Crash, rattle, and cold

So, tomorrow (or later today, actually, judging by the clock) I'm having a small housewarming-ish get-together. Just Mom, Grandma, and the aunts, and possibly a second cousin, but hey! It's a group of people, coming to see the new house! We can show them the two painted rooms! And the pantry Dragon built! And the playroom! There will be wine, and cupcakes! The air is vibrating with excitement, anticipation, and the scents of glass cleaner, dishwashing liquid, and citrus antibacterial wipes. Why, even the furnace is excited, merrily clanking and rattling away in the basement, and...

Oh, wait. Furnaces aren't supposed to do that, right?

Yeah. Dragon called me on Friday afternoon and said, "Just a warning...in case you see the repair truck in front of the house, the furnace made a godawful noise when I turned on the heat. The company will be out to check it presently." The noise was less godawful by the time the boys and I got home, but it still sort of sounded like there were some little model cars running around inside of it. Now, the furnace and AC are actually shiny and new, just installed in June by the local HVAC place down the street. The broker who sold us Charming Bungalow made much of the shiny-ness, but we noticed during our walkthrough that he hadn't exactly chosen the most energy-efficient model. As it turns out, it's the cheapest one. It needs a new motor, which should be along on Monday.

Dude. Shouldn't even the cheapest furnace perform well for more than a couple of months?