Plan? What Plan?

Today's plan was simple. Sit down at the computer and finish the inventory needs assessment for making the transition to the Scarlet Thread online store. How hard could it be?

Well, I got Excel started up but haven't opened the document yet.

I had such good intentions, but first I had to check my e-mail and various Internet sites. That done, I remembered, as the window AC unit cycled up, that I have to get that window replaced ASAP, as the recent rainy days have revealed that my stop-gap measure to prevent leakage did not work. The wall's so wet underneath that I pushed a nice quarter-sized hole completely through the plaster/wallboard/whatever-it-is-that-isn't-drywall-as-we-know-it-today. It's a very nice, round hole and would make a perfect peephole if you wanted to peer into that space between the wall and the exterior wall, which is very dark btw. When my friend Steve, the painter, came over yesterday to check it out while it was raining, the paint peeled right off and the water dripped right down the wall. Gah!

So I found the number of the window-replacement place recommended by someone in the neighborhood and called to see how long it would take to get a new custom window installed. Because the house, being built in the mid-1940s, has no standard-size anything. Unfortunately, I'm faced with the same response from this window company as the original one I contacted — the one that replaced all the other windows in the house a dozen or so years ago — I can't put the window AC back in a new-style window. So that sucks.

Let's see. We're now entering what is fondly called the "dog days" of August. Oh joy! One of the hottest times of the year, and I'm looking at the very real possibility of no AC. I can only hope that the uncharacteristically mild summer will continue and not revert to the norm. I don't do well in the heat and humidity we all know so well in the DC metro area.

So what are the alternatives to a window AC? I could go with a portable unit, but that is both unsightly (has an exhaust duct that must be vented to the outside) and more inefficient than the window unit. Scratch that idea. Central AC is out of the question both economically and physically. My house is very small. My heating system is the old-fashioned boiler with radiators. No ductwork and way more construction than I care to do to install the requisite ductwork.

Last choice: the split ductless AC system. I'm not sure whether it's really less expensive than a central system, but my impression is that it is. It's installed at ceiling level and the works are primarily on the outside of the house. I really only need it on the ground floor. I have a window unit in the upstairs bedroom.

So I call the HVAC company that services my boiler. I seem to recall that the service technician mentioned this system as a possibility a few years ago. Hallelujah! They can send someone out to give an estimate this afternoon, and if it's doable, it can be done by the end of next week. I'll just seal up the window, put a screen in front of it to hide it, and wait for a new window at the end of the summer.

I mean, how hard can it be?

kthxbai.