Monday, August 23, 2010

Ode to the Air Conditioner


Oh Air Conditioner Man, Air Conditioner Man
Wherefore art thou, Air Conditioner Man?
Deny thy 8:00 a.m. and refuse they 9:00 a.m.
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn to come at 3:00 p.m.
And I'll no longer melt whilst sitting upon my couch....

So, we have been without air conditioning for 4 nights and 3 days...and really it isn't that bad, except at night when I find it hard to sleep.  It started on Thursday evening.  We noticed how hot it was, but it was late and we couldn't do anything about it until the next day.  The Air Conditioner men came Friday afternoon and "fixed" it, only for it to go off again Friday night.  They came back Saturday morning and "fixed" it once again, only for it to quit Saturday afternoon. Sunday Jason read about it online and tried his hand at it.  He figured out what part needed to be replaced, but we couldn't find where to purchase it. The air conditioner men have promised to return today at 3:00 p.m.

Last night as I stood next to Jason holding the flashlight he said, "I don't understand how they missed this.  It isn't rocket science."  To which I replied, "Apparently, it is rocket science. You are a rocket scientist and it took you to figure it out."  We laughed a bit as we headed back into our stuffy house.  I opened the windows, made sure all the fans were on and poured myself a glass of iced tea.

With the sleepless nights has come a complete lack of motivation to run. On top of not wanting to get up when the alarm clock goes off, it is somehow discouraging to know that I will not be cooling off after my hot run in the August heat.  So instead of 15 miles on Saturday, I got in a whopping 5.  Instead of 5-6 miles on Sunday, I got in a VERY hot 3. 

I was annoyed and frustrated that ONCE AGAIN I had not done the mileage I had planned to do.  I talked with Jason, which always helps, and he encouraged me saying there was plenty of time to get in the training I needed before the races I wanted to run. Then in small group last night, things were somehow put into perspective as we talked about Joshua, what he was called to do, and what we are called to do.  I'm not here on this earth to run miles, although it is something I love to do.  It is not my main purpose.  The main purpose is to follow Jesus Christ and live such a life that others can see Him in me...and hopefully want to know Him if they don't already.

"Fear God and obey His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."  It is quite simple.  And yet I get bogged down in air conditioner troubles and low mileage days, and when I pick up the Bible and take a look inside... I feel so...shallow!

So I'm going to keep running and chase down my mileage goals.  If I make them, great.  If I don't, life will go on and what really matters will still really matter.  The air conditioner will eventually get fixed and until it does, I will drink a lot of iced tea, run around in my skimpies, and feel like I live in the 1920s when no one had Air Conditioning.

7 comments:

  1. "The air conditioner will eventually get fixed and until it does, I will drink a lot of iced tea, run around in my skimpies, and feel like I live in the 1920s when no one had Air Conditioning."

    you summed up in your last sentence my life in tanzania -- all except the a/c getting fixed, at least.

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  2. Ha ha, yeah I think your AC is permanently out. Although...isn't it cooler in the mornings there? Or did you say it is winter there now? I can't remember.

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  3. it is technically winter here, but since i could ride my bike to the equator, that doesn't mean a whole lot.

    it does get cool here in the late evening and mornings. i'm wearing a sweat shirt right now (7:30 am), but will be sweating just sitting around later today. but you're right, it's no alabama summer.

    hope that a/c problem gets worked out soon.

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  4. I THINK the problem is solved...as of 9:30 last night when our AC folks came back for the FOURTH TIME! Crazy.

    AND to top that good news off, it was 68 degrees for our run this morning. It was SO INVIGORATING! A hint of fall.

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  5. jane.. thanks for your comment on my morning laziness :) or should I say my desire to be lazy in the morning.?

    I was a married man before I ever had air conditioning. I can remember lying in bed on hot, sticky nights wondering if I would ever sleep.

    I do enjoy air conditioning now.. and iced tea!

    Tell JamesBrett to stop running around in his scimpies in Tanzania... he may be mistaken for a local ;)

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  6. I found your blog from Katie M's blog How We Roll. Maybe we've met-but I'm horrible with names.

    I'm about to start a study on Joshua...your post reminds me why I'm so incredibly excited about it.

    BTW, I can't wait until I'm writing posts about running up Cecil Ashburn. Great blog!!

    :D

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