I still don’t know about living under the dominion of a condominium association. Many family members complained to me over the years about how rough it can be owning a place somewhere where a homeowners association exists. I have heard stories of all kinds from them, with things like being charged for leaving your garage door open too long or even getting in trouble for using the wrong shade of brown on your mailbox. I always figured that maybe these stories were exaggerated, or perhaps they were only characteristics of the very worst HOAs in the country, & not exactly the norm across the board. I guess I can’t say anything about the rest of the country, however my first experience with this HOA hasn’t been great. Nearly all condominiums, at least condos inside huge buildings, are under the rule of a condominium association. These function in nearly the same capacity of an HOA with lots of rules & stipulations. Since we are all in the same building, we get free water and other things that you can’t necessarily expect in a regular condominium. They also cover all of the heating & cooling systems throughout the building. So on one hand, it’s great never having to pay for repairs for y A/C system & furnace. But then again, on the other hand, I don’t like having to wait for days at a time for an HVAC tech to come fix an A/C problem. Don’t even try to call them in June or July or you’ll be disappointed. I don’t really hate my current home association, although I don’t like them either.
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I don’t know if I love living under the dominion of a condominium association.

Many family members as well as friends of mine have complained to me about how rough it can be owning a home where a homeowners association exists.

I have heard all kinds of stories, with things like being charged for leaving a garage door open too long, or getting fined for using the wrong shade of brown on the exterior of your house. I figured that maybe these were exaggerated, or perhaps they were only characteristic of the worst HOAs in the country, as well as not the norm across the board. I can’t say anything about the rest of the country, however my first experience with dealing with an HOA hasn’t been great. Nearly all condominiums, at least condos inside sizable buildings, are under the rule of a condominium association. They function in the same capacity of an HOA with most of the same rules and stipulations. However, since all of us are all in the same building, we do get things like free water and trash pick up that you can’t necessarily expect in another type of condominium. They also cover all of the heating as well as cooling systems throughout the building. It’s good never having to pay for maintenance on my a/c system or the heating system. But then on the other hand, I hate having to wait so long for an HVAC tech to arrive when I call about something. Don’t even try in July or you’ll be disappointed. I really don’t hate the home association, but I don’t appreciate them either.

 

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I am still unsure about living with a condominium association.

Many family members plus friends have complained to me over the years about owning a home where a homeowners association exists. I have heard bad stories of all kinds, with things like being charged for leaving a garage door open too long or even getting in trouble for using the wrong shade of brown to paint your house. I figured that maybe some of these stories were exaggerated, or perhaps they were only characteristic of the very worst HOAs. I hoped they were not the norm across the board. And I can’t say anything about the rest of the country, but my first experience with an HOA hasn’t been great. Nearly all condominiums, at least home style condos inside of very large buildings, are under the strict rule of a condominium association. They function in nearly the same capacity of an HOA. They have several of the same rules plus stipulations. However, since we are all in the same building, we get things like free water that you can’t necessarily expect with another type of condominium. They also cover all of the heating plus cooling systems throughout the building. I guess on one hand, it’s good never having to pay for repairs on our a/c plus our gas furnace. But then on the other hand, I hate having to wait so long for an A/C tech to arrive when I call about a serious problem. Don’t even try calling them in June or you’ll be very disappointed. I don’t hate the association, but I don’t love them either.

Duct sealing

I am still unsure if I prefer residing under the dominion of a condominium association.

Many family members have complained to me over the years about how rough it can be owning a place with a homeowners association.

I have heard stories of all kinds. Things like being charged for leaving a garage door open for 2 minutes or getting in trouble for using the wrong shade of green on the exterior of your house. At first I figured that maybe these stories were exaggerated, or perhaps they were only characteristic of the worst HOAs, not the norm across the board. I can’t say anything about the rest of the country, but my experience with something like an HOA hasn’t been great. Condos inside large buildings are under the rule of a condominium association. They all function in nearly the same capacity of a HOA with several of the same rules as well as stipulations. But since we’re all in the same building, we can get things like free water and trash that you can’t necessarily expect from a regular condominium. They also cover all of the heating as well as cooling systems throughout the entire building. On the 1 hand, it’s wonderful never having to pay for HVAC maintenance or maintenance on my air conditioning. But then on the other hand, I do not like having to wait a long time for their techs to arrive when I call about a drastic problem. Don’t even try calling in June or you’ll be disappointed. I don’t hate my house association, but I really don’t love them either.

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On the one hand, it’s great never having to pay for maintenance or repair on my air conditioner and furnace

I am still unsure if I like living under the dominion of a condominium association. Many family members and friends have complained to me over the years about how rough it can be owning a house where a homeowners association exists. I have heard stories of all kinds, with things like being charged for leaving a garage door open for longer than two hours or getting in trouble for using the wrong shade of brown on the exterior of your house. I figured that maybe these stories were exaggerated, or perhaps they were only characteristic of the worst HOAs in the country, and not the norm across the board. I can’t say anything about the rest of the country, but my first experience with something like a HOA hasn’t been great. Nearly all condominiums, at least apartment style condos inside large buildings, are under the rule of a condominium association. They function in nearly the same capacity of a HOA with many of the same rules and stipulations. However, since we are all in the same building, we get things like free water that you can’t necessarily expect in a house style condominium. They also cover all of the heating and cooling systems throughout the building. On the one hand, it’s great never having to pay for maintenance or repair on my air conditioner and furnace. On the other hand, I hate having to wait days at a time for one of their techs to arrive when I call about a serious problem. Don’t even try in July or you’ll be disappointed. I don’t hate the condo association, but I don’t love them either.

Cooling and heating business

Ever since our kids were born, my husband has always tried to teach them all how to fix stuff around the house.

He has always been a very handy person, and he knows how to fix all kinds of stuff.

I guess his dad used to teach him stuff about plumbing, electrical work, and appliances when he was a kid. But the most useful thing that his dad taught him, in my opinion, has been his ability to work on our heating and cooling system. We have had several issues with our HVAC system over the years, but my husband has been able to fix most of the problems himself. I know that he’s saved our family all kinds of money on heating and air conditioning repairs throughout the years. With all of our kids, it’s a really good thing that he’s able to fix things like our furnace and our air conditioning system. Stuff like that really adds up and we have a lot to pay for with dance classes, art classes, and tons of food with our teenage boys! And now, of course, my husband is teaching our kids the same kinds of things. I’m glad that he’s doing that, because one day our kids will be able to fix their own HVAC systems in their own homes. And I’m thinking that maybe one of the boys might decide that he wants to become an HVAC technician, too. He’s pretty interested in learning all that he can about the furnace and the central air conditioning system in our house.

furnace filter

I always used to think that the people who worked up on the top floors of our office building were so lucky.

It always seemed to me that they were moving on up in the world, especially in our business.

See, the executives and everyone who makes the most money in our company always work up on the top floor. They literally would move up in the world as they started at the company on the ground floor and moved up in the ranks. Well, I worked at this place for the past five years, and I have finally worked my way up to the top floor. I was pretty excited about moving to my new office until I actually got up there and realized that the air conditioning didn’t work very well up there. When I finally got my promotion and went into my new office, it was the middle of the summer and the temperatures outside were really climbing. So the office was really hot when I was trying to move in there. By the time I got everything situated and set up, I was sweating like crazy and wishing for the A/C to come on. Then I realized something terrible: the A/C was already running! I held my hand up to the air conditioning vents in the ceiling and noticed that there was a little bit of air coming through it. However, it wasn’t very cold and it was more lukewarm than anything else. Plus, it was barely coming through the air vents. I realized that the heat transfer from the windows and the sunshine was going to be a problem for me. Now, I wish I was still on the lower floors with the other regular employees in the better air conditioning!

Business

I know that most people probably think that the most important skill that a heating and cooling technician can have is his ability to fix furnaces and air conditioning units.

Of course, that’s important, and you can’t be an HVAC technician without having those kinds of skills. You have to go to school and become certified and really know what you’re doing before you are allowed to work on a furnace or an air conditioning system in someone’s home or business. That’s just common knowledge, and that’s how it should be. It would be dangerous, otherwise. Improper repairs or maintenance work on HVAC systems can leave your home with faulty wiring or worse, which could cause all kinds of issues, including fires! Of course, no one wants that, and so HVAC certification is very important. But another thing that’s important for a heating and cooling technician to have is not something that most people think about. HVAC professionals also need to have good people skills and communication skills. When you’re out dealing with customers all day, you don’t want to be someone who doesn’t know how to communicate effectively. If you aren’t really a people person, then you probably shouldn’t become a residential or commercial HVAC technician. You might think that you’re only going to be working on heating and cooling systems all the time, but you’re also going to be talking to the owners of those heating and cooling systems too! Communication is sometimes underrated when it comes to careers like HVAC technicians, but it really shouldn’t be, in my opinion.

New heating

When my husband was in high school twenty years ago, things were very different than they are today in class! Every time we drive past his old school, he starts talking about how he used to have to go there at the beginning of the school year before the weather started cooling off.

He’s from the southern part of the country and down there it gets really hot and stays hot until probably around the middle of October.

The people down there really get a lot of use out of their air conditioning systems, that’s for sure. But for some reason, the schools haven’t really caught up with the times. I guess it’s because of lack of funding or something. Most of the school buildings in the area, including his old high school, don’t have air conditioning at all. I guess it really affected my husband in a bad way because twenty years later, he still talks about how hot and awful it was in those classrooms in the afternoon! These days, just about every school around has A/C in most of the classrooms and even in the gym and the fieldhouse down on the football field. I guess things have really changed in some aspects. According to my husband, that’s a really good thing. He says that he doesn’t ever want our kids to be in a school that has low quality HVAC systems, especially during the heat of the summer. I can’t say that I blame him. It’s hard enough to concentrate in class anyway, even without being too hot all the time!

Dial thermostat

Our local HVAC company here in town held a raffle this year for a free air conditioning tune up and yearly maintenance service.

They sold tickets at one of the events that the Chamber of Commerce held earlier in the year and I bought a ticket.

I hardly ever buy any raffle tickets or anything like that, though, because I literally never win anything at all. I can’t even remember ever winning a game of bingo or checkers when I was back in school! Anyway, when the HVAC company called and told me that I had won the raffle for the air conditioning tune up and maintenance service, I was shocked. I was also happy, because I have really been needing to get my central air conditioning system tuned up for the summer and I just keep putting it off. I know that it needs cleaning and maintaining, and I also need a new air filter for it. Now, all I have to do is make an appointment with the HVAC company and they will come and take care of the whole thing at no charge! I can’t believe I won. Now, I will have an A/C system that should work well at cooling down my house all summer long. Not only that, but after summer is over, they will come back and get everything ready for the winter, too. I’m thinking about doing some upgrades to my HVAC system now that I don’t have to pay for maintenance this year. Maybe I will have them install a UV light air purification system for me next time they come out to check on the A/C.

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