Man, am I glad that my mom came over and visited last month.
I literally don’t think I’ve ever said that sentence before in my life, and I’m not sure I ever will utter it again.
You see, we have a complicated relationship. She doesn’t give me much credit for the successful young adult I’ve become, and I have a hard time dealing with her juvenile way of speaking to me. She always thinks that she knows best, even when she has no special knowledge on a topic. One of her most opinionated areas of expertise, in fact, is other people’s HVAC systems. Does she have any working knowledge of operating these unfamiliar heating and cooling plans? No. Does she still think she should override the current air temperature plan and alter the air quality settings? Yes. This is precisely what happened with my air conditioning system last month. Mom rolled into town, mom decided the house was uncomfortable, mom changed the air temperature control settings before I had a chance to stop her. Fast forward less than one day, and my entire central cooling plan was busted. Of course, when the AC wouldn’t operate any longer, my mom suddenly had recommendations for getting the HVAC replaced. Within a few moments, she was calling random HVAC shops and complaining about the situation for as long as they would listen. She had all sorts of sob stories and pointed comments about her desperate temperature needs as a “senior citizen.” Apparently it was an effective method of torture, because my new AC unit was installed the very next day… for less than 30% of the expected cost. Thanks mom.