I quit my job today. And then the AC unit broke, badly. The quote is between $1500-2000 to fix or replace it. It's 90+ degrees outside. So living on the 3rd story, with west-facing windows, when heat rises - it's hot in here. Damn you science! Whoever buys our place (when it's For Sale) is going to have a long list of brand new appliances to enjoy: AC unit, dishwasher, washer, dryer, water heater. Every single one of those has broken and been replaced in the last 18 months. That's a lot of money. But this one, this is a doozie.
We started scheming up ways we could pay for the replacement. I actually contemplated seeing how I could appear on Wheel of Fortune. I'm sure it's harder than I realize. But I rock at it! I got the final puzzle today when no one else did, not even Vanna knew - Fuel Gauge. And there were only 3 letters up there. I'm trying to convince Phaeton to try out for Jeopardy! because he's brilliant. Today we both really rocked it because it's Kids Week. We might need to look at a more feasible alternative for paying this expense off though.
So, back to the shiny, new appliances.
Last summer, Phaeton picked up a part-time job working at Best Buy while I was pregnant to help save some cash. His 2 months working there pretty much paid for most of those appliances.
First up: The dishwasher started turning orange on the inside, then brown. We thought it was a build-up of coffee grounds that were backing up into our dishwasher. The dishwasher installer knew otherwise. He opened the door to our dishwasher, paused and said, "You guys haven't been using this, have you?" Uh, yes, for about 6 months. "I've never in all my years of doing this, seen a dishwasher that did this." Uh....??? I ran over to the computer and started Googling the effects that using dishes washed in a dishwasher with orange/brown build-up while pregnant will have on my unborn baby. The build-up was rust that was forming from the wear in our water heater. There came our second appliance - not available at Best Buy. Therefore not available to use an employee discount on.
Third appliance - the washer. We anticipated with a new baby, there'd be lots of laundry that needed tending to. So, I might've sabotaged the old washer on purpose. I put the dog bed in the washer - the entire dog bed - not realizing that dog beds are made of woodchips and dirt. You can imagine the mess that made - all over the inside of the washer, and all over the laundry room floor. Not even worth cleaning. So we just replaced it.
The dryer. It had 1 setting - Hot. But it didn't get very hot. We'd run the dryer time after time and still open the door to find soggy clothes. This one had to go. Besides, the washer and dryer have been in the family for decades, so we figured it was time to update.
Now, the AC unit. For the last 3 years, we've paid for the local AC guys to come out and re-charge our unit and pump it with freon. That's cost us well over $150 each time. Last summer, while pregnant, we paid for them to come out twice because, well, I was pregnant. And I needed my AC on high. Poor Phaeton lived in his sweats last summer. The AC guys told us it wasn't normal for them to have to come so often to do this service, but we couldn't afford the alternative. We still can't, but we have no other option this time so we'll make it work. Cold air doesn't come cheap.
And I thought diapers were expensive.
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