We arrived in Alabama on Friday-having discovered as we left Marion, Arkansas, that our air conditioner was dead. We had called Cyndi on the way to Alabama-hoping she or Randy knew a repair service. She called around for us, bless her heart, and told us there was a place just up the road that would look at it on Sat. morning.
We got to their place at around 4:00 or so- and were introduced to Cyndi's domesticated zoo, as she calls it. She has two large birds of the parrot family- I can't remember the specific name- they are Macaw's or something similar- Samson and Lucy. Samson decided that he liked me- he is around 15 inches, from tail to crest- and can scream like a banshee! Apparently, while he was residing in the house, he broke the ear drum of one of the little dogs, and one of Randy's! So now he lives in the garage during the summer months- better for everyone. He is quite a character- he can whistle like a hawk (he holds his wings out like he is about to dive when he does that) and like an appreciative construction worker. He dances, says "Who's a pretty bird?" and also makes a variety of loud, long, screeches. Lucy makes a sound like an old fashioned phone- again very loud- but not as ear piercing.
There are several large dogs in back- nice runs with shade and grass. Then there are the little dogs. Cyndi is a long haul truck driver- she takes a couple of the little dogs along for company in her cab. They are quite a bunch- all wanting to be your best friend (except one little poodle that is freaked out by everyone except Cyndi. She doesn't do anything about it- just hides and stares at you with huge brown eyes.) Koen and Kira were infatuated by them. Every evening, they all come in, get dinner and hang out. Usually, they spend most days in, but with the air conditioning broken, they have a pen outside, shaded, and close enough to look into the eyes of anyone looking out the bathroom window.
Cyndi and Randy were great hosts. We went out to dinner, then did a bit of necessary shopping that first night. The next day, Joe and Randy got up early enough to be at the air conditioning place when they opened- hopeful of getting the first appointment of the day. Once inside, they were told that while the company did repair air conditioners, they didn't mess with the coils or do any of the compressor work. The woman did recommend another guy, though. Joe called him and set up an appointment for that afternoon at 1:30 or 2:00.
While the guys were trying to get our air conditioner in working order again, Cyndi took the kids and I up to ride horses at the barn where Randy works. The owner, Eddie, had the kids do all the necessary work to get two horses ready to ride. They held gates to get all the horses that weren't going to be ridden out to pasture. Then they helped walk the two that were going to be ridden out to the middle of the barn, helped attach them to the halter, brushed them to get them calm, and held them while Eddie saddled them up and bridled them. They then walked the horses out to the paddock,learned about mounting a horse, and rode them around for a bitKira didn't want to hurt the horse she was riding. He had apparently been ridden by a guy, before Eddie, that was pretty hard heeled on him, so he didn't feel the need to move much with her little taps. He would take one step and then just stand. Finally, Eddie told her she had to boot him in the ribs to get him to move, and they started moving. Koen's horse was much more willing to move. He just needed a gentle tap and he walked forward. He spent time as an endurance racer- but is now retired.)
They switched horses, then did the whole thing in reverse. They had a blast, and learned a bit, as well. I have to say, Eddie was awesome. He moved horses by wrapping his arm beneath their chins, holding a bit of mane, and then walked with them. All the horses that he moved from barn to pasture, or paddock to pasture didn't have bridles on and went willingly with him. He truly cares about those beasts.
When we got back to the house, we heard about the new effort to repair the air conditioner. It was HOT, so we wanted to go to the local public pool. At least, the kids did. Cyndi and I thought we would just dangle our feet to cool off. Randy and Joe waited for the repairman to show up; the rest of us went to the pool. Once there, we found out that they had a concession stand, so all the fruit that Cyndi had packed in coolers had to stay in the car. sigh. There was NO shade, and all that cement was soooooo hot, we immediately wished we had worn our swim clothes. So, we called the guys. There were understandably perplexed. Who, in their right mind, would go to a pool without swimwear??? They said they would bring it when the repair guy was done. 40 minutes of sweating and melting later, we called again. The guy had shown up, but it was all going to take a while, so could we be patient for a while longer? Finally, Cyndi called Randy and asked him, pretty please, if he would just run the stuff to us now, since we were soooo hot, and the repair was taking so long. He dropped off our swimsuits and sun screen, and headed back. For the last 40 minutes of pool time, Cyndi and I enjoyed ourselves. It was much more comfortable in the water!
The pool closed at 5:00- so we headed back to the house. When we got there, the repair man had almost finished his last tests, prior to filling with freon. He and Joe had moved the motor of the air conditioner back into the housing, from which it has apparently been half hanging out for the whole time we have had it, and then he did the repairs. He had been there for close to 3 hours- so Joe was thinking the price of the repair would be in the hundreds of dollars. It turned out to be $125 for labor and $30 for the nitrogen and freon. Holy moly- it was an awesome job for an amazing price! The best part? The air conditioner works better now than it ever has- so quiet and efficient- no more waking up with the sheets sticking to me because of the heat. YAAAAAY!
We ordered pizza for dinner and started watching the movie "Grown-Ups". Our host and hostess had a surprise for us, though. Instead of settling in wtih a movie for the evening, we headed out for a round of go kart racing. I had never done it- and neither had Kira and Koen. The go-kart place was open until 10:00. We got in at the end and, since they had only one 2 persond cart, and we had actually purchased tickets for only 4 karts, thinking that Kira and Koen would ride with one of us. Sincer there were parents with little ones that were too small to ride alone, we were given a kart for each person. Randy had to wait, while Joe, Cyndi, Kira, Koen and I raced. When we were done- and those little things WHIZ, by the way, Cyndi talked the attendant into letting us do another round, with all 6 of us racing. It was such a fun experience! Great first day and a half in Alabama.:o)
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