A not-so handy man

I'm growing up and it's weirding me out.\nThe whole "responsibility" thing has been kind of a common theme since I moved into my apartment, whether it's buying groceries or throwing away the groceries that go bad (although, the 6-week-old eggs in my refrigerator don't bode well for me on this one).\nAnyway, the other day I was sitting on the couch thinking how I am precariously close to becoming an adult when I noticed that I had begun to sweat profusely. I thought it was a sign of old age. My roommate, however, assured me it was just the air conditioning dying.\nI sat there for a while, relieved that I still sweat the normal amount, and began to think about how an adult would handle a broken utility unit. I left a message for the landlord but then I decided that a man wouldn't call for help. No, if society has taught me anything, it's that a man can and should fix anything available, even if he is painfully under-qualified.\nSo, taking this tip from the likes of Dr. Cliff Huxtable and Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor, I set off to find the source of the problem.\nStep one: Check the fuse box. There wasn't any reason for me to believe that one had blown, but it seemed like a good first step.\nAfter verifying the state of our fuses (and switching a few off and on, just for good measure), I thought about what to do next.\nIt occurred to me that I had no idea where the air conditioning unit is. I mean, I know the fan thingy (yes, that's the technical term) is outside, but what happens from there?\nI began to search the utility closet for any telltale clues, but I wasn't too confident I would be able to identify anything. Just then I saw something that my highly tuned eye knew wasn't right.\nOn the outside of one of the metal boxes was a piece of ice about the size of a baseball. Now, admittedly, I'm no expert, but I was pretty sure that wasn't supposed to be there. The only problem now was that I didn't know what to do next.\nI tapped on the ball to see if there was anything unusual about it. There wasn't. Then I thought about breaking it off but I kept picturing the apartment flooding as water shot out of the newly revealed hole. Still, I was tempted, but eventually decided against any more tinkering.\nDefeated, I returned to my normal (albeit, much warmer) life in the apartment until a repairman came some time later. I walked him downstairs, a little proud of myself, assuring him that I knew what the problem was.\nAs I opened the door and turned on the light, I pointed and said, "I don't think that ice cube is supposed to be there."\nHe turned to me, shook his head a little and gave me a strange look as if to say, "any moron could see that was the problem." And at that moment, I was relieved.\nIt occurred to me that my fears of becoming an adult were obviously completely unfounded.