Friday, July 07, 2006

Chicken!

I'm too scared to open this receipt. It's been sitting on the desk since Monday, when I realized our air conditioner wasn't working right. No matter how low I set the thermostat, the temperature bottomed at 78 degrees. This happened during last year's brutal heat wave, but we toughed it out. Not this time.
I picked up the phone and called the Lee Company. As I asked to be put on their post-holiday schedule, the operator heard Elise squalling in the background. "Ma'am, do you have a baby in the home?" She put me on hold, then returned to let me know they would be coming that night, the final call before the Fourth of July. And they did. While the unit was shut off, I took the kids to the mall. Our offer of popsicles and ice water seemed paltry compared to the buckets of sweat those two men produced. It was 8 pm before they left.
When I returned to a rapidly cooling house, I "forgot" to ask my husband how much he paid for the repair. I deliberately avoided looking at the receipt folded next to my computer. In fact, it's taunting me right now. Whatever the total, it was worth every penny. So what am I waiting for?

If anyone local needs heating and air service, I highly recommend the Lee Company. They are the ONLY company who called me back, and the only one I'll call in the future.

UPDATED: I peeked. Only $99! I was expecting $300-$400. We have the money in our emergency fund, anyway. I just wanted to share my cowardly reaction with you. I have an amazing ability to ignore what I don't want to see. It's one reason I'm so vigilant with our budget. I could so easily be someone who stuffs credit card bills in a drawer and refuses to open them until we are deeply in debt. Even though the stress of worrying about unopened bills is worse than the bills themselves...

8 comments:

Stephanie said...

We use Lee Co. as well and they have been FABULOUS for us. Last summer we had to (gulp) replace our WHOLE heating/a.c. unit and they were great at working with us. I think me standing there pregnant while DH talked to the salesman helped us as well. :) I 2nd your recommendation!

Julie @ Creating This Life said...

So open it already! The suspense is killing me! ;-)

Anonymous said...

Oh, my. Look at that thing so it doesn't rob you of sleep. You don't want any nightmarish receipts the size of a boat chasing you in your dreams. And besides, we all want to know. :)

Anonymous said...

We found out during the home tour that our kitchen cabinets were the original cabinets from the Lee family home, but we've always used Donelson Air Conditioning for inspections and such. When our whole furnace broke right after Beatrix was born, they were there replacing the whole thing for us on a very cold Saturday morning.

But 78 degrees? That's the lowest we ever set our a/c in the summer.

DonnaB said...

I'm chicken too! I have to call a repairman on Monday morning! Our a/c is doing the same thing.

Meredith said...

Jordana, the thermostat says 78 degrees, but the actual temperature must have been well into the 80's...even with blinds closed and ceiling fans running, we were all redfaced and sweating.

Glad to know Donelson Air has great service, too.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Your description of yourself sounds so familiar. I'm FAMOUS for not wanting to look at things that might be bad news. (I once made my Mom and husband read my grades for me.)

And I can REALLY relate to what you said about being vigilant about your finances PRECISELY BECAUSE you know that otherwise, your fear might lead you to ignore them until they got out of hand.

The past year, getting credit card bills and checking account statements has become a new and exciting pleasure because I'm NOT AFRAID to read them. I already know what's in them, and 95% of the time, I've paid them before they even arrive.

MommyLydia said...

*sigh*

even knowing we have plenty of money in the account and there are no surprises, I still avoid doing bills. It's one of my greatest failings that i'm just lucky hasn't caused problems yet but I fear when I have a baby or something that it will get completely out of control.