I am sure that, by now, you have begun to wonder if my little predicaments really do happen. After all, you don’t know me personally (most of you, that is), so who’s to say that I’m not some gifted writer who’s resorted to writing a lowly blog.
Alas, that is not the case.
I am AuburnChick, lucky recipient of strange occurrences. Especially on Mondays.
Take today, which just happens to be a Monday, by the way.
After school, I hurried home to pick up Rooster. The temperature only got up to 44 degrees today, and, if you can believe it, my school district made today optional for students. Floridians don’t take kindly to cold weather, and apparently they think their children should stay home cuddled in bed if the temperature drops below sixty degrees.
Rooster attended, of course. Lucky him to have a mom who cares so much about his education.
I was merciful enough to pick him up from school so he wouldn’t have to brave a frigid walk home.
He walked into the house ahead of me and turned around and said, “Mama, did you leave the back door open today?”
No, I hadn’t, but whoever last closed it obviously had not done so tightly (you know…when you hear the “click”).
Aubie and Pele greeted us with huge dog smiles and whines. I’m not sure if they had enjoyed their freedom or were confused by it.
What got my attention, though, was the temperature INSIDE of the house. Brrr.
I took a peek at the thermostat.
My heart sank when I saw the reading: 57 degrees.
Now, let me just explain to you that I am a miser. I pay the electric bill out of my meager earnings, and keeping it low is one of my primary goals. Last month, my bill was about $80.
During the summer, I kept the air set at 83 degrees, and I had completely turned it off in September. I still had not turned on the heat. My family has discovered that 66 degrees is not cold enough to turn a human into a popsicle.
Well, when I saw the current temperature this afternoon, I knew that this simply would not do. The Mr. would be livid if I didn’t do something about it, so I decided to turn on the heat to warm up the house.
I pushed the right buttons, but I didn’t hear anything. No lovely sound of the fan coming on, and no “heater smell” the first time you turn on the heat during winter.
Uh oh.
I turned if off and back on again. Nothing.
As you know, I am somewhat gifted in the handy-woman trade, so I ran out to the garage and took a peek at the fuse box. Everything was set as it should be, but just to be safe, I flipped the heater switch off and back on.
Then, I ran back inside – fully expecting the heat to come on.
I was wrong.
Well, not only am I a handy-woman, but I am a techie at heart. Techies troubleshoot.
I tried turning on the air conditioner, setting the thermostat way low to ensure it would come on.
Nothing.
Oh boy.
This was looking bad…especially since we are going to experience the coldest night of the year.
Great.
Thankfully, on the inside of my thermostat’s door is the number of the company that installed it.
I called.
I begged for someone to walk me through a fix-it-yourself snap-it-on kind of fix.
I only got a receptionist.
She was nice, but she couldn’t help me except to take my name and number. She also promised that if someone needed to come out, it would be that afternoon.
Five minutes later, I got a call back. The guy listened to my dilemma and decided that his company needed to make a house call.
Great.
He assured me that someone would call back right away to set up a time.
He was a man of his word. Five minutes later, I got a call. The technician was en route at that very moment.
Talk about service.
When the guy arrived, he took one look at my house and said, “It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”
He had helped install the unit back when the house was first built (we are the original owners).
He had also made one service call way back when…several years ago. Ironically, he had quit working for the company one month after his last visit, and he had only recently returned to work for the company again.
It was meant to be.
He had been out on service runs when he got the call to help me. Because his last call is near his home, he rearranged his schedule to fit me in.
Don’t you just love how God orchestrates even the smallest things?!
He took a look at this and that…popped off the unit’s cover, which I had dared not done. He tried to “wake up” the wires, but they were snoozing good.
After determining that my fan was not the problem (praise God, for that would be a very expensive part to fix), he figured out that the part that is broken has to be picked up from the warehouse, which was closed by then.
Great.
But, he is an expert in the business, so he fixed my unit so I can have heat tonight. It does mean that my fan will run all night.
I dread the electric bill.
The Mr. came home in the middle of the repair, and he was smiling.
You see, he’s been begging me to turn on the heat.
Go ahead and call me Mrs. Scrooge. Of course, that wouldn’t be fitting, now would it? Scrooge had lots of money to spend but chose not to. If I had money, I’d gladly spend it!
heehee
So, I’m sitting here in what is now a sauna at 70 degrees.
I am content though and very grateful that, despite the odd things that seem to happen in my life, God is always in control. I see His hand in every single part of every single happening.
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AuburnChick's Adventures 