A decade or so ago, when I was living in the very northern part of my state and my mother was living way down south, I would sometimes make the 8-hour drive down to see her and visit for a while.
One weekend, I proceeded to do just that, and about halfway there, sitting in gridlock on the interstate, I began to smell an nasty smell.
I thought it was some disgusting paper plant or something spewing pollution into the air, but guess what? It was my Honda’s air conditioner! Soon, the a/c air vents were blowing hot, stinky air into the already-100-degree day. Now, no one in my state wants to be anywhere without air conditioning, least of all a traffic jammed highway. Well, in those days, I did not have a lot of options when it came to parting with my money in unexpected ways, and online I read that my a/c repair would probably be $1500. There was no way I had an extra one or two grand lying around just waiting to be spent fixing my a/c. I always put it off until later. Well, it was miserable, let me tell you. With no a/c to flip on at the end of the workday, I was feeling like I wanted to pass out by the time I got home. I never did get that a/c fixed. I kept that car five more years, and let me assure you of one thing. Five years without a/c was no fun at all.