Fan-tastic

Every year when the heatwave hits us, we suddenly remember that we meant to buy fans the last year at this time, and this week was no different. After a particularly long run of unbearably sultry weather in Cape Town, I remembered that fans were an option to tide us over these few days or perhaps weeks of discomfort, and so I set off in pursuit of perspiratory relief.
Of course, only the day before, the whole of Cape Town had remembered the same thing and stripped the shelves of everything that could spin, large or small, and the only remaining fans were those that were faulty, had been repacked (very badly) in their boxes and put back on the shelf for the next sucker. This seems to be the modus operandi of many a retailer in Cape Town. Desperate times call for desperate measures and so I bought one expensive but new looking fan, and a cheaper model in a dodgy looking box.
I've told you about my little car (the half a loaf of bread, with a lawnmower engine) but it wasn't until I tried to fit three largish boxes into it that it was brought home to me how very small it really is. On the back seat I have a big box of books waiting to be taken to the TEARS bookshop which never seems to be on my route. One fan fitted into the boot. The other fan had to go on the passenger seat. My handbag and other odds and ends were relegated to the floor. Luckily there was no one else in the car. It's light and easy to drive, but only for one person, and not a shopper.
Back home, I eagerly tore open the packaging. Naturally the cheap one had a part missing, and so could not be put to use, but the pricier purchase whisked the air into a semblance of a breeze. In no time the pets were gathered around, like the animals in the Lion King meeting Simba, and relaxation was the order of the day. Oh, except for an irate call to the retailer just to let them know my reservations about the state of their packaging were well founded. That entailed a trip back to the store to get my money back, as the only other fan available was a 6-inch desktop toy.
All of this was entirely my own fault. In a few days' time, when the heat has dissipated and we have almost forgotten about it as the first whiff of autumn passes by, I will no doubt be packing the fan away and thinking with fondness of my electric blanket. But at least I am now ready for next summer!