HartlessByDesign

So we have some critter of large build in our attic.  It woke us up in the middle of the night a couple weeks back digging.  My wife asked, "Is it a mouse?"  No way, I mean it was digging.  So probably a possum or a coon.  We noticed that mesh to one of the attic vents had been pushed up revealing how the critter is getting up there.  We have a life trap up there but we haven't caught it yet.  I heard it yesterday and went up into the attic to see what it was, but it was gone by the time I got up there.  Or at least it was hiding.

 I need to patch that vent but really don't want to until I catch it for I fear trapping it inside.

Talked to the AC dude and guess what he demanded that they do it and charge $250. "It's my license and I can cancel the whole thing and ship everything back to the warranty company and be done with it." I can understand a concern for his license but when four other companies who have been in business for years have no problem with it, it leads me to believe something is fishy. Well guess what, Elite AC and Heating has lost my business.

So, recently we had our air handler, the ducts and all that replaced right? Well, when the dude first came he said "Oh yea, you guys have a 4ton unit, blah blah blah." Gave us a quote based on a 4ton unit. Then he comes back to install the unit and says, "Well you have a 2.5 ton unit so we are going to install a 3 ton blah blah blah". But of course he gave no price change to the quote other than a $200 discount his wife "accidentally" quoted us (if we paid in cash). I was like, "okay whatever. I'm not going to cause a scene." I did do a little googling afterward and saw that the price difference wasn't all that much. Anyway, the day the installers are installing the air handler and all that, one of the workers said, "You have a small freon leak that you may want to talk to him [the owner] about." Okay small leak, will deal with it come spring. That was oh about a month ago.

 So, its getting hot, turned on the AC and nothing. The house doesn't even cool a degree but maybe even gets hotter. So I call the guy who comes out and walks out for one minute with no tools (no way it was even a second more), comes back in and says "Did my guy tell you what was going on with that thing?" "He said there was a small freon leak," I said. "Small!?? That is a huge leak. We are going to have to replace it." He calls and manages to get the home warranty to pay for the unit but has a list of fees they will not cover, $250 of it to dispose of the freon and unit. Okay whatever.

So then I get to thinking, well our trash service picks up heavy stuff on Thursdays. That would save us a some money. I call them and they say oh yea we'll do it as long as the freon is properly drained and the unit is tagged. Great! I call the AC company back and the wife says "Absolutely not! Our license requires that we take it and dispose of it in our warehouse. It is the law." I explained what the trash company said and that they do it all the time but she said no. So now I'm suspicious. I called 4 other companies in the area and they all laughed saying that no it was not required by law, it was my unit so I could do whatever I wanted with it, they would come out drain the freon and then I could take the unit to a scrap yard and get paid for it. One guy even offered to come out and do take the unit and the freon for $50 bucks. All of them said that if they were the ones installing the unit, the wouldn't even charge to dispose and haul off the unit. Erg. I get the feeling I'm being screwed over.

Anyway, I hate confrontation but the AC dude and I will have a little chat when he gets here and he probably won't be my AC dude any longer.

So this week will be one month in Texas. Crazy how time has flown and how quickly we've been able to settle in. We've got our house, furniture, jobs, and church. The only thing left is to find another vehicle. (Right now we are using one of my parent-in-law's.) I miss my family a lot but it has not been has hard as I thought it would be. We'll see as time goes by.

We've decided to fellowship at Calvary Chapel of Houston. This was the first church we attended and really enjoyed. But we wanted to see what else was out there so we attended several other churches in the area. One had upbeat worship but was more concert oriented and very seeker friendly (not very grounded in the Word). Another seemed too passive and too self-focused. Anyway, Calvary has excellent worship that is not distracting and sets an atmosphere to truly worship God. They teach the Bible expositionally which is great. They are God-centered ministry focused. They also have a Wednesday night services we can attend when I have to work Sunday. So, we feel this will be the home for us until God leads us elsewhere.

Obviously God knows that I am not a morning person, right? So please tell me why He decided to bless me with a job where my day has to begin at 3:30 AM!!?? Yes, AM!!

So closing wasn't $2000 less, but only $1000 less. Still, praise God!!! We received all of our furniture, mostly in one piece and we were able to purchase all of our appliances. My mother sold our Explorer for us (so we need to find another vehicle), I have a job (I start Monday as a nurse to Texas' inmates), and Eda's school is like the total opposite of where she was working (I mean total opposite for those of you who knew about the conditions she previously worked in). I think we have found a church home at Calvary Church which seems solid. They preach expositionally and worship is contemporary. They are also heavily involved in the community. We've tried a few other churches but this one seems to be the most solid, sincere, and Bible-centered thus far.

 I'm excited and nervous about my new job. Not that I'm working with inmates, but because I'll be working as a nurse! That means that I am directly responsible for one's health and well-being. Prayerfully though, my work will be ministry considering who I will be dealing with on a daily basis. I feel like I have forgotten everything that I learned in school. The Lord is sovereign and I feel that He will continue to provide in my times of need.

I'm struggling with a little bit of uselessness; feelings of insignificance. Before, my identity was in school and web programming. The new school Eda is working for has an excellent web-based program they utilize for grading and taking attendance. Thus, I have been zapped of my desire to continue advancing the web program I made for her. I may work on it here and there to put it out there for the open source community to hopefully enjoy, but right now, I just don't have the desire. The old youth group I worked with don't use the website, so there is no use for me to continue messing with it. And their doesn't really seem to be anything I can do to improve the site for some very, very dear friends of mine. The new version of Joomla is in the RC1 status so I guess I will soon be upgrading the sites to the new version which will take some work, but that will not be for a while yet.

I actually really miss youth ministry, but my wife does not. I cannot force her into a ministry that her heart is not in. My work schedule is going to make it interesting for getting involved in things. I will be alternating working 12 hour shifts on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of one week then only Wednesday and Thursday of the next. That second week will be really nice but the week with five 12 hour shifts is going to be ruff. Not to mention a 45 minute to a hour drive each way. Anyway, the Lord obviously has a plan for us here or we wouldn't be here.

Lord, show me your purpose for us here in Texas!