get a handle on our credit card debt. We vowed to work on paying the credit cards off and yet here we are adding to the mounting debt and hating it, but feeling like we have no other choice. Home ownership seems to be an unending cycle of repairs and financial responsibilities and things falling apart around us. I guess we should feel lucky to have a roof over our heads, a safe place to raise our children, and, at least, one room that is not sweltering hot and humid but there are moments I feel anything but lucky.
The good news is the a/c repair man just showed up. Tonight we should all be back in our own cozy beds with cool air blowing steadily out of the vents, making Florida a nice place to live again. As I lay down to sleep tonight, I will try not to think about the next credit card bill or the possibility of going through this all over again next summer, and just be glad we have the wonderful blessing of air conditioning once again.
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