The heat pump, hurried returns

Last Saturday morning Mama, Nate and I were working outside and were all alarmed by the sounds our heating unit was making. Alarmed enough that I had Cori track down our pastor’s wife and get a reference for a repairman. The temperature was 15°. That was near the high temperature forecast for the day. The constant drizzle did not help in dealing with the cold. When we finally got hold of the man, he assured us we could run the heater on Emergency Heat if the outside unit was failing. He could not get to us until sometime Sunday afternoon. By late that evening everything seemed to be running properly so Mama contacted the repairman and rescheduled for Tuesday – yesterday; after the holiday weekend. When she called him to discuss the unit, he assured her that there was probably nothing to be concerned about. Heat pumps go through defrosting cycles when needed. That could have been the cause of the sounds and the steam we saw coming from the unit. He is scheduled to come to the farm tomorrow to give the unit a thorough inspection. It has been running well but we would like a confirmation of it’s overall health. The temperature is supposed to get above freezing today for the first time in four days. That will be a nice change. My truck thermometer registered 11°F this morning. Mama and I are counting our blessings. Zack Burns said his parents would be thrilled when the temperature got above 0°.

After spending Monday shopping – yes, New Year’s Day – Mama had to hurry back to the store to return some shoes she had bought during that shopping trip. I was looking for shirts and was very disappointed to see sale prices that were still too high to attract my spendable income. I suppose $25-30 is a good price for someone used to paying $110 for a single shirt, but that was not enticing to me personally – regardless of the brand. I looked at one other major retailer as Mama waited in a long line to get to the show department to be outfitted with shoes, but I did not find anything there either. We went to Burlington and I found a couple shirts I was moderately interested in. They were still not priced as I would have liked.

Fortunately, Mama “needed” to stop at Academy. I finally found some shirts I was willing to buy. They were $10 each (1/2 off the original price) so I bought five for work and two for the farm. Meanwhile, Mama and Mykenzie stumbled across a rack of marked down sandals. Normally $15 a pair, they were marked $1.98. By the time I dragged her away, she had grabbed $38 worth. Since Cori and Nate and the kids would need that type of footwear in Honduras, it made sense to Mama to stock up. Cori was pleased with the purchases and those that do not fit well enough to suit the person they were bought for can be given to some child or adult at the home when they get there. They will not go to waste.

However, the very comfortable shoes she had bought for herself were suddenly not a good fit and prompted the return last night. She assured me that we could be there and back by 8 pm if we left by 6 pm. I was not thrilled but she does not do well driving at night, so I reluctantly agreed to the road trip. Fortunately for me, Cori volunteered to go and do the driving. Since Mama’s real goal for the return was to get her money back so she could go to Bed Bath and Beyond, I was even more pleased that Cori had volunteered to go. I do not do well at that store. What I found out later was that she and Cori had been looking online and had found the scents Mama really likes. Those have not been available for a couple years according to Mama. However, when they got to the store, the store did not have what she was looking for. She ended up ordering what she “needed” online. Mama is slowly warming up to the idea of online shopping. Lord help me!

They did return the shoes, so it was not a totally unnecessary trip.