My AC crapped out. Three years ago, some monster HVAC company told me the sky was falling and I needed to replace the whole thing sooner than immediately for a mere $20K. I shopped around; a friend recommended Ava Air - owned and entirely operated by a guy named Paul who works alone unless he needs help and then people come out of the woodwork to assist him because he's that excellent a guy.
Three years ago, Paul shrugged and said - yeah, the AC is on its way out, but how about we baby it along for a few years? And it won't cost $20,000 to fix it. Try half that. So I liked Paul right off.
Three years later, my AC finally went toe up, and I called Paul. He showed up yesterday afternoon with the new outdoor part of the air conditioning system. It looks just like the old outdoor part - the difference being that this new one works. My college-aged son Rusty and I had been draped over the furniture like Salvador Dali clocks, trying to gin up an actual argument (but being too enervated by the heat) over whether it's better to open the windows in the hopes of a breeze (Rusty) or to leave the windows shut because maybe it's 91 degrees in here, but at least it's not 92% humidity.
So we greeted Paul - weakly - like the Red Cross after a hurricane. Paul!, we gasped. Paul! Our hero!
You don't get into the air conditioning business assuming that ACs only crap out on pretty, bright days. This is what Paul is accustomed to. Nevertheless, it's a hard job. He got to work in the swamp-like weather. And then, merciful clouds rolled over that harsh Virginia sun and the air cooled a few degrees. Rusty and I migrated to the screened porch to argue over who got to lie in the hammock - but very quietly, as Paul was working, bathed in sweat, just a few feet away and we felt like lap poodles with no value to society.
So we had a front-seat view when the heavens opened (as they are wont to do in Virginia in the summer) and ALL THE WATER IN THE WORLD sheeted down like Niagara onto Paul. He stood, now drenched in a Jacuzzi-level degree of rainfall, and commented that "maybe I'll go wait this out in my truck." We thought to offer him shelter in the house, but his truck had something we didn't - ie, AIR CONDITIONING.
Back he came once the deluge had tapered off into a merely annoying more-than-a-misting of rain. We were impressed, and felt bad, and secretly pleased that we'd get our air conditioning back.
Then the transformer down the street went with a BANG! Power went out. Oh, dang. No - it's okay! Power's back on!
Almost immediately - BANG. There goes the transformer again. Paul straightened up from his near-permanent crouch in the mud, wedged between the house and the new unit. "Huh," he said.
Power came back on again. YAY! Transformer blew again. BOO! This time someone at the power company decided that three times was enough attempts; our power was out.
Paul struggled through. He did what he could now that none of his power equipment was working. Twilight was devolving into actual night. He'd just lit up an oxy-acetalyne torch (which caused Rusty to rise up from the hammock in rapt fascination) when the second storm hit. And hit harder than the first one.
So much rain had slammed into the screens of the screened porch that I couldn't actually see Paul when he stood up and looked at us. "Um - maybe I'll come back tomorrow and finish this up?"
"YES," Rusty and I screamed together. "For Chrissake - get the heck out of the storm!"
The night was miserable, but we found places in the basement that were cooler and damp, instead of impossibly hot and damp. Actually, I tried to sleep in the basement; Rusty stomped around on his size 13 feet, pointing out that nature had built him for cold environments and this kind of heat was clearly an attack from some malevolent deity. Then he'd get in his car and drive around the neighborhood with the AC on, looking for power company trucks and muttering. The power came back on at 1:43 in the morning (seven minutes later and I would have lost my bet with Rusty - so yay me!), and Paul was back at it by 6:30 in the ever-loving morning, and he was done in time to go home, shower and change, and get to the 9 AM appointment he'd already made with someone else. The shower-and-change plan was necessary; by the end, he was just as drenched as the day before. He looked like he'd been pushed into a pool. It's another gross day in NoVa. But it's COOL AND DRY IN MY HOUSE!!
I have two conclusions. First, I used to think the flush toilet was modern man's greatest accomplishment, but now I'm choosing the humble blessings of the air conditioner.
And second, if you live in northern Virginia, you NEED to see if you can get Paul Melendrez of Ava Air to care for your HVAC system. I wish I had a daughter I could marry him to. His phone number is (703)629-6020 read more
