I live in a house with a forced hot air heating system by natural gas, and at 4 AM three days ago, the circuit board that controls the fan died.
It’s a semi-old system, we think it was installed around 1990, so getting parts is a challenge because the circuit board manufacturer has changed the design.
Thus, it’s a guessing game which new version is compatible with my system.
Over the past year or so, I’ve learned more about HVAC than the average schmoe, as a result of various problems that have cropped up, usually around this, the coldest time of the year.
The plumber/electricians have been here twice: over 3 hours yesterday evening. They are upset and embarassed by the fact that they can’t make this repair, and they get points for their pride of craft, if not for their short-term effectiveness.
Oddly enough, this major break in routine has given me a chance to do some deep-think on .NET, and to realize how much I’d lost focus on development in the larger community.
So, in my semi-delusional hypothermic state, I took a break yesterday from client projects and wrote a couple of test apps; one generates an Excel spreadsheet from a DataGrid, and the other consumes an RSS feed.
The latter has been useful as a way to understand RSS and to keep track of new content on various blogs, including Peter’s; I’ll probably eventually add it to my site once it’s formatted better.
I think the former will be useful down the road for a couple of assignments. It was also instructive, the first web app I’ve written that uses Office automation.
I’ve also been reflecting on why a recent situation was, in fact, a no-win, including the profound difference between glib pronouncements and objective intellectual rigor, and the incredible inability of so many people to distinguish between the two.
Meanwhile, it’s a real Currier & Ives kind of morning, pale blue/pink sky and a fresh snow cover. Nature cut us a break between the last arctic air mass and the next predicted for tomorrow. I just hope the HVAC experts can figure out how to get some heat in this house between now and then.