Slipping a digit...

Whenever I had a math mistake when I was younger—or someone else did—we called it "slipping a digit."  Well, I sort of slipped a digit in my budget.  I think.  I am so darned confused.

When I did all those financial shenanigans at the end of last year/beginning of this year, paying off the mortgage since I couldn't afford all the increases, I split the mortgage payment into several automatic monthly savings accounts (I LOVE ING Direct even if they went and got bought and changed their name to Capital One 360, which I can never remember):  real estate taxes, house insurance, car maintenance, and donut hole.  For example, the disability payment gets deposited, Capital One then peals off four amounts to put them in separate savings accounts for me, and then automatic deductions happen to two of those accounts.  The other two are to pay myself back with those non-monthly expenses (car expenses and donut hole increased costs in medication).  So, I have been putting aside $300 each month into the donut hole account.  I forgot about it.  As in, I am in the donut hole right this very minute and that was what the money is for so I should have already started spending it.

By realizing that I slipped a digit, I figured out that the whole ~$343 monthly price difference between the erythromycin solution and the erythromycin pills, could mostly be covered by the donut hole automatic savings.  Now, I am supposed to need somewhere near ~$4,000 to cover the donut hole, so my savings was not enough.  It was, however, what I could apportion from my mortgage payment after setting aside money for those other expenses. And $3,600 over the course of the year would go a long way towards easing the stress of being in the donut hole.  If ... if you actually manage to remember that you have a savings plan for that expense. 

So, basically, it struck me in the wee hours of the night that I slipped a digit in my math.  I am not going to be short on the year nearly as much as I thought due to rising medical expenses because I had started to save for the donut hole and ... forgot that I was doing so.  And ... IF Celebrex goes to generic this December AND it is on the Medicare formulary for next year ... then approximately half of the donut hole would go away because that is my second most expensive prescription.

The math still would never add up. I still would not be able to live solely on the disability payment.  But I will not be taking such huge digs at the remaining retirement money.  And there is the "unknown" of just what the annual increases in Medicare, prescription coverage, house insurance, car insurance, and real estate taxes will be.

I fell asleep.
I woke up.
Why???

The house was too warm.  The house was too warm because my practically new (three-year-old) air-conditioner was frozen over all the way from the inside coils to the compressor unit outside!  At 7:52 AM this morning I was in a terrible, terrible panic.  I have to have air-conditioning.  And how in the world am I going to pay for whatever labor costs go with what hopefully will be warranty work???

[A compressor should not look this way!]

I texted Electrician Man in a panic.
He is in Ohio on a youth retreat with his church.
HELP!!

[This is not what you want to see when you look at your HVAC system!]

That fine man contacted the person who actually installed the unit, a good friend of his, got him out of bed, and had him at my house at 9:30 AM.  Ben even reminded his friend about my anxiety and inability to control my tears when I am upset.  SIGH.

The end result is that he could find no reason why such a thing would happen.  I had already started the thawing process and so he was able to check the pressures and temperature of the freon line and the blower and the inside coils and the compressor and ... nothing.

I kept blathering about how it doesn't make sense.  With the new return vent in the basement and covering the open floor grate in the dining room (I didn't know until recently that all my lovely cold air was just falling through it), my bedroom has been cooler, the AC has run less, and for three months now I have beaten my budgeted amount with my electricity bill.  [I've really, really, really been working on reducing my electricity footprint.]  And my unit is new.  And I have it serviced twice a year.  And I replace the filter regularly.  And.  And.  And.

Well, it didn't make sense to him either.
Do you understand why I didn't find that comforting in the least?

Three reason exist for frozen coils ... two really ... but three causes: blockage (such as a filter) or no blower (which are both air flow reasons) and a freon leak.  All were good.  Filter.  Blower.  Freon.  SIGH.

The service man asked me if I had noticed last night that the unit was one (heard the thermostat and the compressor outside) but the blower was not running.  Nope.  I haven't noticed that.  I did note that the house was warmer when I went upstairs, but it didn't register with me (pun intended) that there was something amiss with my HVAC system.

Before.  Before this disease ravaged my brain.  I would have realized immediately something was wrong instead of having it freeze up so very thoroughly.  SIGH.

Two things from his visit.  Wait, three:  1) He asked what was wrong with Amos.  I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.  He met Amos before the pit bull attack, before my puppy dog became a fluff ball of fear.  2)  He was stunned at the changes I had wrought in the house, told me how much he loves my house, and asked me if I planned to sell it.  [Heart cockles warming time.]  3)  He showed me this setting on my thermostat that, if I used it, would run the fan for a short period of time, any time the unit is off for more than 90 minutes.  That means that it would circulate air in the house.  Pull cold air from the basement and circulate it in the house.  Circulating that cold basement air would most likely help lower the cost of running the AC a wee bit!!

So, the plan is to wait and see.  To watch for limited air flow (an indication of freezing coils) and to periodically check to see that when the unit is running, both the blower and the compressor are on at the same time.

You might not have noticed.
Wait and see is not really in my skill set.
Not anymore.

I really panicked this morning, both over the fear of not having the AC restored right away and the cost of the problem ... both the visit today and future problems.  And then I just sank into a deep despair thinking that this is further proof I have no faith.  I do not understand what it means to trust God.  I do not understand what His provision means.  But I had no thoughts in my head about trusting that God would provide this need of mine.  All I had was worry and thought how all my trying to be a good steward of what God has given me is not going to be good enough to cover HVAC expenses that are totally and completely and utterly unexpected.

So, I called Mary, not remembering that today is Saturday and her beloved would be sermon preparing and her children would be needing her attention.  We talked some about air-conditioning, faith, the words I don't understand, and pulled pork tacos.

I still haven't slept.
I am still worried.
About my HVAC and about losing faith.

By the way, if you hang out your laundry on the line outside, I would recommend checking first to see if there might be an afternoon rain shower.