I was, but my air conditioner wasn’t.<\/p>\n
How do I know? Because the AC — a relatively new Friedrich — decided, all by itself, to switch the temperature gauge from Farenheit to Celsius. I assumed, correctly, that the thing was built with a U.S.\/rest-of-the-world toggle.<\/p>\n
Whatever it’s done, it refuses to get really cool. Seems to loll around medium cool.<\/p>\n
Now, unlike a lot of people, I have had sublime experiences with air conditioners. My first, a Carrier, ran for 15 years. One day, it developed a rattle. I called the place I’d bought it from. A guy came. He removed the front. Looked at the fan. Saw a dent. Knocked the dent out. Charged me ten bucks and the thing ran for another five years.<\/p>\n
Then I got a Friedrich. That ran for around 15 years, until I left it behind when I moved.<\/p>\n
So having a problem with an AC is not in my mental tool box.<\/p>\n
But a year after my new Friedrich was installed, something went wrong with it. The installer fixed it. The fix-it involved replacing what I’ve learned to call the circuit board with another one. Because what runs the AC now is a little computer.<\/p>\n
I’m sure Friedrich envisioned this little computer as a technological innovation. But like most technological innovations, it’s a complex device — which means shit happens every five years or so.<\/p>\n
I’ve had some interesting and nice conversations with my current AC people who are, like many other post-COVID services, very short of repair staff so I’ve had to wait a couple of weeks for a repair visit.<\/p>\n
Talking on the phone with the AC guys has become a sort of AC therapy. Like whatshisname’s finger in the dike. When I’m talking AC with a specialist, it feels cooler in here. I swear it does.<\/p>\n
Actually, it is<\/em> cooler. Meaning, it’s not 95\u00ba outside so it’s not 95\u00ba inside.<\/p>\n The AC specialist, a genial guy, was really apologetic about postponing (again) my repair appointment. I didn’t gripe and he was appreciative. So we talked for a bit. He told me how to change the temperature gauge back to Farenheit and it worked but unfortunately wouldn’t get below 80\u00ba.\u00a0 So a repair visit is still on the calendar.<\/p>\n The most important thing he said was, “We should be making air conditioners here in the U.S. again.”<\/p>\n And I, considering my forty previous years of untroubled air conditioners made in the U.S., agreed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was, but my air conditioner wasn’t. How do I know? Because the AC — a relatively new Friedrich — decided, all by itself, to switch the temperature gauge from Farenheit to Celsius. I assumed, correctly, that the thing was … Continue reading