I grew up in a household with an abusive dad. I guess that I got pretty lucky because I only had to deal with him for 10 years of my life before he was out of the picture. My mom, on the other hand, was married to him for about 25 years. Throughout that time he controlled nearly every aspect of her life. He determined where she was allowed to work, how she was allowed to dress, and who she was allowed to associate with. With all of that in mind, I have tried to be the exact opposite kind of husband to my wife. I never forbid her from doing a single thing, even though I think some of her social associations are not good for us. In particular, her best friend is a very negative influence when it comes to our energy bills and family finances. I’m sure that her friend has no idea how much she impacts our monthly utilities, heating and cooling repair costs, and indoor air quality overall. She probably doesn’t understand how influential she is when she discusses her professional heating and cooling repair appointments. However, I can tell you that her reliance on the central heating and cooling repair shop down the street has absolutely rubbed off on my wife and created problems. It seems like my wife’s best friend is constantly having her indoor air handling devices inspected and upgraded. As a result, my wife tends to call our heating and cooling company way too often. I can’t stop my wife from interacting with her best friend… But I wish she would take the HVAC technician off her speed dial.
