Drip. Drip. Drip. Pitter patter. Pitter patter. Swoosh. Swoooosh! Gush! What kind of article is this? you must be wondering. After a three-week break from writing my column due to my son’s wedding, Baruch Hashem, you must be asking yourselves if I forgot how to write. You’re probably thinking that in the extremely somewhat stressful period leading up to the wedding, I must have completely lost my mind touch. You are wondering if, in a moment of desperation due to my inability to come up with original material, I decided to plagiarize a book by Dr. Seuss. But, no, I did not forget how to write. And, no, I did not plagiarize a book by Dr. Seuss, or anyone else for that matter. I’m just sharing with you the unwelcome sounds that have been reverberating through my home of late.
It began several weeks ago with the central air conditioning unit on our bedroom floor. The A/C began flooding our hallway.
All it would do was to drip, drip, drip, drip.
And we did not like it, not one little bit.
This was not a new phenomenon, but it hadn’t happened in several years. The last time it happened we were told that if it would happen again, there would be no point in fixing it.
No point at all.
No way to stop the flood in the hall.
We would have to replace it. With our aufruf and wedding a mere few weeks away, all we could do was to put a bucket under the offending spot in our ceiling and surround it with towels to absorb the overflow. At least it was contained to our upper floor. But that was not all. No, that was not all.
Then came the central air conditioning unit on our main floor. The unit that had been replaced less than two years ago began to flood the area where we had planned to seat our guests during our aufruf meals. We had planned to host an intimate group of close family and several friends of the choson in a homey atmosphere. Intermittent showers were not part of the picture we had envisioned. So, once again we placed a big bowl under the unit and surrounded it with towels and shmatas to catch the overflow.
With time being of the essence, we decided on a three-pronged approach and dragged in invited the installer, the repairman, and the guy who had built a dropped ceiling around the unit. This was obviously not the fault of any of the workers involved. Of course not! Nobody could figure out what the problem was. But what was clear to the workers was that none of them were to blame.
Maybe it was a problem with the drainage. But they couldn’t find where the water drained to since the drainage was done by the person who installed the original house air conditioner that preceded our new one. They asked us where our A/C water drains, because my husband and I are well-known air conditioner water drainage experts. It was clear to me that our units drain right into the colorful bowls we had placed under our units, but that was not the answer they were looking for.
They tried a few different things but could not guarantee that any of them would fix the problem. They told us to wait and see.
So, all we could do was to wait, wait, wait, wait.
We were not so happy in our sorry state.
But we didn’t need to wait very long.
The flow of water was soon very strong.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Pitter Patter. Pitter Patter. Swoosh. Swoooosh! Gush! Oh no! And that was not all. No, that was not all.
The air conditioner in the car was blowing hot air. The repair they did at the garage didn’t quite do the trick. We brought it back to prevent having to travel to the wedding in a portable oven. They tried something else but there was no guarantee it would work. They told us to wait and see.
All we could do was to wait, wait, wait, wait.
We were not so happy in our sorry state.
The wedding day was to be very hot.
Our beauty treatments would all be for naught.
The problem was partially fixed but the car was moody. There was no way to predict when the air conditioner would work and when it wouldn’t.
All’s well that ends well. The A/C installer finally drilled a hole in the ceiling of our main floor and discovered that for some inexplicable reason, our drain pipe was twisted. He straightened it out and although we now have a hole in our ceiling (great place for a chupah), our aufruf went off without a drip. The A/C in the car worked during the drive to the wedding. Baruch Hashem!
We spent Shavuos and Shabbos sheva brachos in Yerushalayim. It was a beautiful simchah and it was a pleasure to spend quality time with our family while getting to know our new family. Everything was set up beautifully and the food was delicious.
We were so happy to sit, sit, sit, sit.
Oh, how we liked it, every last bit.
And to make us feel at home, I noticed that a bucket had been strategically placed under the air conditioner in the room where we ate! In addition to the shmatas that were placed around it to absorb the overflow, we absorbed the atmosphere that was overflowing with simchah and love.
This time we had no reason to wait.
And we were delighted in our happy state!
Suzie Steinberg, CSW, is a native of Kew Gardens Hills and resident of Ramat Beit Shemesh who publishes articles regularly in various newspapers and magazines about life in general, and about life in Israel in particular. Her recently published children’s book titled Hashem is Always With Me can be purchased in local Judaica stores as well as online. Suzie can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and would love to hear from you.
