you mean I have a choice?

Our heat died last night.

Well, it's not as bad as all that. The heat died upstairs, which happens to be where all the bedrooms are. The unit will still produce heat, but the fan stopped working, so it shuts down as soon as you start it. It could be a lot worse. It could have happened a few weeks ago when we had the real cold snap, or we could be in Maine. It's chilly now, but we survived the night.

Now comes the fun. We called the heating and air people this morning to get them to come and fix it and the first question they ask is, "It'll be a minimum of a bazillion dollars to come and look at it and then whatever else on top of that. Will that be alright?"

What do you mean, will that be alright?

I need heat. I need the system to work. I have a feeling there's an electrical issue in there somewhere which opens me up for...oh, I dunno..maybe an electrical fire, or something equally ugly. So, if I say no, that's not alright, what happens? Does that mean you say, "OK then, Mr. Lumberyard, if that's not alright, we'll just knock off that bazillion dollar service charge. Is that better for you?"

Is there a way to say no to that and still have you come out and fix my stuff? Do I have that choice? I didn't think so. You have me by the short hairs and you know it, so stop being so damn polite about it. Just tell me you'll be wiping out my checking account in the process of fixing my heater and let's be done with it.