Tuesday, July 1, 2014

July 1 – “It’s hot”

Well, camp didn’t end exactly when we thought it did.  Sunday evening we got a call from Kel and Christina.  Their air conditioner went out, so they gathered their brood together and all seven of them (including their dog, Lucy) came over to spend the night.  Things went really well.  All kept cool.  For the night, at least.

Yesterday they all went about their activities.  Jachin had baseball camp.  Micah had Lego camp.  Kel went off to start his first week at his new job as an Associate Pastor in League City.  And Chris and I left for Houston to return the van we rented for camp.  And when we returned home, Christina met us with the latest news.  Our air conditioner was running, but the house was steadily getting warmer and warmer.  Sure enough, there was no cold air at all coming through the vents.  I called the AC company right away to get on their schedule for the afternoon.  We got the fans turned on and some windows open and settled in to wait for their arrival. 

And then Chris went to bake some corn dogs.  The oven lights all came on and every indication was that things were ready to go.  But the oven didn’t heat up.  The timer worked.  The display indicated that everything was fine.  But there was just no heat.  Strange.  We switched to the microwave, though and ate soggy, but warm, corn dogs.  Just as I was getting back into the computer work I was doing – closing out all the camp information – Chris came into my office with another announcement.  She had been washing up our clothes from camp.  The dryer was spinning but wasn’t getting hot.  OK.  Now that was just a bit much.  Something odd was going on, and I just didn’t have the expertise to know what it could be.  So I put in a call to our contractor friend. 

John heard out what was happening and didn’t hesitate a bit.  He knew right away what he thought was going on, and he said it sounded like a job for the electric company.  Something was going on at the electric pole, not so much inside the house.  Some power was getting through to the house, just not all of it.  He said he would put in a call to his electrician, but recommended I give Centerpoint a call as well.  That was three repairmen on the way.  Maybe they would all get here at once.  That would be a sight.  I finally got to talk to a human being at Centerpoint, and she assured me someone would be there.  In fact she even gave me a time.  Ready for this?  3:04 p.m.  How’s that for specific?  Of course she backtracked some and said it could be earlier or later depending on their work load.  Of course. 

As we waited for 3:04 to arrive, Chris noticed some activity in our neighbor’s yard.  Always vigilant, she went over to investigate.  It was an AC company checking out the neighbor’s unit.  Chris went to her door and let her know that it was probably not the air conditioner.  And as they talked the workman walked up to inform her that the unit was working fine.  It just wasn’t receiving all the power it should from the pole.  How’s that for confirmation.  I called our AC guys and put them on hold, and I called John back to have his electrician wait up as well. 

Finally, early actually, Centerpoint arrived.  I walked around back with them, and almost immediately one of them pointed up to the pole.  There it was.  One of the major wires had popped loose and was hanging in mid-air, transporting its precious cargo of electricity into nothingness.  After about fifteen minutes with no electricity at all, the problem was solved.  It took a few more hours to cool the house back down, but by bedtime all was back to normal.  Oh, their problem was solved as well, so they headed back to LaMarque.  And they only had to return once.  They forgot Micah’s new Pokemon cards.   Oh.  And the dog.

Nehemiah 9:17 says, “But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.”

Father, thank you for our access to modern marvels like air conditioning.  Amen.

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