Monday, March 26, 2007

The Bells v. The Theromostat... who will win?

Well... it is springtime in middle Tennessee. That means sneezing, sniffling, headaches, pollen covering your car and time for the air conditioner to be turned on.

You will remember that we had a new heating/air system installed during the coldest part of the winter due to a slight case of carbon monoxide gas filling the air... and to my mother's chagrin, a new fangled thermostat.

We are working with a digital thermostat now, which only aggravates my parental units, who cannot understand why things should change after some 40 years of technology. The more interesting occurrence is just beginning as on Saturday, the house was too hot for my mother and just fine for my father and myself. The Mom marched her way to the thermostat and began the inevitable punching of buttons to throw the system into disarray.

I was in the shower when the button-punching extravaganza began. I walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around me only to walk straight into my mother, who apparently had given up on the button-punching operation and stood, hands-on-hips, impatiently waiting for my grooming/hygiene escapade to end. She was none too happy that she had to wait. I know because of the aggravated look on her face and the fact that she had thrust into my hands the small brochure with instructions on how to use the new digital thermostat.

"Fix it," she gritted at me and walked away. She apparently believes that I have a Master's degree in electronic engineering or a technical degree in air conditioning systems, instead of an Associate's degree in office management. Funny. Yeah. Funny.

After donning some clothing, I made my way to the digital appliance that is set to end my parent's 50+ years of marriage and found that the heat was on. The thermostat was set to 70, but the reading was showing 78 degrees in the house. I read the booklet and changed the setting to "cool" and sure enough within a few minutes the air kicked on, and within about an hour, the temperature was down to 75, and it continued to descend through the night.

The next day we had the same heating issue arise... and therefore we think there really may be a problem with the new fangled hellish thermostat. The install company is coming by even as we speak to check out the problem. Fun times.

I can only imagine the arguments that will erupt over things like the temperature settings once my mother actually retires. There are nothing but good times ahead!

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