Cool Man Danny

The joys of homeownership never end.  Villa Wifey turned 20 years old this year, and along with that comes the need for refurbishment and repair.  The front concrete steps crumbled last year, and Wifey was slow to get them fixed, causing D1 to remark that our house looked "like Pompei."  I finally found a contractor and got it done...

My friend Norman turned me onto a guy, though, who is the best contractor of all time: Danny the A/C man.  He's Argentine Italian, married to an American woman, and Norman's family has used him for quite awhile.  I thought Norman was kidding when he said that Danny is so good, their family almost looks forward to an A/C breakdown.  He was telling the truth.

Beginning a few years back, Danny replaced one unit, then a second, and then the third main one we have.  There is one small unit, in my upstairs "football room," that still hums along.  Last month, the unit in the condo where my suegra lives gave up its ghost, and I called Danny.  He had his man Ivan there later that day, assessed the job, and just a day after that, had a crane life the new unit up to the condo's roof -- leaving one air conditioned, ancient woman.  She never really even noticed the air wasn't working -- she likes it warm now that she's in her 90s...

So  Sunday night, I noticed that Wifey had left on the living/dining room a/c, when she decamped there for a marathon phone talk with Edna.  But, alas, the rooms weren't cool.  I checked, and sure enough, the handler was running, but the compressor wasn't. I called Danny Monday am, told him I knew it was a holiday, but maybe he could get by later in the week -- the unit on the blink is the least important in the house -- only used when, these days, we rarely have get togethers in the living or dining room.  Nope -- Danny would be by late that afternoon -- he had another job close by.

He checked, and learned a lizard had killed himself by getting zapped on the fan motor's electronic board.  Good news for me, he said, the unit was under a 10 year parts warranty, so the $900 component was covered.  He'd just charge for labor.

After he finished, he went around to the other units, cleaned out the water lines with nitrogen, and checked all their coolant levels.  He proudly pronounced us ready for the coming summer.

I paid Danny, and off he went.  He's a man truly proud of his business.  He's fair and honest.  He keeps us cool.

Anyone who knows anything about the modern history of Miami knows its development wouldn't have happened without air conditioning -- along with WW II, and later, Fidel Castro.

So we're here, and ready for the coming heat -- hopefully months away.  And Danny remains the true Mr. Cool...