HVAC Hell

Anyone who wanted to visit Hell's Kitchen didn't have to go to midtown Manhattan to get there.  All you had to do was come to our house recently.
A week ago this past Monday, I came home and barely had my foot over the kitchen threshold when I was met by my scowling wife.
Uh-oh. 
I know that look.
"There's no air conditioning in this house," she said testily.
The house did seem a little sticky, now that she mentioned it.
As temperatures were in the lower to mid-90s that day, I thought perhaps the warm weather was pushing our central air to the limit.
While the outside unit was humming along, I went downstairs to check the furnace, which was silent.
I went over to the furnace and flipped the switch on the side to OFF.  Then I flipped it back on.  A loud snap and half the lights in the house went dark.
I went to the fusebox and hunted for the pesky breaker, snapping it back on as Margie came to the basement door to question this next round of malady.
I tried a couple other things...definite electrical problem. 
My dad agreed to come out the following day.  He took off the control panel and was greeted by a torrent of water.  He concluded that the IC board drowned in a backed-up drain that carried water removed from the air to an evaporator unit. 
That meant a call to the Rheem guy.  After speaking with the former owner of my house, I called the same people who installed the furnace and maintained it since.  They came out the next morning...about 20 minutes after I placed the call.
They confirmed my dad's suspicions.  They got the system working temporarily until they were able to come out the following day.  They replaced a completely-clogged drain trap and the IC board.
Between the AC issues, our daughter's birthday, and her birthday party to be held later in the week, it made for a very stressful week.
"We need a do-over," Margie said.
But it's times like that that make that glass of wine taste that much better.

NEXT WEEK:  I Need Backup!