August

August is almost over and I've only made 1 blog post this month (oops).

At the beginning of August, I took 2 weeks to get away from the office. One week was entirely paid time off, the following week was working remote. I spent a lot of my free time with family and my best friend Jerry. The moment I walked into my parent's house I noticed how hot and humid it was because it still had an evaporative cooling unit blowing warm air into the house when the sun was out. It was then I decided I would get a refrigerated air conditioning system for the house. On Tuesdays, a few other family members come over to my parents house. My grandma comes over to cook and spend time with us. Then my cousins come over the same day when they get out of work. Everyone swims and eats my grandma's food and it's a good time. It's like Tuesdays are the designated family congregation day at my parent's house. I'm mentioning this because the air conditioning system would not only benefit my immediate family, but also everyone who regularly visits.

My grandmother has been taking care of my aunt's daughter during the summer, Ivy, because she is on summer vacation. Ivy is, I think, 6 years old and she's a very loud girl. She commands everyone to play her games she makes up and gets upset if we don't. It is funny to come back every so often while visiting to see her grow up.

I talked to a lot of HVAC companies about refrigerated air installation and they were all giving me ridiculously high prices. I mean these guys make bank. What ended up happening is I ordered a split system (blower unit inside of house, condenser sits on roof) directly from an HVAC supplier, but I had to provide a business the purchase was for, so I asked my dad if he knew any HVAC contacts (because he works in construction as a plumber) and he actually had contact we can put down and they installed it for us at a reduced price. The picture is the massive condenser unit that is currently installed on top of my parents house. Based on the quotes some of the companies were giving me, I saved somewhere near ten thousand dollars. I am not joking. With global warming being a thing, I think it's safe to say most people will need to transition to refrigerated cooling. If you want a solid, long-term investment opportunity, invest in HVAC companies. Invest in global warming.

Besides my family, I spent a lot of time with my friend Jerry. I've known Jerry since elementary school, where we became friends. I stopped talking to him for 5 years because I moved to a different middle and high school. We reconnected in college because we both decided to study computer science, and we haven't stopped talking since. We're different enough to have differing viewpoints, but similar enough to have a baseline for friendship. It's a good dynamic for bouncing off our life-problems or ideas on each other and having the other reciprocate. Even though I moved away from El Paso, we text almost daily and that's a bit of a marvel for me because I get bored or tired of people pretty easily. Instead of draining energy from me, he recycles it and gives it back. It's how I know he's someone special to me.

My brother Zac came back with me when I left home. He stayed in my apartment for a week and some change. Dad bought the ticket for him here, I bought the ticket for him back. Dad thought it would be good for Zac to leave the house before his college semester starts. Zac is five years younger than me. He's a pretty reserved guy, like me. Despite us not being talkers, there was a silent joy between us just hanging out, walking around the DC area, and making trips to the grocery store. Before he left, he said he almost didn't want to go back home. I said I understood and for a twenty year it's natural to want to leave home.