We're in the midst of a heatwave, and it's making it next to impossible to spend any significant amount of time outside, but honestly, I'm struggling to spend time indoors as well. My house is old, and the building where my business is located is old too, and they both rely on window air conditioners to keep them cool this time of year. Although the window air conditioners try their best, when it's this hot outside, by the middle of the day the air inside will feel almost as hot as the air outside, both at my house and at my store. It's brutal, to say the least.

I've been considering having mini-splits installed in my house for quite some time, but each year I put it off; then summer rolls around, and I find myself in an August heatwave again, wishing I'd prioritized it. The upfront cost is always what keeps me from moving ahead with it, but the more I research, the more obvious it becomes that they are worth it in the long run, as they are far more energy-efficient and cost-effective than window air conditioners.

The longer I own my house, the more I realize there are certain decisions that have already been made before I've actually made them. Adding a standby generator this year was one of those; there were only so many times I was going to be able to luck my way out of days-long power outages until I started experiencing major problems, like frozen and bursting pipes when there wasn't heat, or another basement flood when the sump pump didn't have power. The mini-split debate I've been having with myself for years feels less dire than the generator, but still of a similar nature. The major home improvement of this year was the addition of the generator, and I think I know exactly what next year's will be already.

Paige O. Roberts has a degree in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Henniker Review, Sidereal Magazine, Rejection Letters, and Cypress. She has been nominated for a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize. She lives in northern New Hampshire, where she owns and operates a pet boutique called Tailswag.