This year’s birthday present for my dad is going to be the best one that we have ever gotten for him. I am so excited about giving it to him that I can barely wait for his birthday to get here. Usually I am not nearly as excited about his birthday as I am this […]

I think that most of the problem was because the temperature outside was so hot. Last weekend, I went to a concert and the music was amazing. I wish that I could say the same about the indoor air quality inside of the concert venue, though. The inside air quality in the venue was absolutely […]

I didn’t want to retire, but the owners of the company wanted me to. I was given no choice, I could either bow out gracefully, or they would fire me anyway. The problem was that I wasn’t ready to stop working yet. It wasn’t about the money so much as being about having something to […]

I like to tell people that I was raised by “old school” parents, but this is just a nice way of saying they were strict and religious. I was the oldest of three siblings, and the only boy. My father openly told me that girls needed their father’s love, and boys only needed discipline. That […]

Compared to the previous winter, this one has been milder. That is not to say that we have not experienced our share of cold weather. Snow and ice have also been present, albeit in somewhat lesser amounts than in recent years. However, we require heating from about mid-November to mid-March at the latest. But in […]

My wife had to spend almost the entire third trimester in bed after the doctor ordered bed rest It’s amazing being a new dad. This winter was unlike any other winter I’ve ever experienced. Since we are located in a sufficiently southern climate, the heat pump was actually still remarkably quiet. But it’s already amazing […]

To say that my wife’s mother is obstinate is equivalent to saying that soccer requires some running. In reality, unless you’re the goalie, all you do in soccer is run. And my mother-in-law is definitely not a goalie. She is the kind of person who has always lived life on her own terms and only […]

When it comes to spending time outside this summer, I’m a little compromising It’s pretty much a given. All of us who are fortunate enough to live into our 70s must learn to deal with the effects of aging. I can’t say that I’m immune to that. Thankfully, however, I started to take better care […]

I had no idea how crucial it is for us to breathe clean air inside our homes. This seemed like something that was just a given to me. Cities with factories and a large number of vehicles emitting noxious exhaust had poor air quality outside. No way could the air inside my home’s central air […]

We have now been married for 19 years. It’s really kind of difficult to believe. The fact that there are no kids in our house and we have central air conditioning, in my opinion, only serves to increase skepticism. We might be more aware of how much time has passed if there were living, breathing […]

For a very long time, I had my sights set on this promotion. I was prepared for the responsibility of managing a regional office after twelve years with the company. I had previously used the office’s commercial HVAC because I had traveled extensively for the company. I believe I was up here for training or […]

The heat pump’s final winter will be this one. Even though we don’t require much heating here, the heat pump worked perfectly when we did. No, that wonderful residential HVAC system has reached its end. Actually, the first actual appliance my wife and I ever bought together was that old heat pump. It was the […]

When my parents gave me the keys to their house, I didn’t really think of it as odd or scary. In a way, the opposite was real. They had also received the property that I inherited. So, rather than feeling like I’m residing in my late parents’ house, I feel more like I’m upholding a […]

I should have given it a little more thought before making such a significant change. But love has a way of making me oblivious to things that, looking back, perhaps I should have given more consideration to. However, I have absolutely no regrets about choosing to leave my southern home’s air conditioning in favor of […]

My older children are a great asset. We originally intended to raise a family when my wife and I purchased this home. Because of this, even though the larger house required more work, we chose it. It was more crucial for us to have room to raise our children than it was to have the […]