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Jul 19, 2018    |       4 comments

A/C Outage

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You know when is NOT a good time for the A/C to go out in Tucson?

Now. Pretty much now is not a good time.

I knew there was a problem first thing when I woke up in the morning. We set the A/C to 76 degrees for overnight (higher during the day), but it showed that it was 81 degrees inside. Uh-oh. I heard the fan running, but when I went outside I saw the unit was clearly not on. I double-checked the thermostat to make sure it was truly set to “cool” and not just to fan only. It was, indeed, on the right setting.

Luckily, the A/C is basically brand new. The entire HVAC system was replaced when we bought the house just a couple years ago so all the parts and unit and everything are covered by warranty. I’d need to double-check but the installation and labor may still be covered under warranty, too. The bad news is, since this is warranty work, we have to use the same company as originally installed it. And they can’t come out until at least 5pm this evening….maybe later. Gulp. It’s going to be a long, hot day!

A couple of “bright sides” …..at least this happened on a day when the high is “only” 100 degrees (in Tucson, we regularly get up into the 110’s during summer). And at least this happened on a day when the kids are in camp so we aren’t all stuck sitting miserably inside the burning hot house. And at least (HOPEFULLY) *fingers crossed* whatever the issue is should be covered and not cost us an arm-and-a-leg since the unit is still so new. We had a bad monsoon a few days ago with flooding on the side of our house where the unit is located, so we’re wondering if that might have caused some blockage or other issue with the unit??? Although…..not sure that would be covered since that’s “nature” and not a manufacturer’s defect??? No idea. At this point, we’re crossing our fingers and hoping for the best and saying a little prayer that the repair folks will be out this evening and be able to fix the unit without a long delay or the need to order additional parts, etc.

In the meantime….I need to do some quick thinking to change up our dinner plans. I’d planned a sausage and veggie sheet-pan meal (in the oven), but ain’t no way I’m going to be heating my house up like that. Time for Plan B: Quick thaw some chicken to throw in the crockpot so I don’t have to use the oven or stove!

What’s a favorite crock-pot meal (preferably with chicken breasts, as that’s what I’ve got on hand)?

Don’t you just love how the A/C always goes out at the hottest time of summer (I mean, I know that’s when it’s working hardest and all…..but it still stinks!)

Jul 18, 2018    |       6 comments

Side-View Mirror Mishap

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A couple months ago, I had a bit of a er……. “mishap” with my side-view mirror.

Our garage is a bit oddly shaped because it’s wide inside, but the door is much narrower than the width of the garage. It’s a bit like this:

To have adequate space inside the garage, I typically drive in pretty centrally, and then once inside the garage, I inch back toward the left so there’s plenty of space on the right for another vehicle (though, in honesty, we usually only park my car in the garage and have a bunch of kids bikes, outdoor toys, and holiday decorations, storage for dried goods, etc. on the right side of the garage).

Anyway….from the title of the post you can probably see where this is going….

One day as I was backing up out of the garage, I didn’t quite steer far enough back toward the center. As a result, the side-view-mirrow got “caught” on the lip of the garage door and bent my whole side-view mirror backward. It somehow didn’t break the mirror glass itself, but the casing for the mirror got pretty badly dinged up. It cracked the plastic and busted the clips that held the mirror in place. It no longer functions as it should (its intended to have electric mirror control, but that no longer works). As a quick fix, I taped the mirror back in place. Otherwise, it just dangled on the end of some wires since the clips it’s supposed to be secured within are broken. It’s pretty……low-budget. Ok, ok. It looks terrible.

I’ve been driving around like this for a couple months now. I don’t even know whether it’s legal (I think so since the mirror is there, but it’s not exactly safe since I can’t change the mirror’s position to use it as it’s intended to see vehicles to my side/behind). At any rate, I’ve been putting it off for far too long and I need to do something about it. It looks bad and frankly, isn’t that safe.

When I googled 2011 Ford Explorer Side-View Mirrors, I was kind of shocked at how expensive they are! Looks like it’s going to be about $240 or so just for the part, not including labor. But then I got to thinking……is this something I could somehow DIY??? Like, if I found the part at a salvage yard, is this something hubs and I could figure out together – much like we replaced the leather on the armrest? But the fact that it has electrical cords worries me. I don’t know how to wire all that stuff together. Maybe hubs could figure it out?

I wanted to bring it to the BAD community.

Anyone with car/mechanic experience….how difficult do you think it is to replace a side-view mirror with electrical components? Is this something worth looking into doing ourselves or should I save myself the headache (and possibility of buying the part and somehow damaging it on the install) and just take it to a shop? Thoughts? Advice?

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