Day -122 -- A/C DeMolded - And there was a Bear in my Mango tree

I think I am at 122 days left, with only 75 of them being work days. Wow, going fast. Vacation (travel) time is just around the corner.

And our first Pune FTE should be starting next Monday. Still time for him to change his mind.. No word on the 2nd having accepted the offer. 45 days don’t start until he gives notice to present employer.

The real news for today is the A/C guys are clearing out the wet and moldy air exchange box this morning—I’ve started writing this entry before they are to get here at 9-11. Will it make a difference to the air inside the house? I’ve always had Air Purifiers running in multiple places in the house. Hepa filters and bio-reduction filters. But maybe I’ll see another electricity reduction with the air all getting to the inside of the house, and not just the attic. I’ll update when I know.

Looks like another PTO (Paid Time Off) on Thursday, for the Security Camera guy, who is scheduled for 8:30 in the morning. That’s fine. Gives me the rest of the day to play in the pool.

It is tree trimming time around here. I am having my lawn team trim the Sabal Palms and Leyland Cyprus trees out front, and then the smaller mango tree out back. Those in the front are too tall for me to handle, and the mango too poisonous!!! I am finally itchy rash free from picking the mangoes. Not going near them for awhile. Ah, and as a surprise, the lawn guy just showed up this morning, in the rain. They are doing the trees today. One more task will be complete.

And I’ve scheduled for my favorite handyman to dig some planting holes for the aloe plants I have in large pots and the 2 mini Papaya trees while I’m away. I guess I am getting old. Trying to get through roots and such is too much in the heat. He is used to it. Also, having him scrape the flaking paint off the one fence gate, and repaint it. That gate should never have been painted immediately when it was built a few years ago. The wood wasn’t dry enough. He’ll also lock the place down in case a Hurricane/Tropical Storm decides to visit while I’m away.

My new Logo — Fresh off the phone of Laurence Andrews. Thank you Sir. Laurence designed the logo on his phone — I added the tag-lines and the touch of color to make it pop on this site.

I would still like to get this animated, but for now, I really like this logo. Lots of good symbolism to be seen.

And to think, he did this on his phone. Shoot, I have trouble making calls, or texting, from my iPhone.

A/C guys are arriving soon. Will follow-up when they leave.

Ugh, here is what I can see inside the section ripped out above the A/C.. Lots of mold…

It even soaked into the insulation some. Icky. Not good breathing material…

And I may as well throw in a picture of the Sabal Palms after the best trimming they’ve had in years.

He will trim the Cyprus shortly. Cleaning up from the palms first.

Just had a funny moment out there. The fellow that is trimming trees knocks on the patio door. He was trimming the little Mango tree. He says, “there is a Bear in the tree, come see”… Um, I get my iphone camera out, and go to see this Bear — and he points up in the middle of the tree and says, “see big eyes”. Here is a snapshot of the bear.

Told the guy to work around the little pile of feathers. Don’t hurt it.. And if there is a section of the tree not done, that is fine. I looked it up, “búho real“ in Spanish, is “Royal Owl” in English. It just sounds like BEAR, if you are trying to say a sentence in English with a Spanish word or two. — Hey, he does speak English better than I do Spanish now.

And, back to the A/C saga. They also just came back to me and asked to replace the flexible tubing that connects to the box. It has mold inside and out. Just a few more $$$. But, I’d rather see the mold gone, than have them reconnect the moldy oldies back to refresh the growth cycle.

Here is what my garage looks like while they are off getting more connector thingies.

Hey, I think the lawn guys are finishing up. It is quiet out there. No mower, chainsaw, trimmer, or blower making loud noises. And just in time for the A/C guys to return.

So here is the final result of the tree trimming out front.

Looking good in the neighborhood. Cyprus are trimmed just enough to not be shaggy, and the palms look clean. Just the way it should be done. (By John Pellegrino Painting and Pressure Washing and Lawn Services)

Just need some A/C now. They are back with all kinds of materials that they just need to put together. I have my little portable A/C on in my bedroom. Well, not so little. It does push out 13,500 BTUs. And supposedly can handle 700 square feet. https://amzn.to/2KHxB0i

Friedrich PH14B 13500 btu - 115 volt - 9.5 EER ZoneAire series portable room air conditioner with reverse cycle Heat Pump When I bought it, the price was in the $500ish range. Now it is pushing $850 because of tariffs. That’s a bit much. It can get my bedroom down to 62-ish when the rest of the house is in the mid-70s. The Master Bedroom suite in this place may be right around 750 square feet when you include the bath area and the closet — The closet is about the 1/2 the size of my old mobile home in Ohio!!!

Anyway, even though it is in the upper 80s outside, Alexa tells me we are averaging 76 in the house. I’d guess that is 65 in that bedroom, and 78 in this room, and 90 in the back of the house. === And likely 110 in that attic.

It is now 6:30 pm. About an hour ago they said an hour and a half.. And then, they also told me, about every 15 minutes, another zone should start to blow air (not cold, because only the fan was on -- don't want the cold in the attic). So, I took out my trash, went in the house, and it was snowing insulation out of just about every vent. I had 3 vacuums going. One, a battery one to pick the stuff off the floors, one with a hose and brush to get the furniture, and the last with a long skinny tube to get the stuff that was still sitting at the vent waiting its turn to come out... What a freaking mess.

Not only are these the slowest contractors I’ve seen in awhile, they are the messiest.

It looks like the stuff they’ve completed is done right, but the sloooow messsss getting there is the pits. If you are looking for someone that you don’t want to do duct work, I have the fellows. Sad, considering the A/C technicians from this company do a darn good job.

I just want it over. I’ll never need to use them again.

Well, it is 8 Freaking PM and they just pulled away. Things are working, and look okay. Their new box in the attic is sealed and looks like it won’t leak — but looks like it was put together by 2 year olds. I’ll get a picture someday, but now, I just want to forget they were here. After they “swept” up their mess, I sent them outside and took the leaf blower to the garage to get most of the insulation off of everything.

But the temperature in this place is back to where it belongs, and hopefully the air will be clearer (in a couple of days!!).

Time to end this Day-long Blog entry.

I hope your day was much more pleasurable, and a lot less costly.

Enjoy Life.