Friday 5.5

1. Weird week though I'm thrilled it's almost over. Monday after school, I was busy almost the entirety of the day from the moment I got home from school (and of course was busy in school) until I went to bed at night. It was one thing after another and not all bad things just things to keep me busy.  I was in bed and asleep but was awoken abruptly at 11:30 pm. My noise machine has an alarm clock (that I don't use- I use my phone) and it's unfortunately easily to inadvertently turn on the alarm feature. So, I accidentally turned it on and I guess it defaulted to ringing at 11:30 pm. So annoying- thankfully I fell back asleep- it could have been it for me sleep wise. The next day when I thought about it some more, the alarm ringing at 11:30 was the perfect capstone to the day. Just one thing after the other nonstop. 

2. Part of Monday's busyness entailed an unplanned, rather unpleasant visit by a guy from our HVAC company. Our air conditioner was working but we noticed that it did this odd thing where it would run for about thirty seconds and then turn off for about thirty seconds, on then off, on then off yet the house was staying cool. Well, something didn't sound right, quite literally, so I called the company from which we purchased a brand new HVAC system less than two years ago.

This young man came out to the house (I know he's young because he told me when he graduated HS)- he'd been to the house before in an unsuccessful attempt to get the heat working properly when it went out of our new HVAC system. 

He diagnosed the problem and that was that our AC unit was almost entirely devoid of the coolant. The bad news was that coolant is not covered in the "comprehensive" warranty that we have and it was going to be expensive to add because it takes hours(?) to fill and labor costs are not included in our warranty. Fantastic! Since it seemed evident that a leak caused the coolant to dissipate, he offered two outrageously priced options for figuring out from where the leak came, for fixing the leak and for providing new coolant to the system. As in, I had to clarify if the quotes were in the hundreds of dollars or thousands. It was the latter. He promised to be out the next day to fix the problem.

The next day, I arrived home from school and I saw an HVAC work van in front of our house. I went around to our backyard where our AC unit is located. I saw the young man from the day before as well as another man from the HVAC company whom I'd never met before. This man stepped forward to greet me and the first thing he said to me was this: "Ma'am, I have Tourettes syndrome."

Well. Ok. I wasn't expecting that to be the first thing out of the man's mouth but as we conversed I realized it was probably wise on his part to mention it right away. The thought would have crossed my mind that he was under the influence of something he shouldn't be; having Tourettes certainly explained some aberrational linguistic sounds.

We started talking about the issue/potential solutions/and he talked in some HVAC jargon that I did not understand. Apparently, when I talked, I used my hands (I know I have that tendency...) because he said to me, "Ma'am, I'm mostly deaf and I really need to read your lips to know what you're saying. I can't read your lips when you are using your hands when you speak."

Well. Ok. The thing is, sure I move my arms/hands when I talk. But it's not like I placed them in front of my lips. I did/do the typical arm/hand motion when talking which does not entail the arms/hands being placed in front of lips. Be that as it may, I did try to stop using my hands so that he could read my lips.

Another line from him, "Ma'am, I'm going to step back into the shade because I'm hot standing here in the sun."

Well. Ok. That makes sense. He was wearing long sleeves (and it looked like a heavy fabric long sleeved shirt not like a long sleeved t shirt) and it was 85 degrees out. So he moved so that he could stand in the shade of the area near our HVAC unit. Finally, he said something really positive.

"Ma'am, the leak was caused by shoddy installation. I won't charge you a dime for adding coolant and finding the leak."

Well, Ok! Free sounded better than thousands of dollars. However, I will believe it when I see it. Then he said something that was not really positive.

"Ma'am, I don't have the part that I need to fix this.  I will have to order it." (Oh, dear goodness-, this company has not produced the part they need to fix our HEAT from back in JANUARY- now we need them to order a part for our AC?????). He assured me that the part will come in quickly. Hmmm, back in January, the part for the heat was supposed to come in within a day or two. Late May and it's been excuse after excuse, followed by apologies, followed by more excuses, followed by assurances the part is coming soon, followed by excuses, followed by apologies and so the cycle has progressed (maybe not precisely in that order but the gist is accurate).

Spoiler alert by the end week the part was not in- SHOCKING, I know!!!! Fortunately the temp took a sharp turn for the temperate and being devoid of both central heat and air is not terribly discomforting.  

3. All good things must come to an end (apparently for us that includes central heat and AC but I digress) and Abby's visit came to an end. She left early in the week, destination Georgia for a good friend's wedding. Her friend got married on a Tuesday morning to save money... The bride and groom eschewed their parents' help in paying for the wedding and so having it at a bit of an unconventional day and time helped them save money. Props to the younins' for paying for everything themselves. I do like to save money but I will be thrilled to help pay for our childrens' wedding (should an event like that be in their futures) if it meas that the date and time are more traditional ones for weddings. Abby said the ceremony was very nice and the whole event didn't last too long. The couple was married which is really the most important part.

4. The weather took some bizarre turns this week with extremely high temperatures and then quite cold ones. We also had a lot of rain which my plants need so I'm not complaining. The return of cooler temps were also good for our unfortunate HVAC situation. 

5. The biggest news of the week for me is that the albatross around my neck aka this long term sub job is coming to end this week due to the last day of school being on Friday (today). Last Sunday evening, the name of the teacher for whom I've been subbing  popped up on my phone. She was sending me a text message. With bated breath, I clicked on the message icon. I'd heard she was thinking about coming back to school for the last few days. She'd originally planned to be gone from spring break until the end of the school year. But her bundle of joy was on his own timeline and his timeline was not being born during spring break or later but rather before spring break.  Meaning the teacher began her maternity leave earlier than she'd planned (and it was one reason the job was as challenging as it was- she and I had planned to meet the day he was born to go over more details and she was going to answer more questions that I had). One of the teachers had told me she was considering coming back to school for the last few days of the year to make up for her leave starting earlier than she'd anticipated. I was hoping that she'd come back early and that is why when her name popped up on my phone, I was hoping it was a text from her telling me she was coming back on Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday or Friday and I wouldn't be needed the day(s) she would be in school. Alas, the message stated that she needed something from the classroom and wondered if she could come in and get it. Well, of course she could! It was her classroom. Shoot, no early summer break for me! Oh well, it was nice to hold onto that dream for a short while. And of course whether the sub job ended early or not, it was going to end for sure at the end of the school year. TODAY!!!! 

5.5 Thursday was more of a doozy than Monday was busy wise and I am in a state of complete yet happy shock at the thought that next week at this time, the hours of the days will all be mine. I can resume being a better wife, mom, sister, gardener, house cleaner, exerciser, reader, etc.