Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The Day My Summer Got Dramatic.

Have you ever had one of those days where you just couldn't cool off? You know, when the heat radiates off of the pavement, and it's tough to even breath in the hot, humid air? I don't deal all that well with that kind of heat, so days like this make me sort of 'moody,' or just hide inside all day.

A few weeks ago, I was in Hometown, NJ working with a client. It was the last day of my visit and I was going to be traveling around to a few offices throughout the hottest part of the day. In work attire. So, I set off on my journey, and made the usual stop at Starbucks on my way out. When I returned to my car, I was surprised to find that the air coming out of the vents was warm and sticky. Just like the air outside. I thought for sure this was a fluke, so I turned the car off and and then on again, but the same thing happened. 

Cue panic mode.

Now, I don't consider myself to be too much of a drama queen, but this ignited the drama inside of me immediately. I called my Mom telling her about my dilemma and she suggested I take my car in to our local mechanic to see if there was anything he could do on short notice. You know, before I make the 4 hour trek back to MD that evening. 

I got over to the mechanic's in just a few short minutes. He quickly popped the hood, checked it out and told me that it was likely that my AC system needed to be flushed and recharged. Great, how long can that take? Unfortunately for me, our friendly neighborhood mechanic couldn't fit me in that day, and sent me on my way assuring me that my car would definitely "make it back to MD in one piece." Why thank you, kind sir, but it wasn't the car I was worried about, it was the four hours of hot wind, sweat and bad mood that I knew I was preparing to sit through.

By the end of the day, my 'work attire' had changed to the coolest sundress that I had packed for the trip. The thermometer inside my car read a cool 90 degrees, and I knew I had to get on the road before my window of lighter traffic was gone. Thus began the 4 hours back to MD in a hot sticky car. 

I would love to update this post by telling you that the AC in my car has now been fixed and is no longer an issue, But when we brought it in for service at home, and the recharging of the system didn't work, we were told that it needed a whole new compressor. Since we don't plan on keeping this car into next summer, we decided to save ourselves the $900 and I vowed to 'suck it up' for the next few weeks.

If I wasn't ready for fall before this happened, I sure am now. Let's just say that I'm counting the days til September, hoping for no Indian Summer, and staying home more often these days.

5 comments:

Julie said...

Oh I remember that summer that my then fiance's car did that. He thought it would be fine going around just the town in it - I was drenched by the time we got home. Good luck "sucking" it up!

Kenya said...

Oh my! I would have probably just sat there in my underwear! HAHAHA

{annie_loo} @ The Farrar Four said...

OH NO! I would have died too! Bless! Hoping it cools off soon for y'all!!!!! It's feeling a lot like fall down here, that's for sure. I LOVE IT!!!

WorthyStyle said...

Yuck! So sorry you are having to put up with that mess. I hope that the summer heat breaks soon and that you will feel pleasantly cool weather shortly!! (and have fun shopping for a new car, yay?)

Hilary said...

Ugh, that happened to me a few years ago with my Xterra, that conveniently was just a few months past the warranty expiration. It was $2100 to replace the compressor! Those things aren't cheap! Thankfully it was at the end of summer for you!