Yet Another Expense

My central a/c unit crapped out on me. It's still a sultry 90 degrees
where I live with 88% humidity. I just paid a technician $$$ to tell me
the fan in the attic will have to be replaced. It's a holiday weekend;
Monday is Labor Day in the US. The part won't be available until
Tuesday. Meanwhile I'm melting. I do not tolerate heat well at all.

I have the ceiling fans going and I have some regular oscillating fans.
I expect I'm going to have to take cool showers several times a day
for the next couple of days.

What ticks me off is I had the entire central heat/air unit replaced in
2010. It shouldn't break down this quickly! The parts are covered
under a 10 year warranty (8 years left) but I still have to pay for the
technician to come out.

Meanwhile, I am worried about Persia and the heat. When the tech showed
up she was sitting in the living room. He saw her and said, "Hi,
kitty!" She looked at him, wide-eyed, and he said, "She looks like
she's going to bolt." Sure enough, she ran and hid under the couch.
She doesn't need the added stress of strangers traipsing in and out.
(Neither do I.)

I don't want Persia to be uncomfortable. After all, she comes with a
built-in fur coat I can always take my clothes off (I'll close the
blinds!) but she can't. It's going to get terribly hot in here in the
next couple of days. I hope this won't affect her too much. I'll make
sure her water is very cool. And she sleeps in a room which is closed
off by window shades; the sun doesn't go around to that side of the
house until late.

Damn house repairs... and these people wonder why I can't afford to be a
member of their "club".

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message ...

My central a/c unit crapped out on me. It's still a sultry 90 degrees
where I live with 88% humidity. I just paid a technician $$$ to tell me
the fan in the attic will have to be replaced. It's a holiday weekend;
Monday is Labor Day in the US. The part won't be available until
Tuesday. Meanwhile I'm melting. I do not tolerate heat well at all.

I have the ceiling fans going and I have some regular oscillating fans.
I expect I'm going to have to take cool showers several times a day
for the next couple of days.

What ticks me off is I had the entire central heat/air unit replaced in
2010. It shouldn't break down this quickly! The parts are covered
under a 10 year warranty (8 years left) but I still have to pay for the
technician to come out.

Meanwhile, I am worried about Persia and the heat. When the tech showed
up she was sitting in the living room. He saw her and said, "Hi,
kitty!" She looked at him, wide-eyed, and he said, "She looks like
she's going to bolt." Sure enough, she ran and hid under the couch.
She doesn't need the added stress of strangers traipsing in and out.
(Neither do I.)

I don't want Persia to be uncomfortable. After all, she comes with a
built-in fur coat I can always take my clothes off (I'll close the
blinds!) but she can't. It's going to get terribly hot in here in the
next couple of days. I hope this won't affect her too much. I'll make
sure her water is very cool. And she sleeps in a room which is closed
off by window shades; the sun doesn't go around to that side of the
house until late.

Damn house repairs... and these people wonder why I can't afford to be a
member of their "club".

Jill

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you have a large box fan (in addition to the oscillating fans)? Years
ago, my AC went out. I live in East Texas, and this happened during the
hottest part of the summer (naturally!). I was still renting at that time,
so it took several days before it was repaired. I had a large box fan that
I carried from room to room. My cat actually followed me around to wherever
I carried the fan and then would lie down in front of it! I also put a
large bowl of ice cubes in front of the fan occasionally, and that did have
a cooling effect. I thought it helped, even though I probably added still
more moisture to the air. Just like your description, it was very hot and
with very high humidity. The cat I had at that time was about 16 years old.

MaryL

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
My central a/c unit crapped out on me. It's still a sultry 90 degrees
where I live with 88% humidity. I just paid a technician $$$ to tell me
the fan in the attic will have to be replaced. It's a holiday weekend;
Monday is Labor Day in the US. The part won't be available until Tuesday.
Meanwhile I'm melting. I do not tolerate heat well at all.

I have the ceiling fans going and I have some regular oscillating fans. I
expect I'm going to have to take cool showers several times a day for the
next couple of days.

What ticks me off is I had the entire central heat/air unit replaced in
2010. It shouldn't break down this quickly! The parts are covered under
a 10 year warranty (8 years left) but I still have to pay for the
technician to come out.

Meanwhile, I am worried about Persia and the heat. When the tech showed
up she was sitting in the living room. He saw her and said, "Hi, kitty!"
She looked at him, wide-eyed, and he said, "She looks like she's going to
bolt." Sure enough, she ran and hid under the couch. She doesn't need the
added stress of strangers traipsing in and out. (Neither do I.)

I don't want Persia to be uncomfortable. After all, she comes with a
built-in fur coat I can always take my clothes off (I'll close the
blinds!) but she can't. It's going to get terribly hot in here in the
next couple of days. I hope this won't affect her too much. I'll make
sure her water is very cool. And she sleeps in a room which is closed off
by window shades; the sun doesn't go around to that side of the house
until late.

Damn house repairs... and these people wonder why I can't afford to be a
member of their "club".

Jill

I'm really sorry about that. One would think you had enough problems. I
can thoroughly sympathize about the air conditioning. We've had
temperatures in the mid-90s. although the humidity wasn't too bad. My air
conditioner quit on me, but I was able to get it fixed fairly quickly.
Apparently I have a leak somewhere in the system, and it was extremely low
on coolant. It cost $465 to add the needed coolant and a sealant. That was
about 10 days ago, and it's still working fine, so I'm hoping the sealant
worked. I was told there was a 50-50 chance it would.

I hope they can fix it quickly on Tuesday, and that you don't have any more
problems.

Joy

On 9/2/2012 2:28 PM, MaryL wrote:


"jmcquown" wrote in message ...

My central a/c unit crapped out on me. It's still a sultry 90 degrees
where I live with 88% humidity. I just paid a technician $$$ to tell me
the fan in the attic will have to be replaced. It's a holiday weekend;
Monday is Labor Day in the US. The part won't be available until
Tuesday. Meanwhile I'm melting. I do not tolerate heat well at all.

I have the ceiling fans going and I have some regular oscillating fans.
I expect I'm going to have to take cool showers several times a day
for the next couple of days.

I don't want Persia to be uncomfortable. After all, she comes with a
built-in fur coat I can always take my clothes off (I'll close the
blinds!) but she can't. It's going to get terribly hot in here in the
next couple of days. I hope this won't affect her too much. I'll make
sure her water is very cool.

Jill

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you have a large box fan (in addition to the oscillating fans)? Years
ago, my AC went out. I live in East Texas, and this happened during the
hottest part of the summer (naturally!). I was still renting at that time,
so it took several days before it was repaired. I had a large box fan that
I carried from room to room. My cat actually followed me around to
wherever I carried the fan and then would lie down in front of it! I also put a
large bowl of ice cubes in front of the fan occasionally, and that did have
a cooling effect. I thought it helped, even though I probably added still
more moisture to the air. Just like your description, it was very hot and
with very high humidity. The cat I had at that time was about 16 years
old.

MaryL


Ah ha! You made a "swamp cooler" I don't have a box fan. I had one
in TN but I'm not sure what happened to it.

This house has ceiling fans in every room. I have an oscillating fan
(of course it doesn't have to oscillate, it's pointed right at me) on
the floor next to my desk. I also have one on a table in the bedroom.
I still won't be comfortable for a few days but this is better than
nothing. I never would have survived as one of those genteel (or not so
genteel!) southern ladies in the days before air conditioning

I had to go to the store to buy more FF for Persia... any excuse to get
in the air conditioned car for a few minutes I'm melting! Persia
doesn't seem to care one way or the other.

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
My central a/c unit crapped out on me. It's still a sultry 90 degrees
where I live with 88% humidity. I just paid a technician $$$ to tell me
the fan in the attic will have to be replaced. It's a holiday weekend;
Monday is Labor Day in the US. The part won't be available until Tuesday.
Meanwhile I'm melting. I do not tolerate heat well at all.

I have the ceiling fans going and I have some regular oscillating fans. I
expect I'm going to have to take cool showers several times a day for the
next couple of days.

What ticks me off is I had the entire central heat/air unit replaced in
2010. It shouldn't break down this quickly! The parts are covered under
a 10 year warranty (8 years left) but I still have to pay for the
technician to come out.

Meanwhile, I am worried about Persia and the heat. When the tech showed
up she was sitting in the living room. He saw her and said, "Hi, kitty!"
She looked at him, wide-eyed, and he said, "She looks like she's going to
bolt." Sure enough, she ran and hid under the couch. She doesn't need the
added stress of strangers traipsing in and out. (Neither do I.)

I don't want Persia to be uncomfortable. After all, she comes with a
built-in fur coat I can always take my clothes off (I'll close the
blinds!) but she can't. It's going to get terribly hot in here in the
next couple of days. I hope this won't affect her too much. I'll make
sure her water is very cool. And she sleeps in a room which is closed off
by window shades; the sun doesn't go around to that side of the house
until late.

Damn house repairs... and these people wonder why I can't afford to be a
member of their "club".

Jill

Is there any chance that you could earn some more money from anywhere? I
once trimmed plastic components for a factory when I needed more money once.
Didn't work too well as I slashed my hand with the knife I used and had to
get it stitched in hospital ;-(
However maybe there is something you could do to help the home fund.
Tweed

On 9/5/2012 3:53 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
My central a/c unit crapped out on me. It's still a sultry 90 degrees
where I live with 88% humidity. I just paid a technician $$$ to tell me
the fan in the attic will have to be replaced. It's a holiday weekend;
Monday is Labor Day in the US. The part won't be available until Tuesday.
Meanwhile I'm melting. I do not tolerate heat well at all.

I have the ceiling fans going and I have some regular oscillating fans. I
expect I'm going to have to take cool showers several times a day for the
next couple of days.

What ticks me off is I had the entire central heat/air unit replaced in
2010. It shouldn't break down this quickly! The parts are covered under
a 10 year warranty (8 years left) but I still have to pay for the
technician to come out.

Meanwhile, I am worried about Persia and the heat. When the tech showed
up she was sitting in the living room. He saw her and said, "Hi, kitty!"
She looked at him, wide-eyed, and he said, "She looks like she's going to
bolt." Sure enough, she ran and hid under the couch. She doesn't need the
added stress of strangers traipsing in and out. (Neither do I.)

I don't want Persia to be uncomfortable. After all, she comes with a
built-in fur coat I can always take my clothes off (I'll close the
blinds!) but she can't. It's going to get terribly hot in here in the
next couple of days. I hope this won't affect her too much. I'll make
sure her water is very cool. And she sleeps in a room which is closed off
by window shades; the sun doesn't go around to that side of the house
until late.

Damn house repairs... and these people wonder why I can't afford to be a
member of their "club".

Jill

Is there any chance that you could earn some more money from anywhere? I
once trimmed plastic components for a factory when I needed more money once.
Didn't work too well as I slashed my hand with the knife I used and had to
get it stitched in hospital ;-(
However maybe there is something you could do to help the home fund.
Tweed



I've been looking for work since 2010. There just isn't that much
available in this area. I've had interviews, filled out a million
applications. I'm afraid I was stupid enough not to print a hard copy
of my resume... I hate the thought of trying to recreate it!Oh well, one
thing at a time. The first is to get the A/C working again!

Jill

Christina Websell wrote:

Is there any chance that you could earn some more money from anywhere? I
once trimmed plastic components for a factory when I needed more money once.

I did that once, too! I didn't work at home, though. I stood beside a
machine all day that injected molten plastic into a mold, let it cool
enough to harden, and then dropped into a bin where I would pull it out
to clip off the connecting pieces.

This was the worst job I ever had, before or since. To grab the newly
minted plastic piece, you had to time it just right. The doors on the
bin would open, and that was the moment to reach in and grab. They
would only stay open for a few seconds and then the doors would slam
shut again. If you didn't get the piece, you had to wait until the next
cycle and then grab the two pieces. However, I saw the results on several
people who had apparently been too slow in getting the piece out before
the doors shut - missing fingers.

It was about a million degrees in there, and the machine made it hotter.
You had to wear safety glasses in case of flying plastic shrapnel. Gloves
were necessary for handling the plastic, which might have been cool enough
to be solid, but were still too hot to hold in bare hands. I didn't have
decent ear coverings (to protect my hearing) so I stuck cotton in my ears -
not much help, but better than nothing I guess. To say nothing of the fumes
in that place - molten plastic? I'm sure they were breaking all kinds of
laws.

I lasted 4 days, but as you can see, they were very memorable. Some
people there looked like they'd been there for years. I don't know why
they stayed - even if they didn't have the skills for any other kind of
work, there were plenty of factories around and lots of available jobs,
which is what I got. The next place I worked at had much better conditions
and paid better, too.

--
Joyce

God's original plan was to hang out in a garden with some naked
vegetarians.
-- Seen on a wall poster

Judith Latham wrote:

Bastette wrote:

I did that once, too! I didn't work at home, though. I stood beside a
machine all day that injected molten plastic into a mold, let it cool
enough to harden, and then dropped into a bin where I would pull it out
to clip off the connecting pieces.

[snip]

Many years ago, ( I was about 8 years old) my Dad had one of those
machines. He rented a room in a small factory.

I'm confused. He rented a room in a factory?

One day, (for those Brits old enough to remember, it was the day
Crossroads started on tv.) I had been at my friend's house three doors
away and as I came out to go home, my Dad arrived in the taxi. As it was
seven o'clock, this was very unusual. I was horrified to see my Dad's face
was all bandaged up. I ran back into my friends house and after about ten
minutes her mom rang mine to find out if she wanted me to stay there a
while. Mom said I'd better go home as I'd already seen Dad.

What had happened was that Dad, had been working on the machine when the
molten plastic had shot up into his face. Luckily there was someone still
in the factory who got him to hospital. If he hadn't been wearing his
glasses he would have been blinded. It was bad enough as it was and took a
long time to heal and it left him with a faint scar which showed up when
he'd been in the sun.

I shall never forget that moment I first saw him. Those machines were very
dangerous, I hope they're safer these days.

Scary! I'm glad he was OK eventually.

I don't think we have those kinds of factories in the US anymore, and I
wonder if there are any in the UK, either?

--
Joyce

"Riveting reading that keeps readers reading."
-- The Midwest Book Review

jmcquown wrote:

"Christina Websell" wrote in message

Is there any chance that you could earn some more money from anywhere? I
once trimmed plastic components for a factory when I needed more money once.
Didn't work too well as I slashed my hand with the knife I used and had to
get it stitched in hospital ;-(
However maybe there is something you could do to help the home fund.

You'd have to understand the area where I live. It's a very small town.
There are no factories or manufacturing of any sort. Beaufort isn't a
technological hot-spot, either. (My years of experience in software support
and QA testing isn't very helpful here.)

Maybe you could do tech support from home? It depends on the kind of product
you'd be supporting, but a lot of stuff can be done remotely. In which case,
you could apply anywhere. If you present yourself as a private contractor,
you might very well get some offers. It seems like a lot of jobs in the
software industry these days are temporary/contracting, and I'm sure some
of the people who do them work from home.

Maybe even some QA jobs would work that way, too.

--
Joyce

A clean house is a sign of a broken computer.

On 9/19/2012 4:46 PM, Bastette wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

"Christina Websell" wrote in message

Is there any chance that you could earn some more money from anywhere? I
once trimmed plastic components for a factory when I needed more money once.
Didn't work too well as I slashed my hand with the knife I used and had to
get it stitched in hospital ;-(
However maybe there is something you could do to help the home fund.

You'd have to understand the area where I live. It's a very small town.
There are no factories or manufacturing of any sort. Beaufort isn't a
technological hot-spot, either. (My years of experience in software support
and QA testing isn't very helpful here.)

Maybe you could do tech support from home? It depends on the kind of product
you'd be supporting, but a lot of stuff can be done remotely. In which case,
you could apply anywhere. If you present yourself as a private contractor,
you might very well get some offers. It seems like a lot of jobs in the
software industry these days are temporary/contracting, and I'm sure some
of the people who do them work from home.

Maybe even some QA jobs would work that way, too.

Oh, I've gotten interview requests for contract jobs, but the positions
have never been local or for working remotely from home. They've
expected me to relocate temporarily. Nope, can't do that. I'm sure
Honolulu is lovely but I can't pick up and move there for 3-6 months.

Jill