I May Look Old, But At Least I'm Cool

I have bad feet and never walk around the house barefoot. It seems that I miss out on clues that there are problems because of that. I tend to miss things like cat, and dog, vomit on the floor and leaky toilets. Last Thursday's problem started like so many others, with the sudden screeching, and yelping of Mark as he stepped, barefoot, into some mysterious liquid that had spread across the floor. This time it was the air-conditioner. More precisely, the air handler unit in the hall closet was spewing water like a little mini Niagara Falls, and Mark alerted me by running through the house squealing in horror.

It seems that I neglected to have the air-conditioner serviced this past winter. Now I am on my knees cleaning the gunk, that resembles wet cotton balls, out of the AC pump, scooping the slimy stuff into a bucket while Chandler eagerly tries to intercept it. When I finish that part of the job, I have to then disconnect the pipe that delivers the condensation to the pump, put my mouth on one end, and blow the crud that has collected back up into the AC handler. Blowing into the pipe is the quickest and easiest way to clear it, but the risk of blowback means you have to be quick about getting the business end of that pipe out of your mouth. If you leave it in your mouth too long after you feel it free up, you will get a mouthful of nasty water and probably contract Legionnaires disease.

I was quite proud of my skill at handling that repair, and I figured I had saved myself some money by doing it myself. Two hours later, Fat Kitty jumped up into my lap with soaking wet paws. I checked the hallway, and damn, it was filled with half an inch of water. Something about my repair job had gone awry. This time I called a professional, and after he dismantled the equipment and cleaned it, all seems fine. Unfortunately he was a good talker. I am now on the hook for two thousand dollars and I am getting a new air-conditioning system installed today. The old unit was fifteen years old, and in danger of total failure at any time, so I guess it is a good idea, but damn, that was the money I was saving to have the bags under my eyes fixed.