When you last saw me, we were in the middle of an appliance/home repair nightmare. (If you missed the beginning of this tale, read last week’s newsletter to get caught up. I’ll wait.)
All caught up? Great! Let’s jump back into that tale right where we left off.
Keeping Her Promises
So it was Saturday. My scribe promised her two neighbors that she’d call the place where some of her neighbors got their air conditioners (Atlantic Appliances). But she’d also called the son-in-law of one of her coworkers (Steve), and he was sending someone at 10 am.
We had to scramble! I woke Melinda up at 8 am since Atlantic Appliances in Yorktown, NY, opened at 8:30 AM. Melinda isn’t a morning person so I needed extra time to get her moving. I might have shoved off her off her bed to help with that.
So she wasn’t happy with me. But I had the best intentions.
The Best Intensions
I wanted to get her back to writing as soon as possible since Chaos in Chains is nearing the end, and I want it to end so she can write the next Curse Breaker Series book.
I’m Ran, Sarn’s son from the Curse Breaker Series.
Papa might not want to jump into another adventure so soon but I do. Since he’s the main character of the series, he doesn’t really get a choice about going on adventures. Don’t tell him I said so.)
So she called Atlantic Appliances, and they could get a new air conditioner to their warehouse on Monday! But the warehouse closes at 3:30 pm, and the unit would need to be picked up before that.
Melinda didn’t think she could do that since the unit is 27 inches long, 16 inches wide and 16 inches deep and quite heavy. (I got these measurements from our next visitor.)
Melinda gave them her info (at my urging) and ended the call.
Finding A Solution
A knock sounded a little later since she didn’t call the appliance store until 9:30 am!
What did she do during the hour between me pushing her out of bed and calling?
She moved some furniture aside and rolled up a light colored throw rug that was hard to clean so it wouldn’t get dirty since there could be water in the air conditioner still from the ice incident. But she didn’t pick up the computer cables or her phone charger even though I pointed at them on the floor. No idea why they are on floor.
Steve’s coworker arrived, and he examined the AC unit and the sleeve it sits in, both from outside and inside. There was a lot of water in unit and it gushed out when he pulled it out to measure the unit and soaked his pant leg. Thankfully there was a towel already on the floor in case it leaked again, so that prevented a second flood.
The Search Goes On
He researched the unit in place and discovered it was manufactured in 1999! No wonder it had issues. It’s 27 years old, and it’s probably tired. Who knows how previous owners treated. My scribe has only lived in this apartment for 12 years, so the AC unit predates her by 15 years!
After that blew their minds, the HVAC guy searched for a new unit that would fit that would be available that day. But he couldn’t find anything. All the units could be ordered and would arrive in 2 weeks!
That was too long, so I urged Melinda to mention Atlantic Appliances since they claimed they could have the unit in their warehouse by Monday afternoon. (They aren’t sponsoring this newsletter, but they should since this is where things get expensive.)
So the HVAC guy talked to the sales guy at Atlantic Appliances and they discussed options. So the HVAC guy called Steve and explained the situation, and they decided to order it.
The HVAC guy called back the salesman at Atlantic Appliances and ordered the AC unit. It would be delivered to the warehouse in the next town over on Monday. All good so far. Then the HVAC guy put the old unit back in and sealed up the hairline holes around it since the unit didn’t fill the sleeve completely.
He left and promised that Steve would get in touch and arrange to pick up the unit and install it. So that’s why we ended the previous email before this because we had to wait to find out how all this ended.
The Quest Begins
When Tuesday came with no word from Steve, I urged my scribe to contact him and ask when he’d install the AC unit. Steve texted back that he’d pick up the unit from the warehouse before it closed at 3:30 pm that day and then come and install it.
Little did we know that we sent Steve on a quest.
When he arrived, he said the warehouse was in a corporate park with fifty signs pointing in all directions and he could not find it. So he kept driving around until he found a guy outside smoking, and he asked where to find the warehouse. At that point, it was 3:35 pm and he had just minutes before it closed to find it and get the unit.
Thankfully, the friendly smoker knew where to go and directed him. Steve found the warehouse entrance and got the AC unit before it closed. He told us this story while pulled out the old unit.
He installed the new air conditioner and made sure to put insulation around the AC unit since it was even smaller than the previous one. That surprised Steve and he measured several times since the dimensions of the unit were supposed to be the same as the old one. With the insulation and this plastic sleeve kit, you can’t tell that the unit is considerably smaller than the space reserved for it.
What did all this cost?
$1300.50 That’s a lot better than the $3484 estimate we were presented with by the first HVAC company who called. So we’re grateful that part of the home repair is over.
Next, we need the water damage to the wall fixed. The maintenance guy said he’d come by next week to look at it.
Did my scribe get any writing done this week?
Yes, she did! She wrote 4 chapters for Chaos in Chains and you can read them right now on Patreon and Substack. The wild twists I mentioned a few weeks ago are finally heading toward a conclusion so I can spoil them soon (author permitting).
Melinda also talked to AD Solomon about his epic fantasy book, The Twin Moons of Eldradune, and you can listen to their conversation right now on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube.
We’ve got another episode coming in Sept, possibly. The authors are on the other side of the world and they’re traveling around promoting the release of their book. So we’re just working on finding a day and time where everyone is available. So that’s exciting.
That’s it for this week! I hope you have a great week.
Book Recommendations & Sales
Riders of Fire: Dragon Masters 4-5 Luxe Omnibus
Dragon rider epic fantasy. Snarky dragons, snappy banter, pirates, sizzling, slow-burn, sweet romance. Stunning, holo-foiled omnibus 1 & 2. Follow the campaign to get notified when it launches.
Riders of the Apocalypse: Complete Epic Fantasy Book Series
An angel, an ex-god, & a dragon take on the riders of the apocalypse in 4 humorous epic fantasy adventure books. Follow the campaign to get notified when it launches.
Curse Breaker Unleashed: A New Epic Fantasy Book Trilogy
An ancient army awakens and the only man who can stop them is the one who set them free in three new adventures full of heart and hope. Follow the campaign to get notified when it launches in 2027. My scribe will write these books next!!!
