Surprise #1: Why'd They Take That Cord?

So the first surprise came before I arrived. My husband and father in law came a day early to start getting things settled before I and my mother in law came with my daughter. They found a very warm house that couldn't be cooled. The downstairs air conditioner cord did not reach the outlet. And it wasn't a standard plug that could use a normal extension cord. In fact, after going to several hardware stores, they found that the required extension cord did not seem to exist. Clearly the previous owners must have used the downstairs air conditioning. Why did they take such a specialized extension cord with them? My awesome father in law was able make an extension cord from some cable and parts from the local hardware store. Thank goodness he came along to help us get settled. I'm not sure what we would have done about this problem if we were alone. Sweated until we could get an electrician in, I guess.

The too short air conditioner cord with the extension cord my father in law rigged up