Does anybody care if my a.c. is fixed or not?  It is more interesting if not, right?  The more I have to suffer, the better the entertainment.  Let this violinist play the tune, "Cry Me a River." The musician Gus Van Zandt once said that there were two types of songs, "Zippety Do-Dah," and the blues.  Which do people like more?  He said it was the blues.  I don't know if I agree with that.  There are plenty of happy songs I will listen to.  But. . . and here's the sad truth. . . we learn nothing from happy.  I don't know if we learn anything from the blues, either, but we can, if they are any good at all, learn how to cope with adversity.  Other people's adversity is good.  Aristotle told us that.  It is a purgative.  We feel better after a tragedy.  What was the ratio--three tragedies to one comedy?  Maybe it was two, but that seems too few.  C.C. will correct me if I'm wrong.  But the point is the same whether or not the numbers are correct.  Take a poll.  Ask people if there is more good or bad in the universe, or if the amounts are equal.  What would you predict the answers to be?  A sensible person might assume that we would say that the amounts are equal, that the universe must balance out.  But. . . nope.  I've done this a lot with large groups, and overwhelmingly they answer that the universe is more full of evil.

Whatever that means.

But that is the way humans feel.  Life is difficult and full of adversity.

Still, I like a happy song.

Oh. . . about the air conditioning.  It is cool and dry in my house, but I don't know for how long.  There is a leak in the coil that the technician couldn't find.  It may be so small that I can live with it.  Or not.  He filled the unit with freon (which they are not going to make any more) for a hefty fee.  Now I must wait and see.  So. . . better than happy or sad, we are in held in suspense.

That is good for you.

For me. . . not so much.