How not to make the most of an afternoon

My two-year-old HVAC system went out. I got a panicked text from Amy while I was out with Mark in East Texas saying the A/C would not come on and the temps were supposed to be in teh 90s.
Hmmm. I thought for sure I'd flipped the kill switch on the furnace, so I climbed into the attic.
Not the problem.
I tested the heat. It wouldn't trip the system on either... nor would setting the fan from auto to ON.
So I replaced the batteries in the thermostat. Nothing. I went to the store. I bought a new thermostat. My many online friends thought for sure this had to be it. The new thermostat is in and spiffy and new... but it didn't fix the problem either.
So I made some calls. I got out the screw gun and the voltage meter and I crawled in the miserably hot attic. I tested the power to the unit. YUP... it was hot. I tested the power to the circuit board. It was hot, too. 126 volts. So then I tested the hot to neutral loop. All good. I tested the power to the transformer. 126 Volts. Then the power coming out of the transformer. 29 Volts. Crap.
So I took the circuit board off and looked at the back. But there was not burning or anything. All this and the LED wasn't making any indications at all... no beeps and bleeps. It is out.
So I called and the part is on order.
It's getting cooler and cooler so by next week it's only supposed to be in the 70s.
Still, this little endeavor took almost 6 hours, and was very unsatisfying in the end.
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Shhhh. I want to tell you a little secret. I don't like being told I can't do something.
I had offered to take over Grasslands and the NTTR board thought I was not the right person for the job. 'Course right after that I was asked to resign completely... but that's another matter. Some day I will run again. And at that time I will run for President of NTTR and finally, finally get the recognition I deserve. In the mean time, the race cost $15,000 and $15,000 were taken in.... My event, had more people, cost $30,000 and lasted three days. And from what i can tell, it had fewer complaints. I am not saying anything about Stacey and Kevin nor the other core volunteers who worked for hours and hours to get things going and then stayed there all day long getting through the actual race. But I have learned a lot from Jay Norman over the years and I think I could have done a bang-up job with the race. And someday I'll prove it.
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Mark took Emma. Of course, I knew he would. But I don't just miss him, I am now missing her too. Incredibly.
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I wish the Dirt Divas were having another party tonight.