Walter Arnett
Editorial, Florida News

From the Inside

May 30, 2020

This year has produced some of summer early this spring. With the high temperatures we have already experienced, it seems we have skipped spring, and are in mid-summer. Be sure that you have given your customers their air conditioning check-up and they have clean filters in their system. Also, make sure they have your phone number in a handy place in case of any trouble that may pop up. Don’t forget to check the inventory of filters and repair parts on your service trucks. Service calls have already started and this should be a busy season for repair and replacement for you.

Walter Arnett
Walter Arnett

Each year at this time, my memory goes back to my early childhood days and what I have always considered my introduction to air conditioning. In the early 1930’s, the movie theater in my hometown, Clarksdale, Miss., would have Saturday morning shows, mainly for children. For a nickel, we could see our cowboy hero kill the Indians, save the ranches, win the pretty girl, and then watch a comedy such as “The 3 Stooges.” It was great to go, especially in the hot summer, because it was always 20 degrees cooler inside, or so the sign on the marquee said.

After moving to Macon, and World War ll began, my dad was working at Warner Robins AFB on the night shift. During the summer months, when he came home from work and went to bed, it was my job to go a block up the street to the ice house and get a dime block of ice, put it in a pan in front of the fan in the window and create air conditioning for him.

I think these experiences were the beginning of my future in the HVAC industry. In 1950 I joined Marbut Company in Macon, learned the trade, and started my 40-year career. When I retired in 1990, I was encouraged by Jean to join my friend, Jerry Lawson, in the HVAC Insider. Her persuading suggestion was “I married you for better, or worse, but not to
have you here for three meals every day.” That started me on my second career of, so far, 30 years in the trade newspaper business, which has been nothing but fun and pleasure. I look forward to several more years to come before calling it quits, and hunting for another profession.

We’ll talk again next month.