Not Conditioned To This Level Of Incompetence

Non-Dialogue, Plumber, Stupid, USA, Virginia, Weather | Working | December 6, 2019

This takes place in the middle of a heatwave. We discover that our water heater is leaking, so we get it replaced. Two guys come out, they get it unhooked, and they get the new one in place. Then, it’s time to get the old one out of the house. One of the guys starts pushing the old 80-gallon water heater up the stairs, but after two steps, he has enough. He throws a tantrum, saying he doesn’t want to be the one pushing it up the stairs. He throws the dolly across the basement, gouging a wall, and then he goes back into the utility part of the basement and knocks a shelf off the wall, before storming up the stairs and out of the house. The other guy apologizes for his behavior and says that he will most likely be fired for his behavior. The other guy finishes installing the water heater, but there’s an extra wire hanging down that he has no idea what it’s for since the grumpy guy didn’t label anything. He assumes it’s for nothing and leaves it. They do not take the old water heater with them when they are finished and leave.

Meanwhile, one of my mom’s friends has had his AC die, so Mom offers him our spare window unit until he can get his AC fixed. She and Dad drive it over to his house, but when they return, they notice our house is very hot. Closer inspection reveals that our AC is no longer working. Dad goes into the basement, navigating around the water heater, and sees the extra wire. He tries to fix it, but he can’t. A few angry emails and phone calls later, the company agrees to send an electrician out, even though they claim there’s no possible way the water heater guys knocked out the AC.

We bring out every fan we can find in the house to keep as cool as possible. Like I said earlier, it’s in the middle of a heatwave with real feel temperatures of 110 to 115, if not hotter. Since I overheat easily, I drive around in my car for an hour, then I head into the basement and sleep down there.

The electrician comes out the next morning. He finds the problem and fixes it. He doesn’t charge anything, and he even takes the old water heater with him. It takes two days for the house to cool down completely.

The worst part is, the AC at my mom’s work is also broken the same week this happens, so she has zero relief from the heat.

This story is part of our Heatwave roundup!