Today started off like any other day, with Mike deciding to bake some bread. As he got busy in the kitchen, I noticed the temperature creeping up inside the house. With the dog panting beside me, I realized something was wrong with the air conditioner.

A quick check outside confirmed my fears – it had stopped working. Panic set in, especially considering the scorching Texas heat and the fact that our old dog relied on the cooling. We rang up Jane for advice, who deemed it a catastrophe and gave us the number of an air-conditioning technician. Unfortunately, he couldn’t come until the next morning due to prior commitments.

Despite the discomfort, we managed to keep the house relatively cool by closing blinds and limiting door openings. The oppressive heat made even a short trip outside unbearable, reminding us of the importance of functioning air conditioning in this climate.

Meanwhile, Mike’s bread dough sat neglected as we prioritized fixing the cooling issue. I vetoed the idea of using the oven, not wanting to add more heat to the already sweltering house.

With a tepid shower failing to provide relief, we spent a restless night with fans running at full blast. The next morning, although the house temperature was bearable for us, the dog seemed sluggish. We anxiously awaited the technician’s arrival, but when he didn’t show up by mid-morning, we took matters into our own hands.

Mike began troubleshooting and discovered the thermostat had no power. After some research, we realized it was battery-operated and might just need new AAA batteries. A frantic search ensued, and we finally found some in our head torch.

Replacing the batteries proved to be the solution, and to our relief, the air conditioning sprang back to life. It was baffling to us how such a complex system could be dependent on a couple of AAA batteries.

With the house cooling down and the dog no longer panting excessively, we breathed a collective sigh of relief, grateful for a simple fix to what had initially seemed like a major crisis.