THE HEAT IS ON!

Instead of a Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, this household has two Cowards and a Dog in a House with a Tin (Metal) Roof!

By the way, my favorite line from the above movie:Maggie the Cat (Elizabeth Taylor): "The truth, the truth! Everybody keeps hollering about the truth. Well, the truth is as dirty as lies!"



Today is predicted to be 101 F degrees in our little area of Arkansas. I don't even want to know the heat index.


Maybe I should cook lunch and dinner on the concrete block steps to save electricity. But a better idea is not to cook at all. I'm working on the latter idea.


I had a medical appointment at 9 a.m. and will exercise at 2 p.m. Since I am in the midst of how to treat my recent diagnosis of malignant hypertension, I'm not sure what kind of exercise fits.


More tests are being ordered; I aced the carotids test, but the ultrasound technician could not see the renal artery very well; a different test will be tried. This is worrisome as I only have one renal artery and kidney.


I bet Silver Sneakers fits in as I am in the MSRO class, not the cardiac one. My only gripe is the room is not cool enough. I just hate to leave my cool, comfortable abode.


Weather cycles of temperature extremity, whether hot or cold, seem to run in decades. !980 was one of those years. I thought we were moving to a more temperate area that boasted four distinct seasons, unlike my perception of Texas as summer and winter, or for lack of better adjectives hot and cold, or in green and brown.


Summer in 1980 in North Central Texas was an introduction  to Hell. We were in transition for two months: May - June. These were months I perceived would be mildly warm in Arkansas; NOT.


The transition was worst because we rented an apartment in Texas while my husband finished a job. when I was at the Texas apartment, the air-conditioning system failed. We and our German Shepherd at the time lounged around covered with wet towels and portable fans on us.


I traveled back and forth setting up our house, which had natural gas central heat and air. Guess what! My community did not have natural gas available.


Since I intended the house be converted to all electric, that first had to be completed before I invested in a central heat/air conditioning unit. By the time I purchased a unit, everyone was ahead of me, a newbie in the area, so I was at the bottom of the list.


I soon learned the advantages of finding a reliable firm and being a loyal customer.


Which leads me to another interesting current event in late July. My 3-year-old dryer, (a very high ticket model), developed an intermittent grinding sound. I could rearrange the load and it disappeared. With some loads there was no noise.


Because I purchased a 4-year maintenance agreement, I dutifully called the "800" number requesting the noise be checked. In two days I had an appointment for service.


The service man appeared promptly, and with a somewhat cursory exam, said the model washer and dryer I purchased had few moving parts. The dryer in particular had a propensity for a bearing wear-out. He would order a replacement.


I expected the usual 6 week wait, but was told I could continue to use the dryer, which I did with no additional problems, except that which was reported.


Two weeks ago I received a call from Lowe's who said the part could not be found in the entire world and they were sending me a gift card for the entire original price including taxes. I have always thought maintenance agreements were primarily a waste of money, but this washer/dryer combo was very high ticket; salesman also said he had never had take one back.


Never in my entire life has this happened. I was flabbergasted, or maybe in shock. Do you think Lowe's now has a loyal customer? Almost, maybe, well, certainly I'll shop there first.


When I picked out my replacement, same brand and style, but different model number, the sales person said it was the first one they had ever had to replace! Or at least at their location!

The dryer will be delivered Friday and the old one carted away. I bet if someone knew how to make a bearing, it would still be a good dryer for someone.

NO! I am not being paid for this sales pitch. My philosophy in blogging is to be positive when I mention well-known brands, names or businesses. Nor is this to say I might not have received the same treatment by other sellers of appliances.

 I've never heard of an appliance failing [after a 3 year period of use] and be refunded fully including taxes. I suppose somewhere in the whole wide world it may have happened.

Since I am inveterate shopper of WalMart, I will say I've had no problems with refunds there, but my ticket items have never been as large as the dryer.

STAY COOL!