About two weeks ago we had an unusually cold spell of weather sweep through Oklahoma. During that flap of weather, we discovered our home’s heater was no longer working. Dad and I messed around with it for a few minutes Easter Day before deciding neither of us knew what the problem was. After spending one night too many cuddled around the gas fireplace, we called our local HVAC repairman out to the house.

On the first trip, the repairman said that some part of the furnace had been damaged by rainwater; according to him, the exhaust port had dislodged itself (or something like that), which was causing rain to drain into the furnace. Quickly it became evident that this was going to cost us two visits — one to fix the problem with the furnace, and another to fix the problem that had broken the furnace. I was right, and we soon were handed our bills, a $200 bill followed by a $300 one. So yes, $500 later, we now have a working heater just in time for summer.

Now we have discovered that the air conditioner is not working, either. It seems to me these two problems may be related, although I understand that they may not be. We’ve tried to put off calling the repairman until at least one more payday goes by, but the combination of ceiling fans and box fans are no match for the Oklahoma sun — and this week they are only predicting weather in the mid-70’s. Next week they’re predicting it’ll be in the 80’s. We’ll have to call someone out before that.