Long, Hot Friday

We went to work as usual on Friday morning, and when we got home I walked in and felt it.

It's funny, but there is a feeling to the house when the A/C has quit working again. Something in the air. I am seldom wrong when I sense it.

Sure enough, the compressor wasn't coming on. Checked the breakers, didn't seem to be a problem. Called the home warranty company. They called the local people who, after begging and pleading, agreed to come out Saturday.

An hour later, we got a call. They could send a technician right now, if we were home. Could he come? To quote #2 Son, when someone asks an obvious question, "Do farts stink?"

Turned out to not be the A/C. We have a problem in the electrical system somewhere. That will be another $60 for the service call.

Because the problem seems to be connected to our generator, we couldn't let the home warranty people call their electrician, who might not know what to do with the generator hook up. We called our Generator Guy, who agreed to drive up from his current job, over an hour away, later in the day.

Much later. It was after 9pm when he arrived, and he saw the problem within a few minutes. He said it was a quick fix, and went out to his vehicle to look for the right sized lug. At almost 10pm he realized he didn't have it. Of course, the home improvement places don't stay open past 10. Using the phone, I talked him through getting to a big box 24 hr. store, but they didn't have the right size lug in their small hardware section.

Back at the house, he tore open every breaker panel in the house looking for a lug to scavenge. Finally, at the small side panel, he found something that would be a temporary hold. It was really a grounding lug, but it would work if he put enough electrical tape around it. We don't even know where that grounding lug came from or why it was in there, but the Lord is merciful.

So, by 11:30 pm we had A/C again, patched together enough to hold for a couple of days until he can get back and do it up to his standard.

Why did an electrical lug go bad and burn up? That is the $64,000 question. Did they put too big a capacitor in the compressor when they fixed it a couple of weeks ago? Was it a bad lug? Did the generator have anything to do with it? Will the patch hold? Is there another problem we just haven't caught yet?

Lets hope not. I'm so tired of broken.

Right now, I'm also so glad for the mercy that let us have cool air.


Today is

51st Sourdough River Festival -- Edmondton, Alberta, Canada; through the 11th

Armed Forces Day -- Mauritania

Bon Festival/Feast of Lanterns, Japan

Clerihew Day

Don't Step On A Bee Day

Galicka svadba -- Galicnik, Macedonia (wedding festival), through the 11th

Hop A Park Day

Independence Day, Bahamas

Intern Appreciation Day

Librarian Day -- Chile

National Pina Colada Day

New Robe for Athena Day -- Ancient Greek Calendar

Teddy Bear Picnic Day


Anniversaries Today

Wyoming becomes the 44th US State, 1890


Birthdays Today

Jessica Simpson, 1980
Arlo Guthrie, 1947
Ron Glass, 1945
Arthur Ashe, 1943
Fred Gwynne, 1926
Jean Kerr, 1923
Jake LaMotta, 1921
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 1921
David Brinkley, 1920
Don "Mr. Wizard" Herbert, 1917
Nikola Tesla, 1856
Adolphus Busch, 1839
William Blackstone, 1723
John Calvin, 1509


Today in History

Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat to Pompey in Macedonia at the Battle of Dyrrhachium, BC48
The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground, 1212
Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England, 1553
Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Mackenzie River delta, 1789
The Vellore Mutiny is the first instance of a mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company, 1806
The United States takes possession of its newly bought territory of Florida from Spain, 1821
Big Ben, the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, rings for the first time, 1859
The eruption of Tarawera volcano destroys the famous pink and white calcium carbonate hot-spring terraces of North Island, New Zealand, 1886
Meher Baba, self declared Avatar of the Age, begins his silence of 44 years; his followers observe Silence Day on this date in commemoration, 1925
In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called "Monkey Trial" begins with John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act, 1925
Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91 hour airplane flight around the world, 1938
Telstar, the world's first communications satellite, is launched into orbit, 1962
Boris Yeltsin begins his 5-year term as the first elected President of Russia, 1991