I cannot believe the trouble you're having with that darn AC...you gotta sue somebody...

poor Purl, poor kitties....

It's been nasty hot here too, but fortunately, I've got my window unit cranked...

Crossing my fingers for you today...third times gotta be a charm...!!!!!

am i first? that never happens!

that said, where are the pictures of windtunnel kitties?
that seems like something i ought to see.

YAY purl-- my knitting stuff came in the mail today!

dammit mary in boston. you have a time zone advantage. i'm going to start having my dad write comments for me so i can be on EST too. :)

I vote that you go on down to the A/C Company and stage a knit in. Crying is optional - but I thinka good sob while knitting would speed up the repair process.

Hey you early birds!

Hi Crystal :)

Kendra -- you have the ants, right? Email me your addy and I will snail mail you some Chinese ant chalk, that shit is powerful and works! I stocked up last year, I was in ant killer mode in my old condo. Seriously, chalk outside all your windows and doors (your friends will think you've gone satanic) and it works like a charm.

I chalked the insides of all the electrical faceplates (the plastic part) because they were comin' in through there! Sick! Hate you ants!

Also, wear rubber gloves, though. I mean God only knows what the hell is in the chalk, but it totally works and you don't have to use spray chemicals or anything.

Mary -- I just saw on Weather Channel how hot Boston is!!

I'm totally talking to myself now. This cannot be a good sign.

Hey Kendra!!! Neener, neener, neeeeeeeener!!!!!!!!!

*mary sticks her tongue out at Kendra*

Um, actually, I never think I'm gonna be first, cause that never works out...heh.

Laurie, I so feel your pain...I just cannot stand heat and humidity...possibly because I'm a crabby old woman, and therefore, I don't care what it costs to run my AC, I'm gonna run it...I do, however, try to be mindful of the pollution and keep it dry instead of insanely cold, like my office is.

Mary, last night I was saying to Jen on the phone, "Where can I move? that it's cold ALL THE TIME?"

I love cold weather, love it. Always vacation in damn cold places. Why I landed upon the Valley and stuck myself here has suddenly become absurd, like suddenly NOW I am sane, and NOW I must move someplace cold, Arctic, frigid, polar...

Plus! I could wear handknits at the arctic! I want to move to Norway. It's pretty there, they have good milk products, lovely people and cold cold cold....

LOL, Laurie, I was thinking the same thing...Norway is beautiful...but I love Scotland...I'm thinking of trying to figure out a way to live there for a few years. Lovely people, and cool or cold most of the time...

You're growing tomatoes? Panty hose are good for tying them up..whoops, that sounds bad....heh...

Seriously, old pantyhose are easier on the stems...

What?!?! No pics of the cats in front of the fan?

Oh! Never thought of that! Poor tomato. Dressed in pink red heart!

. . .or pics of the tomatoes tied up with Noro or Red Heart. Laurie, I really think the heat is taking its toll on you.

Boston is hot and humid, has been for weeks, and we're really not built for that here. No one I know has central air, and everyone looks wilted and sad. We know how to layer sweaters and long underwear and scarves and socks to stay warm, but what do you do to stay cool? Only so much you can take off while retaining some sense of decency. My poor cats keep disappearing to the bathroom, where they lie up against the underside of the toilet. Gross, but apparently cool.

My sympathies on your suffering. I can only imagine how miserable it must be there.

Noro, for tomatoes???? They better produce better with that kind of tie!

Here's a toast to A/C man #3...may he be the last. Try not to be *too* grateful when he fixes it ;)

Just found your blog a few days ago and have been following your a/c dilemma. Let me tell you, I've been there too.

But while I am reading your blog, what flashes through my mind is this lady knitting, at record speed, a "Noro" cocoon with an a/c repair man inside. Notice Noro, not Red Heart....hmmm, is the heat getting to me too? Heck ya it is. Los Angeles isn't suppose to be like this in July, only August and September.....and this morning on channel 11 they said it's here to stay until October.

Don't know if heat and ants go one on one, but I've been fighting those darn ants for days! Someone tell me where I can find that Chinese chalk, it works great when you can find it!

Here's hoping you have a "cool" Friday night.

Really enjoy your blog...

And I too am staying home from work today.

Tootles~

Wow. That's horrible! Why wouldn't he double-check to see if it actually works? I know he's busy and all, but that's just poor work.

Oh, Laurie, come on over to my house in Michigan. It's hot here, too, but our AC works. Bring the cats! Those purries shouldn't suffer for that company's incompetence.

Laurie,

Missed you at SNB last night! I can't believe you are still dealing with the AC. Please email me, I have the name of an honest great AC guy, my mom only uses the best for her business (she's a perfectionist), you shouldnt be dealing with this!

Stay cool!

Damn. A cold day in hell is probably looking pretty good right now. I hope you are able to recover you money from A/C Company A (schmucks!). I wish I could cheaply drop ship a spare window unit to you. At least this new wind tunnel will consolidate the cat hair to one side of you pad for easy cleaning.

Poor Purl - I do hope that third time is a charm and you will be able to spend this evening sitting in your chair directly under your ac vent! I'm sure the cats will join in too!

Thanks ya'll...

Debra, I was so sad to miss snb, but with all the windows and screens open, it wasn't safe for me to leave the house unattended. Thanks for the A/C guy offer, but apparently I have to go through the insurance company and use their guys. I gave them an earful about the first place they recommended!

I took tons of pics but can't post them, left my camera cord at work. Ah well. It's the heat. Makes you forgetful.

For the Cats:
Freeze water bottles (well...until the freezer breaks down) and lay them around so The Cats can sprawl on them. I do that here...in the sunny humid but mostly sunny south, not having air conditioning and only two fans, one in the front of my apt. and one in the back of my apt. turned backwards to suck the air thru from the front.
The Cats will love it. Unless they don't.

Laurie,

AC men are evil. You must ensnare them with duct tape (sorry, i'm not a knitter - but i bet you have a yarn that would work too)and tie then to the ac unit untill it is working. My AC was out the last 3 days and the company told me they couldent be out for a week. And i had only had the ac installed THREE weeks before. I, too, have discovered the value of being histarical on the phone. It's amazing how a week turnins into 24 hours. You should be proud of your phone crazy - it saves you from having to drive down there and be in person crazy!!!! And we sooo need pics of the kitties in the wind tunnel!

Hang in there. and eat lots of ice cream. If you fill a big mixing bowl with ice then put a little thing of ben n jerries in the ice in the big mixing bowl it last sooo much longer before melting!

Best of luck!

oh my God - poor you and poor fur babies. But I laughed 'til I cried imagining you and the runaway A/C man, then you at Home Depot and the poor kitties disovering the joys of the scary fan. Let's hope the guy today finally gets it right!!

I love the yarn experiment. Let us know the results, 'kay?

That bastard A/C guy probably had no idea how to fix it and just ran away. A gypsy curse on A/C Company A!! Cuz y'all know gypsy curses are the best kind!

Big ass bummer!!! I was so excited for you to get your ac fixed and now...such disappointment! I hope you are taking cool showers and drinking lots of water between wine to keep yourself hydrated.

xo

One more day and hopefully it will be artic cold at Chez Purl's! You know you're going to be cranking that baby on 30*-and blissfully wearing sweaters and mittens in the house!

(Oh, and please try to get a pic of the cats in front on the fan-too funny!!)

One of my fave posts so far! Way too funny! (and again ... that's "funny" as in "your writing on the incident was very humorous"; not "funny" as in "HA HA your AC is STILL out and you and the kitties are sweltering!" (cuz honey, THAT is NO laughing matter!))

Hang tough! And break out the can of whoop a** on RepairMan #3 if you need to!

Chalk for ants?? Oh geez..tell me how this works as I am under a deluge of the damn things...and they are too little to get good pictures of....

I can just picture the cats and the fan......

Sweatingly yours, Cheryl

laurie - sent you an email too - But - I sent out your Bday Package today. You should have it soon! Abbey & Opie included presents for your four furballs. keeping my fingers crossed that by the time it gets their you have air and the furballs will have energy to play with their new toys!

Okay, granted, I'm further north, but we get heat waves too, and I have no air conditioner. What's my secret? OTTER POPS!!! The thing is to leave them attached, and drape them over your head. Then as they get a little melty, you can either break them off and eat them, or pop them back in the freezer. With the protection of a paper towel, you can also drape them over the beasties. If anything it'll probably just confirm the "Blanche" image, but you'll feel ever so much better. Oh, and in a pinch, they can also be tied around a twisted ankle. I've always relied upon the coldness of Otter Pops!

There's a reason it's hard to find that Chinese Ant Chalk. It's some dangerous, toxic shit, which is why it's illegal. Check it out:

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/archives/pressrls/1998/chalk.htm

I think you need to tie a huge-ass bungee cord to reairman #3. Long enough so that he can try to get away, say a block or two away, and then he HAS to come back to check on the unit. I hope that the "fixing" has not permanently damaged your unit (er... a/c unit). I'm sure you are feeling a little heat damaged by now. Keep us posted!

oh SURE. Otter Pops. Until the cats pop them and then there will be ottor Pops Guts all over the floor and fur and the cats will stick to the walls and chairs and i guess that would be cool for a parlor trick and more colorful than a stupid plastic bottle of water but...wait what am i saying?!? i have to go get otter pops! i like YOUR idea better!
i love this blog! You are all just great.

Awright, I've had enough of your sh**ty A/C repair guys, and I don't even live at your place. Time you got ugly with company number 1 even if company number 2 fixes things. I don't hold with crap service. Send the Soba after them.

You want to get away from the heat? Move to Calgary, Alberta. No humidity (or damned near) 99% of the time. Ya go through a lot of body lotion.

Summers rarely get higher than 70F, except a few weeks toward the end of July/beginning of August.

Air conditioning is considered a luxury, and only useful 1-2 weeks out of the year. It gets quite cold at night, even in summer (see: no humidity).

Now I'm living in Baton Rouge, LA, and seriously questioning my sanity.

Idea:

next time a A/C man gets on the roof... REMOVE THE LADDER.

'nuff said?

I'm telling you girl, San Francisco is your best bet. I turned on my heat last night.
Good thinking about sitting around at the AC repair place. I did that once, camped out in the apartment manager's office since they were too dumb to fix my AC - after refilling it with Freon 3 times and not wondering where it went, I burned out the unit. Just follow through. You can pull it off with class, you're Southern.

Hope the black cloud moves over someone else's life real soon, sweetie. Keep your chin up!

Laurie,
You are so sweet and southern. My years in NYC have given me a horrible edge. I wish I were there to lend some loud and aggressive support to your cause.

I would have asked him where the hey-diddle he thought he was going. I would have said, Dude, come into my home/hotbox and see how well you repaired the air... I would have shaken my tiny little fist at him. You would have been proud.

And I am sure he would have left, just the same, without saying a gosh-darn word. Hrmph. Best of luck with AC person 3!!!

i sent you email, but i don't know if it worked. work email can be very finicky.

I'm thinking, put a Denver Boot on his repair van and don't remove it until a) he tests the system and b) he sits around for 15 mins with you and has an ice tea, while you verify that it stays fixed at least that long.

When I was a preschooler, we lived in LA. My dad had gone someplace in a suit one very hot summer day and came home to find us kids playing in a small kiddie pool in the apartment complex yard. He just went prone, suit and all, right into the water.

Hang in there!

I like Nancys idea about removing the ladder once he's on the roof. Make him sweat it up there until you've confirmed that cool air is coming out of the vents. If he complains about the heat up there... just throw otter pops to him.

A reliable AC man is a find indeed.
I agree that panty hose strips are ideal for tying plants. You go girl, for growing the tomatoes! Glad things are on the mend and that cats are surviving rather than expiring.

Was so excited to learn about Chinese Ant Chalk. Truly. This promised to change my life.

But then, I googled Chinese Ant Chalk (or CAC), and found out that it's *illegal* in CA because it's chock full o' lead. Definitely not suitable for children's art projects. What's more, the Berkeley Parents Network is encouraging anyone who sees the stuff for sale to call in and report the shopkeepers. So you'd better hide your stash. Quick.

Don't know if it's legal here, but I'm more curious than ever...

WELL? Are you cooler? Did you curl AC-3's toes? Give us the skinny! I'm in the Valley also and I use those little round ant baits on the metal sticks and they work great and don't harm the critters. ants-0, me-985,764
Now, whose got something for flies? The unwind-it sticky paper from the feed store just ain't gettin'er done this year.

Hey, don't sweat through another night. Take your kitties and check into a Motel 6, since they allow pets. Sleep in air conditioned comfort, and tomorrow the ac man will be there.

Industrial wind tunnel fans are a very good thing. In a barn without air conditioning they are a very, very, very good thing... so you should really appreciate it once you get moved into your storage shed! ;-)

take pictures of the ac guy - maybe turn up the heat first so he takes his shirt off - this is all only if he is hot - and personally I don't care cause I'm a dog but my mommy might like it. It juts isn't very hot here - so no one is taking their shirts off...

Hey--my daughter used the 'plain ol' chalk --sidewalk stuff, and guess what? Ants don't like it. Maybe it's kinda like drawin' the line, tellin' 'em not to cross it. Ants are chickens.

I know I'm just being mean, but I live up in the mountains of Western NC, and it gets downright chilly at night. We actually turn OFF the AC at night because the house gets much cooler with the windows open. We think it's a heat wave if it gets to the mid 80's.

Yeah, yeah, I know. You all want me to kiss your asses.

dont worry its hot here in chicago too! over 100 with a heat index of 115 to be exact!! and i dont even have a/c!!! i havent had a/c since i was a wee lass at my parents house. luckily my litle kitty who looks a lot like your torti is in my grandmothers air conditioned basement whilst i go to france.

stay cool!!

"It didn't take too much incoherent babbling to get the name of a new A/C place, and an assurance from Large Insurance Corp. that they'd fax an emergency work order to A/C Company #2 on the condition that please, ma'am, please stop crying!"

Shades of my last-November adventure with the Furnace Guy From Hell, and his minion, The Absent Electrician.

FGFH claims my furnace won't work because the house is miswired; I need to call in TAE on his recommendation. I shiver and curse and skip work for over a week and TAE fails to show on three promised occasions. Finally, I bite the bullet and call the "good" electrician in town (after being warned about how expensive he is) just to be told that my problem does NOT sound electrical.

as I sit there babbling and weeping on the phone, he suggests a new furnace service. They're out the next day, despite a sudden cold snap, and I have heat again.

Lesson learned: if a service person shows even the slightest hint of dinking with me, they get fired. I am not about "second chances" any more when I'm paying money for someone to come and do their job.