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