So, Thursday night, Richard the Landlord decided that it was just ridiculous and he would rent us a motel room for the night so we wouldn't die of heat exhaustion before they could install the new(er) condenser unit Friday morning. I ended up being the only one to go, because Mom didn't feel safe leaving the house open (if we had closed up all the windows, the cats would have passed out), and Sis just... well, I don't remember why Sis didn't go. But I had an appointment in the morning, so I left.

The motel was off I-45, about a 30 minute drive from where we live. We expected that it would be some motel from right around us (since we also live on a highway). Also, a good chunk of that drive was done on a tollway, which ended up costing about $3 just to get there.


It turns out it was one of those low-budget motels that have the big parking lots in the back for the truckers wanting an actual bed to sleep in overnight. I checked in, after waiting behind a couple of guys who were probably nice, but had long-haul written all over them. I got a room on the first floor halfway down the building. At least there was a parking spot for my car right in front of my door. However, the whole place was in serious need of an upgrade. The key was one of those super-old kinds with the plastic card with the holes punched in it, instead of the magnetic ones. The deadbolt on the door didn't really close completely (to my standard at least). Then there was the ice machine. To get to it, I had to leave my room, turn right, then turn right again into this tiny hallway that cut across the building to the other side. The ice machine was buried in a dark corner. I was NOT HAPPY. Then, since this was a crappy budget motel (thanks, Richard, for cheaping out on me) there was absolutely NO PADDING on the bed. None. It was like sleeping on a bumpy floor. All of the linens were bleached within an inch of their lives. Between the not feeling safe, and the fact that the bed found every fibromyalgia point on my body to poke, I slept a total of about 2 hours. I took a shower to get the three days worth of sweat nastiness off and wash my hair. I then left for my appointment.

I had to drive all the way to Humble for my eligibility appointment with Harris County. The clinic was supposed to be on First street. I had the directions from google, which told me that it would be a right turn off the frontage road. I drove past the point I knew the road was supposed to be with no help. Finally, on the trip back south toward my original exit, I saw a sign for the clinic. Turns out First Street isn't marked as First street, but as the numbered state road it also is. Thanks a lot, Humble. (Pronounced Umm-bull, you don't pronounce the "h". Stupid, I know.)

See, their free clinics are only free if you prove that you have little/no income and you live in Harris county. Silly me, since I thought free clinic meant, you know, FREE. But, every appointment so far I've had to pay for (though I've only had to pay $1 - they let you pay what you can, so a token dollar is just fine). I had my first appointment actually scheduled for what I thought was July 28th. Turns out that the woman told me it was the 28th but scheduled it for the 27th. So, when I called to let them know I'd be a little late because of traffic, they said "don't bother, you don't have an appointment today, it was yesterday." So I rescheduled for August 21st at 9am. I drove my next 30 minutes basically skirting Houston Intercontinental Airport the whole time (the gray splotch on the map). I arrived only to realized that in my haste to leave my hot-as-hell house, I left several important documents I needed to prove that I was indeed eligible. I was on the phone with Mom trying to figure out a plan when one of the women called me up to the door. She told me that I didn't have an appointment. It was actually scheduled for Monday at 8am. I was all WTF???? "THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME!!" Mom did mention that it was somewhat of a good thing, since I didn't have my papers all with me. I called the eligibility appointment line and asked to speak to a supervisor. She figured out that what had happened was someone in administration somewhere (she didn't know the person and it wasn't someone in the scheduling department) had accidentally canceled my appointment for Fri 8/21 at 9am. When she tried to put me back in at that time, someone else had already filled the spot. So she put me in the next open place on Monday 8/24 at 8am. However, SHE DIDN'T CALL AND TELL ME SHE FUCKED UP. So I had no idea. I was really pissed. The supervisor woman said she'd fire off an e-mail to her boss who would then email the chick who did the fucking up and tell her that she really made a mess and not to do it again. I was satisfied.

Now I have all of my documents - they need a weird list of items: my driver's license to prove who I am, several bills that come to me to prove I live in Harris County (but I don't get any utility bills, just medical ones, but they said it would count), my passport to prove that I am a citizen, a bank statement showing I have no money, and their "statement of support" form signed by Mom which says that she's been supporting me financially for the past year. I get to do the damn drive again tomorrow morning. I need to charge my FauxPod so I have tunes for the drive. This better fucking work and I better get my damn card tomorrow. I've been told that there are two possibilities for tomorrow: one, the eligibility "counselor" will hand me my "gold card (the golden ticket to free health care in Houston)" right then and there, or the "counselor" could tell me that I will have to wait up to 21 days for my application to be processed and receive my card in the mail. I really hope it's the former, since I really need it... Dr. Shah wants me to start group therapy at the hospital and I need my gold card number so that the clinic can send away for free Lexapro. I was told by the supervisor I spoke with on Friday to tell all of that to the "counselor" to hopefully sway them into giving me the card right away. What's fascinating is that this long, involved, red-tape-filled process was not what I was told it would be. When I had my big freak-out in May, I was told that all I had to do was fill out this one page application and go to one of the eligibility centers Mon-Fri at 7am. I would be seen and handed a gold card (which I first thought was a "goal card" but that was just the woman's poor pronunciation) right then and there. Yeah. Instead, I've now been given two erroneous appointment times, each a month after my initial call. The system is severely overburdened. Mainly by illegals. Which pisses me off, since they don't necessarily pay taxes here. I get singled out wherever I go because I'm white (at the moment, seriously pasty - flounder belly white). I deserve free health care just as much as anyone else, but I get looked at crooked because I'm somehow supposed to be making enough money to get real insurance. It's presumed that I'm somehow cheating the system. I really hate that. I can't wait until insurance companies are forced to take people no matter what. I'm so tired of the phrase "pre-existing condition."



Yesterday and today, I have spent mostly asleep. It was too hot and uncomfortable to get any decent rest since Monday, so I've been catching up. I have had the wildest most vivid dreams. One had most of the cast of Law&Order: SVU in it - unfortunately, no Mariska Hargitay. I can't remember much of any of them now, but they all seemed to be incredibly real. I woke up with that feeling this morning like I wasn't quite sure what stuff had actually happened, and which had been a dream. I thought that the power outage we had was in my head, but I found that it wasn't when my computer was shut down. Very trippy. I'm loving having my comfortable bed back. I missed my four inches of memory foam. So did all of my fibromyalgia sore points. Which reminds me, I have to call and make an appointment to see a GP at one of the clinics so they can refer me to either a pain specialist or a rheumatologist so I can be formally diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I'm going to see if the neurologist I'm seeing Tuesday will do it, but I doubt it. I'm going to try to get him to give me some more injections in my face to keep the headaches at bay. Dunno, though.

Fluffy has been quite pleased that my room is back in service. She's been up here with me most of the time since Friday afternoon. Check out this picture I took of her this morning:

Isn't she adorkable? She tends to sleep with her tongue hanging out like that. Cole has just decided to pay me a visit and is curled up in my lap, purring. Rare treat. However, it's probably just because Sis doesn't have her door open and isn't letting him in.

Again, you get to read a complaint about our a/c. It completely died last night at 3am. I noticed it was rather warm in my room, and texted Mom to please turn down the a/c before she fell asleep (her room's right next to the thermostat). Just afterward, I started feeling warm air blowing and it smelled like something burned, like when you turn on the furnace for the first time in winter and it smells hot for a little while. We checked the temperature reading on the thermostat and it said 79. Inside. At 3 am. Something was very wrong. Especially since it was cooling incredibly well prior to then. I was actually chilly at midnight, which was why it was so noticeable when it stopped being chilly so quickly afterward. This afternoon, it got to an all-time high of 95 inside (which was exactly the outside temperature). I started having symptoms of heat exhaustion bordering on heat stroke. My body temperature was 102 at one point and I had stopped sweating. When I started feeling drunk, I knew it was time to go downstairs and take a very cool bath. Which I did. It was fabulous. I stayed in the tub for over an hour. The water was probably about 70 degrees. Heavenly. I kept wishing that we had a pool in the backyard. I would have just stayed out there all day instead.

At least tomorrow, I will get some time indoors when I go see my psychiatrist and get my meds at the clinic. Naturally, the a/c guy is coming during those two hours. Sis has a hair appointment that she doesn't want to miss. (Believe me, I've already been quite catty about the fact that it is coming down to either me missing my psych appointment or Mom missing some or all of work while she refuses to cancel her haircut. Though she does have a point that she wouldn't know what to tell the guy about the a/c since she's never been around when we've dealt with it before. But she's also not willing to learn. So I'm still irritated.)  Now, it's been decided that Mom's going to miss work tomorrow to deal with this. I'm really mad at Sis for not stepping up.

We're all sleeping downstairs in the living room where we have two major fans going - one oscillating tower fan and a box fan in the window. Mom made a trip to the walmart and bought a window a/c unit. But, naturally, because we needed more problems, it had been opened and returned and so was missing important parts like the directions and the screws. I was so angry. Mom kept doggedly trying to put the thing together, but I was totally afraid that witihout instructions, we wouldn't install it properly and it'd end up falling out of the window onto the patio and breaking instead of working. We've decided to return it and perhaps get a new one if the guy doesn't fix  this well.

I asked God to send some rain our way this afternoon. My prayer was, "Please, Lord, send some of the rain this way, because... FUCK." He didn't send any this way, but I have a feeling it wasn't because I cursed. Sis thinks it's that he had already laid out the rain pattern for the day, and I asked to change it too late in the day.

Hopefully I will have a happy icon tomorrow afternoon.

Richard, the landlord, had a guy from Trane come out yesterday to check out our a/c system to determine if it needed to be replaced. He was due between 4-6pm. I woke up at 2 (after waking up at 6am on Thursday, I was tired and slept in). A few minutes after Mom left for work, she came back home to make sure I was awake. The guy was going to be coming by any minute. And he showed up about 20 minutes later. Thank goodness I had already put up the cats so it looked like we only had a few, not 7 (the lease shows we have 4).

He looked at the air handler upstairs for a good while. He then went out and looked at the outside condenser unit. He came back in after another 15 minutes and started telling me what the deal was. The condenser coil outside was very dirty. This makes the coil not cool effectively and therefore makes the system not function well. He needed to clean the coil, but it would be a long job that he'd have to do another day. He tried to get me to pay him for the visit. I explained that he needed to call the landlord since we were renting, and he would make the decisions and pay the fees.

Mom got a text from Richard last night saying that the guy would be out again this morning between 8-10am. Mom, of course, would be sleeping, since she's working this weekend. I told her that I'd get up to be available to answer the door and talk with the guy. I woke up at 7:30 and rounded up all the cats so that I wouldn't have to do so after the guy arrived. I sat downstairs from 8am until 10, when Mom woke up and realized that he hadn't arrived. We waited another 30 minutes and then texted Richard. He replied that the guy hadn't let him know until just then that he was backed up on two jobs and wouldn't be here until sometime after 3. Well, GREAT. I woke up super-early for nothing. However, I'm going to try to stay awake as long as possible so that I can keep this schedule going.

I'm probably going to paint some more. I'm running out of ornaments, and won't be able to get more until next weekend, but I have other paint projects and a couple of knitted ones to work on. DAMMIT. I forgot my cup of soapy water to rinse the brushes. Must go back downstairs. (I finally have all of my crafting supplies upstairs so I can work on them whenever I feel like it. Yay!)

All I can say is that the dude BETTER show up at 3, or I will be peeved going on pissed off.

Our a/c is dying. The freon has leaked out almost completely, according to the first guy that came yesterday. Mom talked to Richard, the landlord, and he will replace the whole system, compressor and air handler and everything, but can't until July 17. This isn't a random date, but when the warranty he has on the system matures. It turns out that the house is 10 years old, and we're using the original a/c system. He knew at some point it would die, and so when he bought the house, he took out a warranty so he could replace it at some point. That point has been reached. Until then, we have to limp through on the freon left in the system, and, if it stops cooling, a couple of window units - one in the living room, and one upstairs (because Mom thinks it would be a bad idea for all three of us to sleep in the living room, because it might cause fighting). I'm hoping that the a/c lasts for most of that time. I've got the ceiling fan on upstairs, and I'm praying that I can limp through for most of that time with just the fan.

I will probably sleep more since it is a little warmer up here than normal... which is kinda bad, since if I sleep during the day in the heat, I get nightmares. Hmm.

OMG, I just tried to add the "/" in my post subject heading, but my pinky went to the upper left side of the keyboard where it is on my phone's keyboard, instead of the lower right on my computer keyboard which I'm typing on. I must be tired or something.

So, here's the deal: Our a/c compressor is basically shot to shit and not coming back. It was only a couple of weeks ago that the last ARS guy came to fix the problem, which turned out to be a short in the power going to the compressor - someone had stripped/damaged the wires. At that time, he recharged the system with freon since the level was low and our system wasn't cooling as efficiently as it should have. Today, we had a guy come out - he was supposed to be here at 10, but showed up at 8:30, causing Mom to scramble - and he gave our system a bad prognosis. All of the freon has leaked out since the last recharge two weeks ago (sorry Earth/atmosphere! We didn't know!). This means that either we can have someone come out once every couple of weeks or so and recharge the freon at $300 a time, or replace the compressor. This decision is handled by Richard, our landlord, however. The ARS guy let Richard know this, and Richard told him and us that he needed time to decide. I hope he finally realizes that it would be cheaper in the long run to replace the compressor now for $1500 or whatever, instead of going to the hassle of getting someone out here and paying $300 per visit. Because 5 visits would make up what he would pay for a new compressor. I think he just doesn't want to pay that much for a rental property. However, this is still his and we're still renting, so he needs to do this. And we certainly need it. Day before yesterday, the air conditioner was only able to bring down the inside temperature to 80 when the outside was 100. Not good at all. So we're waiting to either hear back from Richard or have the ARS guy just show up again.

That causes problems because Mom and Sis have errands they have to do today. Mom needs to get new registration stickers for her and Sis (the reason I got a ticket a couple of weeks ago was because of the expired registration). Then they're going to look at carpet, because Sis says she won't move into her room unless there's new carpet and padding installed. I can kind of understand, since the three little cats have been living in there for a year, and Abby pees on the carpet at the baseboards all the time. She can't really help it too much because the poor thing only has one kidney, but it's also just a big fuck you to us. Mom and I are going to fence in the back patio at some point, which will allow the littles to live our there and Abby can pee to her hearts content. However, that project is probably not going to happen before Sis moves in in late July. We just have too many big expenses before then to deal with - the new carpet and movers for her stuff. Mom seemed to think that carpet replacement could be done room by room. Sis's room is only 120 sq ft. I tried to explain to her that most places either charge per sq ft for installation, or have a minimum number of sq ft to do before they'll throw in installation for free. OMG I JUST HAD A GREAT IDEA. We can maybe do the replacement ourselves. Not of regular carpet - we'd have to rent too many gadgets (stretchers, gluers, etc) - but carpet tiles. We can buy a new pad and then lay down carpet tiles instead. That shouldn't be too hard for us to do. And it'd work out to the same price of doing one room, and this way Mom wouldn't have to shell out $400, but maybe only half that. Must do research.

Back to the weather and a/c: I'm really thankful that today won't get as hot because we have decent cloud cover and a 20% chance of rain. It's only getting into the mid-90s unlike the mid-100s all last week. I'm praying for rain. If I knew how to do a rain dance, I would. I told mom she should go wash her car, because that always triggers the rain.

So, I called the Firestone about 12:30 (3 hours from drop off) and they said they were just starting to work on it and they'd call me in under an hour when they were finished with the diagnostic. They called me at 2.

The guy, George, explained all that was wrong with the car. The reason that the check engine light kept coming on with an error code of "fuel too lean" was because there was a hole in the hose that runs from the air filter to the engine, causing excess air to enter the engine, thus causing the misfires, etc. The fix for that would be at least $150. They would have to order the hose from the dealer (which would mean they couldn't do it the same day), and whatever the dealer charged for the part, they would then add 15% to. But, they would be nice and not charge us labor since it would require just two screws to be undone to replace it. I asked why in the HELL I would buy the part from them when I could go to the dealer and get it for list price. I finally got George to agree that if I went and bought the part from the dealer that Firestone would still install it for free. So far so good. Then he talked about the a/c. What he told me was that the blower motor (the thing that turns the impeller that blows the air) was burned out completely and that the part plus labor would be $450. WHAT?? Then he started talking about how this needed to be tweaked and that needed to be drained and cleaned, etc. 

I told him that Mom and I were coming in so that we could look over the car with him and make the decision about what to do after that. Poor Mom was running a fever (a low grade one, but still, being out in the heat was NOT GOOD), but I told her it was necessary to make sure that they weren't screwing us over by looking at the damaged parts ourselves. (I learned this when working at the Ford dealership - as a woman ALWAYS insist that the service person shows you your car and the damage he wants to repair before okaying any work. NEVER okay work over the phone. They will ALWAYS try to screw you if they can. If they can't justify the repairs, then you shouldn't pay for them. Like, if they tell you that your tires are bald, have them show you exactly where they are balding, etc. They also will respect you a little more for looking over your own car.) George brought us out to the shop so we could look over the damage. The tech working on the car was a real asshole, kept making faces of disgust that women were looking at cars. Like a woman on a ship or something. Anyway....

The damage: There wasn't a hole in the air hose... it was a GIANT FUCKING HOLE in the hose. The hose is 3" corrugated pvc, and the hole was in the middle of two ridges and was so obvious there wasn't any way to MISS the damn thing. HUGE HOLE. And the bitch of it is, that the likelihood that what hole was there when Mom brought it in last time for an oil change and air filter change was exacerbated by the asshole that replaced the air filter is very likely. No wonder that after the oil change/air filter change the car drove worse than before. Any more damage and the damn thing would have snapped in two. So, this was the thing that George was telling us to replace completely. Mom said, "Can't I just put some electrical tape over the hole?" George agreed that it was a possible interrim fix to tape the thing together again and seal off the leak. So that's what we decided to do about that. (-$150).  Then he explained that the blower motor was burned out because leaf matter had fallen into the assembly and blocked the impeller enough that it wouldn't turn and burned the motor out. Wait? If the motor's completely burned out, then why is the blower working today? Well... it's going to burn out any time now. Well, that's not the same thing, is it? Is it possible that the reason it didn't work yesterday was because something was keeping the impeller from turning, and that piece of whatever has moved out of the way today? Well, yeah, that's possible. Okay... Then how about we clean the area of debris, install some kind of finer mesh to keep more crap from getting into the blower assembly, and check the connections and motor to see exactly how close to burn out it really is. (-$450). We were told that because the air was leaking into the engine, it caused the spark plugs to burn. I said, but that's something I can do. He looked at me like I was insane. I then explained that I had worked at a car dealer for a good long while and knew what was easy owner maintenance and what really required a tech. He didn't argue with me after that. (-$50).He also mentioned that the head gaskets were damaged (same air leaking problem), but that's something that they would have to fix. But that as long as we kept the oil level good, it wasn't that big of a problem. (-$75).

Finally, we got the estimate from about $1300 to $345. The most expensive thing was the labor on fixing the blower. It's located in the dash behind the glove box, and they basically have to disassemble the dash to get at it. From now on, Mom and I are replacing as much as we can on our own - air filters, wipers, spark plugs, fluids, etc.

We received the car back at 5 on Sunday. The bastard that hated the idea of a woman working on her own car threw the things that were on the floor of the passenger seat into the back seat willy nilly. ASSHOLE. After it cooled off (11pm) we went out and taped up the air hose with duct tape and electrical tape. Mom gave it a tiny test drive and it sounded and drove so much better omg.  

She hasn't had a single problem since.

So, the biggest lesson I can give y'all is this: Never authorize work without the technician actually showing you the damage and explaining how it would need to be fixed. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Also, don't be afraid to do easy repairs yourself. And most importantly, THEY'RE MEN, AND THEY'RE GOING TO TRY TO SCREW YOU, SO DON'T LET THEM.

So, after the fan died in Mom's car yesterday, causing there to be no a/c, I decided to be a big girl and not be pissed about not getting to go to church at all this week (I missed the Friday service because Sis wouldn't loan me her car - which was lame) and take Mom's car into the shop this morning so they could check out the car. I got in the car and the fan and a/c worked. I think it's Mom. She's walking bad news or something right now. Which sucks for her. Or the car hates her. Or both. I came back into the house and told her what was up. She came out and saw for herself. She decided that it still needed to be taken in because the fucking check engine light was on for the umpteenth time in the last month, the fan could conk out again at any moment, and there is some issue with the engine not running smoothly. (Interesting... umpteenth, according to Semagic, is an actual word. I would have thought it would run afoul of the spell check.)

She had been told yesterday afternoon when she took it in to the Firestone that it would get worked on right away if we brought it in this morning. It seems they told EVERYBODY this, because I was told that there would be a 2-3 hour wait just to get it LOOKED AT. And that just having it looked at was going to cost $150. She was PISSED. She talked to the guy, and I could hear her voice raised from three feet away. Not only would it be most of the day for them just to look at the damn thing, but it might not get fixed today if they need to order parts from the dealer. Just fucking great. Mom and Sis both have stuff to do tomorrow, so I will definitely be chauffeuring, and most likely, Sis will have to cancel her appt, or we'll have to drop off Mom early/late to work to make it all work.

I explained what all was going wrong with the car. I told him about how when Mom got the oil changed, the guy told her that the head gaskets and spark plugs needed to be replaced, but didn't show us the damage, nor explain WHY those things would need to be replaced right then. (Though, by her own admission, she didn't realize he was supposed to explain all of those things... which is why I like to be the one to talk to the car people. Having worked at a car dealership for a couple of years, I know how to get around men screwing women over with regard to cars.) He told me that if the gaskets were leaking, they could be spraying engine oil onto the heads of the spark plugs causing the rough running of the car, plus the check engine light. I told him that had that all been explained when we were told to replace them a month ago, we probably would have done it. As far as the a/c is concerned, we have no idea. I'm going to ask Mom to let me go look at the car before we authorize any work, just to make sure they're not fucking us over. Always a good idea.

Anyway, I'm back at home, because I wasn't going to wait FOREVER in that hot waiting room (y'all, it was so hot at 9:30am, and in that place, that sweat was dripping down my legs from my back as I was standing there talking to the guy - ABSURD HEAT), so I had Mom come pick me up in Sis's car.

I've decided to go on a diet and get rid of some of my excess flab... not only is it ruining what self esteem I have, but it's also making living in this heat truly unbearable. I tried to start this morning - I stopped by the Walgreens on the way to the Firestone and got a sugar-free Red Bull, some Fiji Water (which I swear is the wettest water I've ever had - meaning it doesn't make my mouth dryer after drinking, nor does it make me thirsty after drinking like some other waters), and some trail mix. After the long argument with the guy about what should have been done and what needed to be done on the car, I gave up for the day... I had Mom drive through Whataburger on the way home. However, instead of the double meat/double cheese I wanted, I got their small burger and small fries with an iced tea. Compromises, I think. When we go to the store later (which was supposed to be done last night, but Mom didn't go), I'll be getting low calorie foods, probably some slim fast (it seems to be the easiest way for me to cut calories and stick with), and figure out what to drink... I HATE diet soda, so I'm going to have to deal with lots of Crystal Light or something (I generally hate regular plain water).

If anyone has any recommendations of diet foods/diet drinks they find yummy, let me know.

I'll post again when I figure out what's up.

My plan to go get my hair cut just was foiled. Mom left to go to Walmart (without asking me if there was anything I needed from there... she does that on a regular basis and it's annoying). On her way the 1/4 mile down the road, her a/c in the car died. There's something about us and the a/c's dying this week. So now she's crying and trying to drive to the nearby Firestone (where I think they totally rip her off) so they can fix the a/c. She's only got her phone and her wallet, so there's nothing for her to do while she waits. I told her that if it's going to be a long wait, I can get dressed and come get her (as long as Sis deems me worthy to borrow her car - WHICH SHE BETTER). That way she can wait at home, or we can go ahead to Walmart while they're working on her car at Firestone.

This is one of those times that Mom loses faith wondering how much more He's going to pile on her before she snaps. She's damn close to snapping. I think she definitely needs to come with me to church tomorrow if I can get her to wake up early enough.

My hair has waited this long to be cut (over a year, which is why it's so damn long), so it can wait another week or two. Dammit.

Again: "What manner of nitwittery is about to plague me on the morrow??"

The guy didn't show up until almost 8. We were making bets as to whether the pizza (due at 8:45) or the guy would show up first. He beat the pizza, just barely. Turns out that not only had the fuse upstairs blown, but that our lawnmowers cut the lines outside with the weed whackers, AND we are still leaking freon. So we were triply fucked.

He added some freon, fixed the fuse, rewired the condenser outside, and told the guy who owns the house that his best bet would be to replace the whole thing. YAY! Thank you, Jaime, for fixing the a/c and telling our landlord to finally pay for the new a/c, instead of sending the a/c guy out each time.

Let us hope and pray that Richard sees the light (and the better cost-effectiveness).

Other than that, I'm going to eat my pizza, and go take a good long-earned sleep in the cool sheets upstairs.

Also: the decision the judges made about the guys tonight on SYTYCD was RIDICULOUS and they should have kept the one they kicked off and kicked off the one they kept (vague for those who haven't seen it yet). They really need to stop letting Lil C do anything but choreograph. Since his big error about bent knees with the tango last night, he has made it perfectly clear that he doesn't know any details about how other dances are actually danced. To me, it's like asking a random audience member if he liked the thing and having him say, "It's BUCK." And, dude, seriously, DON'T DIS SHANE SPARKS. He may teach in the rich part of St. Louis now, but he grew up in the HOOD. Lil C's "krumping" grew OUT of Shane's awesome hip hop style, so THERE. Also, I'm so tired of his "I think I sound smarter when I use words I don't understand in an order so that NO ONE understands me" thing.

4pm - Mom came home from her training thing. The ARS guy was supposed to be out here a couple of hours ago, yet he still hasn't shown. Mom went into one of her cleaning frenzies. This means a couple of things. In this particular case, she decided that her first order of business was to criticize me. She had asked me to "tidy up" the living room before the guy comes. To me, this means put all the loose trash in the trash can, and make sure there's a clear path to the upstairs and to the thermostat. To her, this means vacuum, pick up every scrap of trash, wipe down the counters, throw away the bowls we use as dishes for the cats' snack every night, put all the blankets and pillows she uses to sleep on the couch in the bedroom (because OMG some random dude from the a/c company might notice that she sleeps on the couch!!), and generally freak out. My general feeling is that this is some random dude who's hot as hell from having worked outside in the heat/sun and upstairs in attics all day and couldn't give a shit about how messy/neat our living room is. Mom has this idea that he'll "report back to Richard" all the dirt he sees, and, upon hearing a report of mess by some random a/c guy, Richard (the house owner) will then proceed to kick us out of the house. I feel this is quite paranoid, but I'm not usually allowed to voice these opinions, as they generally lead to a long fight in which Mom vehemently denies the allegation.

So I'm keeping my mouth shut (for the most part). I was snippy, however, when I was trying to help her clean up the counters in the kitchen and she kept picking up the wet paper towels I was soaking the gunk with and throwing them away. I finally had to stand there with my hands over them so I could tell her to back off every time she reached for one. When in cleaning frenzy, she picks up anything she thinks is trash without taking the extra 2 seconds to determine whether it is actually trash or not. I finally gave up and told her to finish the damn thing herself after I literally used about half of a paper towel roll trying to clean about 6 sq ft of counter.

I'm now sitting on the couch with my music blasting through earphones (finally went and bought a pair of buds that aren't painful - Maxell Jellies - they have small enough ear pieces that my tiny ears are not stretched painfully). And I'm blogging, because I can't twitter this shit now that Mom has every tweet I write automatically sent to her phone.

NOW WHERE THE HELL IS THE GUY?????

2:30p... Mom FINALLY gets all the texts/voicemails I've been leaving her. She says she will contact the guy we're renting from so that someone will get sent out soon.

I've moved downstairs to the living room where the air is a little less stifling. Still really hot, humid, and still, however. Which means I'm still miserable.

However, I just noticed that both season 1 and 2 of Dexter is available on Showtime on demand, so I'm watching those to keep me distracted. I would knit while doing so, but the big thick blanket I'm knitting and this hot hot heat really don't go together.