AC Troubles

My father had a tradition every spring...On the first humid day of the year he would close up the house and turn on the AC to make sure it worked correctly. I have continued this tradition. And ours sounds like a jet propellor that someone forgot to tighten the bolts onto. This is not good. So I called our local True Value store (it's a small town, the TV does it all here) and they sent out a repairman. A repairman who doesn' t work on this particular brand of AC units. Great! It's just all getting better. He THINKS the problem is a bearing in the compressor...So I ask him, can it be fixed? And he says it can, but he can't do it and he doesn't know anyone in the area who works on this brand since Old Man Smith (or some such person) retired 10 years ago...And besides, if I'm going to replace the compressor I might as well just buy a new unit because the cost is comparable. So I ask...How long will it last the way it is? His estimate? (Go ahead, you might as well guess...Your guess will probably be as good as his.) "Could die tomorrow, could last 10 more years." Funny, I think I could have hired a neighbor kid to say that and only paid them $5 for their time.

So...Today, Fidget called a different repair place in a neighboring town. She was on the phone with him for 15 minutes as he patiently answered our questions. He's going to come and take a look in the next couple of days and see what he can do with it.

Anyone know anything about AC? Our unit is about 14 years old...Should we replace the whole thing, just the compressor, or should we just bite our lip and hope it doesn't quit when it's 105? Calls, emails or comments appreciated.