Last Monday’s Breaking News on The NEWS Website references an AP-Yahoo! News poll, that $4 per gallon gasoline is not only causing Americans to drive less, it’s also causing them to cut back on their air conditioning use.

I won’t tell you the entire story here, but suffice it to say that the price of gasoline is on everyone’s mind.

My wife and I have had a long-standing disagreement about thermostats. It started with our first apartment together, then our starter house, carried on to our second house, and now, in our McMansion and final resting place, it has gotten really bad.

She must believe that my 23 years in the HVACR industry have been a total waste, as I do not know how to operate a thermostat properly. No matter what temperature I set it at, it is wrong. I am still stupid after all these years.

Recently, she informed me that the high cost of gasoline for three family cars is now eating into the budget. She already was setting the stat at 80°F, but now she wants to shut the thing down during daytime operating hours at the McMansion.

She thinks that by flipping the stat at 6 p.m., we will somehow, magically, cool the house at the hottest part of the day as the western sun sizzles the unshaded back of the McMansion, which happens to have way too much exposed glass.

It’s time for me to put my foot down! For Pete’s sake, I work in the HVAC business. I work hard. I deserve to be comfortable in my own house, don’t I?

No? Yes, honey.