Awake at 6 AM

Not because I have to be. But since I am, I should be writing...things other that this blog. But I'm not. I'm fretting. I'm worrying.

A few days ago--since no real companies seemed willing to come repair the air conditioner that my ambulance chasing handyman left in disrepair for less than the cost of a new air conditioner--I found a guy on Craigslist. He answered his phone, he didn't immediately turn down the job. When I emailed him with details he replied to the email with an estimate and when I set a time he replied to confirm...

All seemed good until I arrived at the address, and he didn't. Ever. I called, and the Sprint customer I was trying to reach didn't answer. I looked up the original add and it had been removed by owner.

I looked more closely at the damage caused by errant drill, and the more I look, the more I realized that even if I get someone to come, they aren't going to be able to solder at that angle. We're going to have to pull it out of the wall...Basically I can see that at the end of all the things I try, I'm probably going to have to buy a new air conditioner and have it installed, conservatively, $500.

And there's our car that's been in the shop all week. Transmission: $2000.
And there's our other car that needs a new radiator. If Paul's brother finds one refurbished and does the labor himself: $500.

No one paying rent on our extra room: $500. A month. I feel the least bad about that, as we've been able to help out various friends and acquaintances, which is a pleasure to do, and in the down time, we enjoy the larger apartment quite a bit, but eventually, we're going to have to downgrade.

How to fix all this? Make more money. My answer used to be "Move to Costa Rica where I don't need much money," but student loan obligations will now follow me to my plan B. How to make more money? Write like hell and sell something.

But I find it hard to write when I'm worried about finding a solution to the *&^ air conditioner.