When my parents told me what life was about, I foolishly believed them.
They constantly preached the importance of getting a good education, a steady job, and a wonderful home.
Settling down and preparing for a long life, leading to a miserable death, they said, was the right way to live. So, I attained that degree, found a good job, and bought that great house. Then, I slowly waited to die. At some point, though, I started to question exactly what I was doing. Is this living? My uncle, whom I love, showed up at just the right time to show me how wrong I had been, thanks to my failing home heating and cooling system. The realization began on the night my heating system failed. It was bitterly chilly in my house, and I couldn’t figure out why the thermostat wasn’t controlling the temperature correctly. I kept messing with the oil furnace, relighting the pilot, and checking the Internet for other heating and cooling system troubleshooting ideas. Finally, I called my uncle, who was a professional indoor air control specialist. He was nice enough to run over to my house, where he promptly checked the heating component. He made many small repairs. As my uncle talked to me about HVAC systems, he also shared about his life working in this specialized business. It turns out, the life of an indoor heating and cooling specialist is extremely interesting. Every day is unusual in the HVAC repair world, unlike mine. Right now, I’m applying to go back to school – this time, to become an HVAC repair person!