Ode to Air-Conditioning

There is one thing that allows me to live in the south: A/C. Sweet tea helps, don't get me wrong. But without A/C, I'd be a bubbly melted pile of goo before June. It was warmer here in Columbia yesterday (85F) than it was in San Juan, PR (82F) - at least the humidity hasn't kicked in yet. I'm at home this morning as the 2nd Wind guy comes to service the A/C units - this is as close as I get to Christmas in Spring, having someone make sure the house is properly chilled.

When I was growing up, my dad was tight with the thermostat. Two teenage boys, and we couldn't touch the wallbox: "When you grow up and pay your energy bills on your own in your own house, you can set the temperature at whatever you want." Years later, after Vicki & I married and moved into the condo, my dad came over to watch a ballgame. The downstairs half-bath was enclosed and had one vent - with the door closed it always got pretty frigid in there. When he had to go to the restroom, he came out and said something like, "Brrrr - hanging meat in there?" To which I calmly replied, "Look, in your own house where you pay your own bills, you can set the temp wherever you like."

Feel that? It's good and cold - getting chilly? Better get a jacket, 'cause I'm not budging the box just yet.