I spent the morning at a fundraising tournament for Princess’ high school volleyball team. The funds raised from this and two other fundraisers they have planned are to help offset the $300 price tag for the parents. Which in and of itself is great!
Is it Really a Fundraiser?
However, my concern with this type of fundraiser is that the bulk of the financial investment still lies with the parents. For instance, each player had to pay $5 to play. They also had to either supply cases of drinks or baked goods to sell at concessions.
From what I can tell, there are 10 teams here at $30 per team, that’s just $300 they’ve brought in. I don’t know how much a bake sale at this type of event is going to make, but I cannot imagine it will be substantial.
While there is no cost for labor. The coaches are the referees and vollyeball players are working as line judges, covering the door (it is $5 to get in for spectators,) and selling baked goods. I just can’t see how this type of event is going to pull in any significant amount of money to help us parents out.
In fact, after the prizes they are giving to the top 2 or 3 teams, well, I just don’t see this being successful as a fundraiser.
Or is it Just Fun?
Granted it was a lot of fun; they are obviously enjoying playing with teams of their own creation. There are teams comprised of football players only, family teams from the parents down to the young siblings and parents playing with their children and friends.
Ready for play – Princess and her teammates ready at the fundraising tournament.
Perhaps if it had been better advertised. I think there was just two messages sent out…one with the volleyball players themselves via a flyer and the second a social media post just a couple of days ago. It’s too bad the support for girls sports is underwhelming compared to the local football team which you cannot get away from.
Disparity between Boys and Girls Sports
Even the girls notice. I had a group of four volleyball players in my car yesterday, and they were lamenting the disparity in funds and support for their team versus the boys sports. Not only did they bring up the cost, but also the lack of new uniforms and new equipment. But worse then that, at least in my eyes, was the lack of recognition for their efforts.
Evidently, during announcements, the sports highlights are read and little to nothing is said about the girls sports unless there is a “star” player who did something amazing. I don’t know. This is really our first time with public school sports.
Princess is loving it, but it saddens me that even the girls recognize the difference in financial and community support.
Is this the same in your community? Has anything been done to address it? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
This is in Tucson. Our temperatures the past couple days have been in the one-hundred-teens. It was literally over 100 degrees even at 10:00pm last night. It’s been in the 120’s in our upstairs. To say “hot” is the understatement of the century.
Back Story
Let’s back up a bit. Our A/C went out last Wednesday night/Thursday morning. We’ve had 3 separate repair companies out to inspect it. We initially considered filing a home-owner’s insurance claim to help repair our A/C when we thought the damage was due to a lightening strike (which is covered under home owner’s insurance). But after 2 more companies came out to inspect, both thought the damage was more likely due to flood-related issues. Flood-related damage is not covered by our home-owner’s insurance. We do not have a home warranty. We’re on our own to pay for the issue.
Warranty
The good news is we’ll be receiving close to $4,000 in parts for free since they’re covered under warranty (the unit is only 3 years old!). The not-so-great news is we have to wait for the parts to come direct from the manufacturer and we were told it was a 2-week wait. We paid $150 to rush order the parts so they would be here in 5 business days. That would have put the parts here yesterday, folks.
Day 8 and still no A/C…
The company we ended up going with was recommended by a friend. They have good reviews online. They’re a family-owned small business (love supporting small business!) All seemed good at first. But I started getting nervous early this week. Hubs called for a status update on Monday, left a message, and received no return call. He called again Tuesday, left another message, and received no return call. By Wednesday I’m freaking out. The parts were supposed to arrive Wednesday. They’re supposed to be installed today. We’re supposed to have working A/C again tonight!!! Hubs called 3 times yesterday. No pick-up, no return call. Finally about 4:45pm I decided to take matters into my own hands. I called from work (a different phone number), and lo and behold – they answer.
What followed next was an INCREDIBLY frustrating conversation that left me literally shaking I was so angry. Long story short, it became blatantly clear we were receiving the run-around. There were several inconsistencies, misrepresentations, and just plain contradictions in story between what we were told last Thursday/Friday and yesterday when the part was supposed to arrive. Getting off the phone, I was told by the owner, “I’ll let you know in the morning if the part has even been shipped yet.”
….
IF THE PART HAS EVEN BEEN SHIPPED YET???
It could be another 5-7 days. Another WEEK with no A/C.
Surviving the Heat
We did a staycation for 2 days at a local hotel over the weekend. It was a welcome (albeit temporary) relief from the heat. When we came back, we went and bought two window A/C units (thanks to recommendations from readers – thank you!). We have one in our downstairs living room. We hung sheets to enclose the square footage and make it a smaller place. The other is in the master bedroom upstairs. We keep all the doors closed. The window units have made the place survivable, but it’s far from ideal. I’ve broken out in an itchy heat rash all over my legs. Even with the units running constantly, the best they can do is cooling the enclosed areas to 84 degrees. Still pretty toasty (During summer I keep the thermostat at 78, for comparison).
The second you have to leave the cooled area (going to the bathroom, kitchen, dining room, etc.) it’s literally in the 120’s. Going into the bathroom it feels like walking into a dry sauna. The floor feels heated. I’m sweating constantly. It almost makes your chest feel heavy, like you’re being suffocated. It’s just miserable. To those who recommended buying “standing fan”??? I appreciate the comment, but it’s just so clear you’ve never experienced heat like this before. We do have a couple fans to help in addition to the window units. But I just can’t even convey through a computer screen the level of heat we’re dealing with here. It’s awful.
Starting Over
I don’t want to throw this local business under the bus, but I am BEYOND DISAPPOINTED in our interaction with the A/C repair company we chose. The plan for today is to call every single repair place listed on the A/C manufacturer’s website until we find someone who can do it sooner than we’ve been told by the current company. Luckily, we haven’t signed any contracts and we didn’t pay any money up front so we aren’t obligated to stay with them. I just can’t even believe that we’re at this point. A full WEEK without A/C and no closer to getting it fixed today than we were an entire week ago. In fact, we’re starting all over from scratch. Calling all the places, gathering all the info, etc. Meanwhile, work is piling up (this has taken a lot of time, obviously). The bathrooms are becoming disgusting messes (try cleaning a 120 degree bathroom. Kudos if you can get it done, but I just cannot). Doing laundry feels like entering the 8th circle of Hell from Dante’s Inferno. It’s hard to do ANYTHING when you’re just dripping sweat, itching your heat rash, and trying not to die of heat stroke. Dramatic much? Yes. But is it my real, true feelings? Also yes. It’s horrible.
Healthy Coping
I went to Happy Hour with a friend last night. I enjoyed a giant $6 margarita and some much needed friend-therapy. I have a lunch-hour yoga planned for today on campus (a free event). I’m crossing my fingers and hoping for the best and praying we can get this thing fixed SOONER than another week.
