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Life is a Battle and Then Your Fire Goes Out

One thing that I have noticed during ourbeen asleep for that lesson some years ago. I
eighteen months in America is this everythingprobed at the various pastel colored wires,
is an uphill battle. Everything is hard towhile staring at the Multimeter and wondering
figure out, from completing your twowhat the displayed numbers represented. To
hundred-page tax return; to understandingmake sure the Multimeter worked I stuck both
what Southerners are actually saying whenprobes into a plug and it showed 118V. I
they speak. Trying to figure out why so manyfigured that either I had gotten lucky for
All-American companies have more foreignersnot getting shocked to death, or the
answering their help desk telephones thenMultimeter was almost indestructible and
Americans (or people who could conduct aidiot proof. I also have no doubt that the
partial conversation in English for thatMultimeter's warrantee is officially null and
matter) is another matter for serious studyvoid now.After staring at the furnace for a
and debate. The fate of the entire universegood twenty minutes I decided to tighten all
lies within the battles fought to get thethe screws in the hope that a loose one would
answers to these questions.Now don't get mebe the root cause of the problem. But still
wrong here, I don't expect life to be easy bynothing happened, and to make matters worse
any means or standards. I just genuinely feelthe machine was now completely dead and
that I should not be fighting some of thesenothing worked at all. Then, in a stroke of
battles; they deserve to be fought by peoplegenius I figured out that I needed to go back
who live in a tropical paradise or by Dobbiedownstairs and replace the thermostat cover
your House Elf. The Queen of England does notand actually turn the heater on. I did this
wash windows, Gandhi did not bath, and Leand found that still nothing worked. I broke
Perdu (that's me) does not do Thai massages,out into a cold sweat and started having
carpeting, deep-sea fishing or Americanvisions of writing a very large bank check
Football. I don't give refunds or do carout to a heater technician. Then I remembered
washes either.My newest battle came to an endthat there is a safety switch on the front of
last night and I figured that some of youthe furnace unit that requires the covering
might get a kick out of my toils.I recentlypanels to be mounted before the unit will
discovered that although the Air Conditionerturn on. I mounted it, which caused the
unit and blowers work, the furnace in mymachinery to spring to life and start cold
thirty six year old house was broken. I foundblowing air all over me.I stood their
this out when I turned the heater on andgrinning like a triumphant idiot and had an
received a house full of room temperatureintense sense of partial success, especially
air. This is not very useful on a cold night.now that it was functioning at least as badly
With winter coming along I figured that Ias it was before I started fiddling with
should attempt to fix it myself beforeit.Throughout this drama I was on the phone
shelling out some of my hard earned cash totalking to a friend named Richard, who lives
pay a handyman to fix it for me. A friendin the UK, where it was 2AM. He is an
provided some advice as to how to troubleelectrician and he was trying to guide me
shoot the problem, and depending on thethrough the saga of figuring out whether the
results he gave some possible solutions.heater had electricity going to it or not.
Since the weather has still been good latelyThe fact that it is a gas unit that heats air
I have been putting this task off, but lastand not water or oil had him completely
night I decided to put some time aside tostumped. In reality he was useless when it
"fiddle" with it.What an ordeal.The firstcame to fixing the furnace but the
thing I did was remove the thermostat (whichconversation was most welcome.Please click
is downstairs) cover and then followed thethe link to read the rest of this comical
heating and setup instructions provided onincident involving a gas furnace on a cold
the back of the cover to the tee. No decentwinters night.Le Perdu is a contributing
results (or heat) were forthcoming, so I wentauthor on a growing site dedicated to random
upstairs and removed the heaters front panelsreading, obscure articles, and some rather
so I could check the current flowing through'out there' opinions. We dare to be
various wires with a Multimeter. It is worthdifferent, and we are always looking for
mentioning here that I have absolutely NOarticles and authors.
idea how to use a Multimeter, I must have



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