Rites of Passage

The installation of one's air conditioner is the rite of passage signalling the onset of summer. I cleaned the filter, I installed the exhaust pipe in the window and plugged the spaces with squishy foam. After a few hours of running quite well, the room was a tolerable 78 degrees but the floor was flooded with water. I thought, maybe the unit isn't balanced correctly, so it's not draining right. I emptied the water and turned on the unit once more. A couple of hours later, the floor was flooded again. Houston, we have a problem.

Good bye old A/C...you have served me well, cooling me off during all those hazy, hot and humid NYC summers for the past 5 years.

Costco has a new sale on it's books tonight.

I bought a new air conditioner.

It will be on a nice brown UPS truck next week, on it's way to my bedroom.

It is coming from California, it will take approximately 5 days to get here.

It will see more of the United States than I have.

I wish that they had a little map of the country so I could follow it's journey, through the desert, over the Rockies, past the waving wheat, over the Blue Ridge Mountains to my door.

After that long trip, I hope I can lug it up the two flights of stairs to it's final destination.