 rjonas, Wed, June 11th, 2008 Ever have one of those days where everything that could go wrong did? I had that happen in a four hour stretch Tuesday. I returned home from a long day at the office, only to discover that the air conditioner I bought for the living room one day earlier wasn't on. That seemed odd, since I had left the thing running full blast when I went to work that morning. So I tried to start the air conditioner. Nothing. I unplugged and replugged the air conditioner in. Still nothing. I then unplugged the unit a second time and plugged it into another outlet. Success ... well, not entirely. The fan started running, but the compressor wasn't producing any coolant to create that nice chilling effect that air conditioners are built to create. Naturally, this troubled me, especially since the unit was set for maximum chill (it should be noted that I live in an attic apartment, which means the apartment turns into a sauna unless there's an air conditioner running at its maximum setting). So I called the customer service hotline, which directed me after 15 minutes to call a local electronics store to set up an appointment to have the unit looked at. Not exactly helpful on a day when temperatures reached 96 degrees with humidity to match. So I called the electronics store, only to learn that it closed 15 minutes earlier. I couldn't even leave a message to let them know I needed an appointment for my day-old air conditioner. Now, I was ticked off. But there was nothing I could do, so I settled down to eat dinner. Meanwhile, I left the air conditioner on so as to generate some sort of breeze to help the apartment feel less hot. About 30 minutes later as I was washing up in the bathroom, I heard a big splat coming from the living room. I rushed out and saw a big blob of something dripping down the outside of air conditioner. So I immediately turned off and unplugged the unit, undid some of the duct tape I had used to brace it in the window and was summarily greeted by the sight of a big puddle of oil on the window sill. Evidently, something had burst inside the air conditioner. My day-old air conditioner was now a big, metal paperweight. OK, now I was majorly ticked off. Actually, I was downright mad. So, I called the store where I bought the air conditioner and told them what happened. The woman at the store told me they didn't have any replacement air conditioners in stock, but I could return the unit to get a full refund. I assured the woman I didn't want a replacement unit -- not if that one was also going to explode after one day. Returning the air conditioner turned into an adventure for two reasons: 1.) I had to get the unit -- which was leaking water and oil -- into my car's trunk without dripping anything on the carpet (unfortunately, it managed to leak on the carpet anyway) 2.) Something was disagreeing with my stomach as I was getting the air conditioner into the car, but I wasn't about to take a time out to deal with that -- not when I needed a quick resolution to the problem of cooling my apartment. When I got to the store, I was equally ticked off and desperate for a bathroom, but I got my full refund -- part of which I subsequently used to buy an oscilating floor fan. As I drove home, I took note of the storm clouds that were closing in from the west, which only made me drive faster so I could assemble the fan and deal with my stomach. As I was putting the fan together, the storm grew closer. So, I took a time out to let the storm pass. When I thought it had sufficiently passed without incident, I called my sister to let her know about the evening's events. I was in the middle of that call when -- you guessed it -- the power went out. At that point, I was no longer merely ticked off or even downright mad. I was feeling a mixture of rage and defeat. I was Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen after a seven-game losing streak. So I called my sister back on my cell phone to let her know my power went out, and she laughed. That was not the reaction I was expecting, to say the least. But for the record, she apologized. After the call, I decided I couldn't stay in that apartment in the dark waiting for the power to come back on. So, I got in my car and started driving through my neighborhood. At this point, I discovered that people on two parallel side streets had electricity, as did ... well, basically the entire city of Troy. The only people who were without power were the ones living on my street. Forget Ozzie Guillen after a seven-game losing streak. I was beyond that level of anger. Heck, Guillen would have probably told me to calm down. Fortunately, things resolved themselves after that. The power came back on shortly after 10:30 p.m., and I managed to get my apartment's temperature to a comfortable level before going to bed. Of course, getting my electricity back allowed me to learn that my New York Mets blew a 5-1 lead and lost to Arizona 9-5. Man, I just couldn't win that night. CATEGORY: General Society
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