All hail the surgeon ... I mean the repairman

Granted, it was not hot by the standards of, say, Las Vegas, where it is over 100 degrees on a daily basis this time of year.

But it was damned muggy the other night here. My wife and I spent a restless night with the windows open hoping to get any kind of breeze going. Eventually, morning came and I was on the phone as soon as possible asking the company that put in our air conditioner last year to get the hell over here and fix it. It had gone out the night before and we couldn't possibly be expected to live in two nights of 70 degree agony.

I was told a guy would come between 1 and 5 p.m. Usually that means they arrive at 4:59 but this time, Jerry showed up at 1:30. He was a big fellow and Pete, the Happy Dog who had turned sour because of no air conditioning, was suspicious of him for a long time. But Jerry won him over and was soon allowed to proceed to cooling down everybody.

It turned out now to be as easy as it sounded. We bought the air conditioning unit a year ago and had hardly used it. I figured it was a freon problem or some such thing. The guy would fill up what was needed and be gone in 20 minutes.

Didn't happen that way. Instead, I could hear him doing a lot of sighing and puzzled grunts as he worked downstairs. In time, he came up to report that a motor of some sort was no longer working in the furnace area. Naturally, this was an item that was probably not covered under warranty. But he would call and check and give me a price. Jerry spent some time in the truck, came back with a small box and headed back downstairs.

More sighs and puzzled grunts were heard. 20 minutes later, he came upstairs again.

"I have good news and bad news for you," he said. "The good news is the motor I told you about is covered under warranty so you won't have to pay $410 for it. The bad news is the end motor also isn't working and that is not covered under warranty. That will cost $465 and I am not sure I even have one in my truck. I haven't replaced one of those in a few months."

Back to the truck he went. 15 minutes later, he emerged with another box. By now, he had entered and left the house so many times that Pete didn't even get up to check him out. The thermostat in the dining room read 80 degrees and the dog wasn't going anywhere any more. It was too damn hot outside and it was too damn hot inside.

Jerry returned to the basement. 10 minutes later, I heard the most wondrous noise - a purring sound that resembled a large cat that had drank a bowl of milk. Pete's ears perked up. The noise went off for a few minutes and then returned.

Fairly soon, Jerry came upstairs to report the happy news the end motor was working just fine. The operation was a success and the doctor seems pleased with the result. I looked at the thermostat. It was down to 79 degrees already. Cooler heads were about to prevail again.

This whole performance only took about two hours overall. But it seemed like an eternity.

We are a country that likes our comfort. I am not a big air conditioner guy when you are a little hot, your spouse is hot and your dog is hot, not having the machine available for your use when needed is damn near an emergency.

Jerry didn't look like the kind of doctor you see on TV. But he performed a surgery that, in its own way, had as much value as many operations you hear about. The results are really noticeable today. It is 90 degrees outside and a nice 73 inside. And I hope Jerry makes somebody else (and their dog) equally happy today.