When i saw the title of your post, Debi, I just knew it was about this desperate woman. She & her husband are such publicity hounds, it seems that they will do anything to be in the public's eye. Pittiful!!

sorry, I did know that you were picking up your daughter, too, just didn't think of it. "I do agree that as I work through my issues, particularly my pain from my mom's drinking/abuse, it will help me to not be as bothered by BM." wrong wrong wrong. You *need* to be "bothered" by BM. She's a danger to you, & the part of your brain that is in charge of self-preservation *knows* that. There's an excellent book called "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin DeBecker. The core message is that people, especially women, get beaten, stabbed, raped, shot, & murdered because we allow our "rational" brain to argue with our perceptive brain *& win*. One little exercise he does in his safety seminars is: Say you're working late in your office in a high-rise office building. You're the only one on your floor. You leave your office & lock the door & punch the button for the elevator. When it stops & the door opens, you see that there's one person inside, a man. What do you do? He says that every woman in his seminars knows the "right" answer; you don't get on that elevator. but when they discuss it a little further, almost every one of them will sheepishly admit that she'd probably look at the guy & try to figure out if he looks dangerous; then she'd realize that he knows that that's what she's doing; then she'd feel embarrassed that this no doubt perfectly nice man thinks she's the sort of person who suspects somebody without "evidence"; *& then she'd get on that elevator to show the guy that she's a nice person*. This woman is dangerous, you know it, & you keep trying to make your perfectly healthy response (terror) into something that has nothing to do with the threat she poses. This assailant "hugging" you is assault & has nothing to do with your mother. If you haven't broached this subject with your therapist, you need to do so right now, & if you have broached it & the therapist & s/he hasn't supported your healthy response to threat... get a different therapist before we hear about you on the news. I wish you the best.

Well, I'm just a user. I believe that it is reasonable to realize that the unit would need repair in the 'moderately' near future and therefore the obvious error was not a huge loss. However, this is really a good teaching moment for all of us to realize that we ought to ask good questions and probably get a couple of opinions. Sooner than needed replacement is not a winner, just not a huge loser. If the unit went 5 more years, that is 5 years not on the new units lifespan and yes, a later replacement will probably be more expensive, but will likely be even more ffecient, and if not yet on a fixed income, the increased cost would just be inflation. BUT, it is clear that the original unit was still running and may have continued for several more years. Obviously, the breaker wasn't broken, just dirty, because it apparently ran fine once reset. The 15 year 'average' lifespan for AC may be partially explained by MANY others experiencing similar diagnostic 'errors'. Also, just my experience with AC: I have a split system with a Heat Pump upstairs, and regular HVAC downstairs. The HVAC is 20 years old. I did have to replace the heat pump with a leaking coil after 17 years use. Remember, a heat pump runs year round. Both units were basic Goodman units that many here consider bottom of the barrel crapola.

Never heard of that phrase, but it reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode with Andy Devine, in which he played a character known for telling tall tales. After his abduction into a flying saucer, no one would believe that this had happened to him. I suppose you have a story to explain "tall tales" as well 😀