Why did I bother to call? [update]

We had a cold night last night.

Why? Because our heater is broken!

Yesterday morning it was making a strange noise. When I got up out of bed I really listened to it. I then smelled a strange smell. You all know the smell. Kind of like burning hair. I knew it was bad. So I immediately turned the heater off. What I feared was that something would catch on fire.

At 8am, I called the townhouse maintenance department. I left a message about what was wrong. They called me back at 10am. I told the gentleman what happened. He told me that the Heat-Air Repair guy would be calling me. About 2pm the repair guy calls me. I told HIM what had happened. He asked me what time I'd be available on Thursday, as he was all booked for the rest of Wednesday. I said

Me: [Explained what had happened, including the smell]

Repair Guy: What time are you available tomorrow (Thursday)? I'm all booked for the rest of today.

Me: 8 o'clock?

Repair Guy: In the morning?

Me: Umm..yes.

Repair Guy: Well, how about 9 am?

Me: That'll be fine. I'll see you at 9 tomorrow morning.

Fine and dandy, right? When the hubs and I were about to get the kiddos ready for bed last night, he switched on the heater. Nothing happened.

Hubs: Uh-oh. Looks like it's totally gone.

Me: Luckily I called the maintenance guy then, right? We've got an appointment set for 9 o'clock tomorrow morning.

[Yes, this was a dig on my hubby. He noticed the strange noise when he was getting ready for work. But he did nothing about it. What did he think? The noise was going to go away on it's own? Oy!]

Hubs: Well, I guess we'll dress the kids with extra layers on tonight then.

We had no other source of heat. We never set up a natural gas account, so we couldn't start the fireplace. We might be in Arizona, but it gets down to the mid-40s at night. So it was a chilly night for us all. I gave the Princess the extra comforter. We put an extra blanket in the Bear's crib. Both kiddos had socks on too. Brrr.....

At 7:45am, I called the repair guy. I wanted him to know that the heater was more far gone than I'd explained the previous day. I wanted him to know that the heater was not kicking on at all. This way he'd be prepared and possibly have more repair items handy.

Me: Hiya! This is ME, your 9am appointment?

Repair Guy: Oh hi!

Me: Sorry to call so early, but I wanted to tell you that the heater didn't turn on at all last night. It would click but the motor didn't turn on.

Repair Guy: Okay, I'll take a look at it when I get there.

At 10:30, he shows up. Yes! He was LATE! He goes to the thermostat and tries to fire up the heater. No go. He hears it click but nothing turns on.

Repair Guy: I'm going up to the roof to check things out up there.

The roof is where the actual mechanics are located...

10 minutes later.

Repair Guy: Well, you've got a blown fuse.

Me: Okay. [Thinking...Pretty much what I figured]

Repair Guy: I've got to go pick up a fuse. It's on the other side of town.

Me: Okay. How long is that going to take?

Repair Guy: Since I'll be on the other side of town I'm going to visit some of the other calls I need to make. I'll be back about mid-afternoon.

Me: Okay. We'll see you this afternoon. [Well, what else was I going to say?]

Now why the hell didn't he have a fuse in his repair supplies? Didn't he hear me yesterday when I said there was a smell? Yes, I know that heaters normally have a smell when you first start using them. But I explained that it was a singed kind of smell. When I called this morning, I explained that the heater didn't turn on. Why the hell didn't he have a fuse with him? Shit, shit, shit!

Why did I bother to call him & explain it to him?

---

[Twittling my thumbs waiting...]

Around 3:30pm, I call the repair guy's cell phone.

Me: Hello, repair guy? It's ME. The 9am appointment from this morning?

Repair Guy: Oh yeah. Hi.

Me: I was wondering if you were going to be able to make it back here today.

Repair Guy: Yeah. I'm making my way out there. I'll be there by the end of the day.

Me: Okay. Bye.

Now what would you get from that conversation. He said "I'm making my way out there." Would YOU think he was on his way right now? That's exactly what I thought. You see...to me "mid-afternoon" (which he'd mentioned that morning) is around 3pm so that's why I called to verify that he would be returning.

Guess what time this guy showed up?

Go ahead and guess....

5:30pm! That's right! We were already getting ready to eat our dinner when this wiseguy & another dude showed up at our door. I was too ticked off to even go to the door. I had my hubby chat with them.

The two guys went up to the roof. We could hear them walking about and doing something. About 5 minutes later, the repair guy comes back to the door. I happen to be walking across the room and see him. I open the door. What do I see next to him? A piece of equipment. I wave my hubby over to the door because I know it's not going to be good news.

Repair Guy: Hi there. I just wanted to show you why you won't be having any heat tonight.

I walk away in disgust and let my hubby deal with it. The two guys were gone by 5:45pm.

Here's what my hubby told me the guy said.

Repair Guy: Well, you see this piece here is cracked. Then the turbine is all broken. We're going to have to change out this entire mechanism. We don't have the parts with us. When I came by earlier, I couldn't turn on the unit because I couldn't get any electricity to it because of the blown fuse.

First of all. No electricity to the unit? If you'd had the fuse in the truck then there wouldn't be an issue with that. Especially since I'd mentioned that the unit would no longer turn on.

Secondly. When he was there earlier, why didn't he check the machinery to determine if he needed additional parts? It only took them 10 whole minutes to get on the roof and take out the piece that was broken and bring it down. Like he couldn't have done that earlier?

Thirdly. We're having a second night without heat. Oh fun!