| Dont skimp on air conditioning |
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One of the great problems with making decisions is you often have to live with the consequences if you get one of them wrong.
Inexperience and naivety can sometimes send one on the wrong course. It could seem like such a great idea at the time, but there is still lots of room for regret.
For have we not all heard of the concept known as sins of youth?
I learned that the hard way last week.
Some 12 years ago, my wife and I were looking to get out of the world of apartment living. We found something that seemed to suit our needs and was within our budget. The only problem was it hadnt be built yet.
No matter. We bought into a subdivision that had not yet been built, but we were told wed have our own little abode in a little more than a year. We could wait. Apartment living was a little new on Beth, but I had had several years of it, and found it had certain advantages. It had been some years since I had been obliged to brandish a snow shovel.
Besides, being the first owners, we were given a certain amount of control over what would go into the house. There were a whole host of options and even possible upgrades, meaning lots of decisions at just about every turn. Realizing that we were likely to live in this house for a number of years, I think we were mindful that one factor guiding these decisions involved what we were prepared to live with. And the fact is I have regretted very few of the decisions we made.
When it came time for us to decide if we wanted air conditioning in our new home, I let my pragmatic, frugal and practical instincts take over. I reasoned I had lived most of my life without the benefit of air conditioning, generally getting along just fine with strategically placed electric fans. And there was a time in my life when I didnt even have that. Being the youngest person occupying one of three bedrooms in a two-fan household, you can guess where I ended up in the pecking order.
And when I finally had the financial resources to get a place of my own, I wasnt too upset when I was told the apartment I was eyeing didnt have air conditioning. I could afford the rent, so I could also afford a good electric fan. In fact, I still have it, and as I write this, its blowing cooling air over my heavily perspiring frame. Besides, that apartment was on the 14th floor, with a window right next to my bed. That meant cool breezes were very common, even in heat waves.
Even when I went car shopping, air conditioning seemed a major extravagance. I was prepared to spend the money on a decent sound system in the car, realizing the expediency of winding down a window was a very good way to get air circulating.
I have since come to my senses and the last two cars I have owned have been properly equipped for summer heat waves.
But when it came to equipping a house, I really didnt think much of it some 12 years ago when I elected to do without air conditioning. As I told Beth at the time, we were saving money.
Damn my conservative upbringing!
The extra cost would have meant it might have taken us a couple of more months to pay off the mortgage. I try not to let myself think about such things as resale value.
No, I just accept that it was a foolish mistake I made some years ago as I was embarking into my first venture into the world of home-ownership. Suffice to say its a decision I wish I could have back.
I had such thoughts a lot over the last week, especially during approximately 80 thoroughly miserable minutes early Friday morning. It was coming off what was billed as the hottest day of the welldocumented heat wave. I recall reading and hearing assurances that the temperatures were supposed to become somewhat more moderate once Thursday was finished (Not!) But was it was getting on to 3 a.m., the power went out. The bedroom fan, which had only been doing a so-so job of keeping things cool, stopped working completely. It took about a minute before I realized that sweat was rapidly accumulating all over me. It was a lousy feeling, which persisted until shortly after 4, when the juice came back on. I felt the fan almost immediately, and it felt great.
But the fact is, when it comes to how that time rated in terms of being a good nights sleep, I think the words bloody awful would be applicable.
So I admit to a goof. But have we not all made mistakes? If we didnt make them, wed have nothing to learn lessons from.
Ive been sweating through one of those lessons for the last little while.
Bill Rea: http://bit.ly/qTugie |
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