No Stinking Badges

We got no stinking badges, but we got a stinking air conditioner. Turned it on first time this season and the house immediately filled with odor similar to combination of sewer gas and men’s locker room. :yuck: Turned it off, of course, and opened up the windows to air out the place. Got a service person out the next morning. Without actually taking anything apart to see, he diagnosed some sort of mildew-fungus growth in the coils, and said the only practical cure is to run the A/C and let the condensation on the coils wash the crud off. Also suggested spraying Lysol into the air intake. So, been running the A/C while away at work, and spraying in Lysol. Seems to be slowly getting better. Haven’t tried it today – weather cooled somewhat and we actually needed the furnace. I assume furnace air passes over the same coils, but apparently hot dry air doesn’t pick up the stink. Seems counter-intuitive that mildew-fungus would grow on something with hot dry air blowing on it all winter, but the service guy swears it happens. For want of any more intuitive explanation I’m left having to accept his assessment. It’s apparently a few hundred dollars of labor to get at the coils and remove them; trying to wash them in place would drench the motor and possibly ruin it; apparently costly to remove the motor and get it out of the way. Well, we’ll see where things stand whenever we next run the A/C. I may yet cut an opening in the coil chamber and try something more direct than relying on the cleansing power of condensation.

The Marvels of Technology

I get the Slashdot “News for Nerds – Stuff that Matters” Newsletter for exposure to the geek/nerd universe and what they’re talking about. This enables me to pretend I’m pretty much up to speed with the cutting edge of technology. Also, geeks love to pull the wool over the eyes of technophobes and Luddites, and I enjoy being able to keep a straight face and cast a knowing glance when contemporaries are taken in by a geek. Today, though, I was stumped. The newsletter contained a report about Wireless Electric Cords (WEC’s). A couple of things might be clues that it’s a put-on, but I have a whole lot of stuff to do today other than search for the answer. So, I consulted the ultimate purveyor of cutting edge technological gadgetry, Brookstone, and they don’t sell wireless extension cords, which pretty much proves there’s no such thing. I also consulted the ultimate source of electrical knowledge, and Stephen confirms it’s a joke, pointing out that clicking on the “add to cart” button resolves the question. Pretty good joke, though, especially with Slashdot promoting it.

Speaking of technology, this is pretty good: Strongbad on Technology.