Something in the air

I woke up this morning around 8 o’clock and called the air conditioner repair service I’d scheduled for today, as I’d been told to, in order to get a two-hour estimate on when they’d be arriving. That estimate turned out to be between 8 and 10, and they were here well before 9 and gone not too long after. They took the air conditioner unit with them, which means we’re in for a handful of warmish days (at least in part of the house) and leaving fans on for the dog. But a broken condenser blade — which is apparently the problem — isn’t going to fix itself, not in this heat.

Of course, later in the day, the first repair service I’d called, and who I’d booked for next Tuesday (but planned to cancel) — they showed up too. Sorry, fellas, but your head office told you the wrong date, and there’s nothing left here for you to repair. My cup runneth over with air conditioner repairmen. And on today of all days: air conditioning’s 110th birthday!

Also showing up at the door today: a Verizon repairmen, here to fix the phone lines yet again. We had the latest of many service appointments last week, but that guy had given me no reason to suspect anyone else was actually coming back. Today’s guy told me essentially the same thing as everybody else, that Verizon is not going to re-invest in the copper lines and is not going to repair them. They want all of their customers on FIOS, whether their customers want it or not. (It’s my parents’ decision ultimately, but FIOS doesn’t have any better reputation for speed, price, or availability.)

To this repair guy’s credit, though, he was here in the backyard and up the block for most of the afternoon, well into the early evening, and the phone does seem to be sounding slightly better, less crackly and impossible to hear anything. That may only last until the next big rainstorm, if that long, but we’ll see.

It’s actually kind of amazing that I got any work done today. If only I was working on a textbook for phone and air conditioner repair instead of social psychology. I might have more luck finding reviewers.