Cool Change

Haier, Haier... :)

I started my day today with, of all things, laundry. What usually happens is I load clothes in the washer, and I head out the laundromat and walk around my neighborhood. Then, I run the dryer and head home and make breakfast. (Yes, like many NY transplants, I aspire to have my own washer and dryer inside my apartment one day.)

One can find all sorts of things where I live. At least two stores carry clear blue garbage bags (to indulge my home-recycling-sorting OCD), and there's a fish store, a vegetable mini-market, grocery store, shoe repair shop, and many more. Earlier I walked into the furniture store that's closing soon and spotted an airconditioner for sale. Now, summer in New York is very much like our weather in Manila: hot and humid. I survived summer last year without an AC because I was moving apartments, and by the time I'd settled in, it was only a month or two before fall. Besides, I'm pretty good with the heat, given that I grew up in a tropical country. And, given a choice between having hot water for bathing and sleeping in a cold, air-conditioned room, I'd pick the former.

Supercool.

So anyway, I ended up going back to the store later in the afternoon with my airport rolling duffel to buy the unit. I've done this before, a few years ago, back at my old place in Queens—albeit under different circumstances. Back then, I couldn't afford the delivery fee, and that's how I ended up walking about five blocks from the store and up to my room (wheeling the box in a large rolling duffel). Fortunately, I lived in an elevator building, and it was an adventure for me to experience this.

Today, I could've paid for delivery, but didn't want to wait around for the box to arrive. Plus, I was somewhat excited to do the whole thing all over again just for the sake of it, and to see if I could still install an AC unit by myself. And, I'm happy to say that it took me 37 minutes to put it up the window, and not manage to drop it down five flights…which would have been so not cool.