I think we’re finally past that time of year when we need the heater and air conditioner on the same day.
Last weekend, it cooled down after the rain went through. We went to a baseball game to celebrate a family member’s birthday, and I was prepared. I wore long sleeves, a top over that and a jacket. I made my husband take a jacket, and he put it on when the wind started whipping.
My older son, wearing shorts and a short-sleeved T-shirt, asked if we were dressed for January. My husband and I were quite comfortable in the shade.
I am known for being cold-natured, and I always have a jacket, or four, in my car. My co-workers don’t share my temperature gauge, so when they turn the air on, I put on more layers.
Two of us agreed it was hot in the office on an 80-degree day last week, but when we tried to turn on the air conditioner, nothing happened. I used the same approach that I do with the TV remote control — just keep pushing buttons — but nothing happened.
It got to 81 degrees in the office, and I was almost a little uncomfortable. My co-workers were about to spontaneously combust. Then while working on a story, I got my adrenaline pumping, and I was on fire. I considered sticking my head in the mini-fridge, but I went home instead.
It rained one day, and it was cool, so we didn’t suffer. The next day, things heated up, and the nice repairman came. We had three repairmen in three days. Problems were diagnosed; a part was ordered.
It climbed to 80 in the office one of those days, and the technician was sweating. We started swapping air-conditioning-problem stories. He said his wife called one Friday and said their air conditioning wasn’t working. When he got home, he said, the unit was cooling. He told her she was just having hot flashes. The next day, the air conditioner stopped working. Then it started working. The man said that Monday, he got a new air conditioner.
He also recalled a customer whose air conditioner went out, and it was about 95 in the person’s house. The repairman felt so bad he took them a window unit to use over the weekend.
One August, our air conditioner went out. For some reason, we had to wait until the next day for the repairman. It was about 110 degrees outside, 150 inside. It was unbearable even for me. I started calling hotels, but they were all full because of a college event, etc.
One hotel clerk said she had one room that had been reserved, but if the people didn’t come by 10 p.m., she would let us have the room. She called back after 10 to say it was available, and we grabbed our toothbrushes and pajamas and were there in minutes.
Earlier this week during the thunderstorms, we just opened the front door to our office as the air-conditioning saga continued. By the time I left for the day, I was wearing two jackets.
I don’t know when our air conditioner will be fixed, but I’ll be fine until about August.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or at tkeith@arkansasonline.com.