#422 Ceiling Fans

#422 Ceiling Fans

There are all kinds of important things going on in the world these days. Big things, like Jesse Jackson's brilliantly put comments about Barak Obama, the war we're "winning" in Iraq, the war we will soon find in Iran. There are oil prices, food prices, real estate prices and the market meltdown, the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Bobbsy Twins of the lending world. And more. But it's often the little things that bedevil us.

Like ceiling fans.

This is a new idea for those of us who lived in one old house for ages, then moved into a new one. There are two here. One is in a bedroom, the other in a space the builder has designated the "Sun Room."

Turn them on and they twirl. Turn them off and they (eventually) stop twirling.

There is no difference in the room when the fans are on than when they are off.

And no one seems to know exactly what the point is.

Once, the air conditioning blew a fuse and we turned on the twirly fan to circulate some air. It didn't circulate. Unless, of course, you were on the ceiling along with the fan. To do that, you'd have to be eight feet tall. No one here is anything near that. Nor have we learned to do the Spiderman Ceiling Walk. So, that's not why the fan is there.

In winter, we tried lowering the thermostat a few degrees, figuring (physics 101) what hot air was available would rise to the ceiling (hot air CAN do the Spiderman Ceiling Walk,) then blow the warm air back down in the room. Nope.

Hey! How about reading the instruction book? That tells you how to install the thing (unneccessary -- they were already installed.) It tells you how to clean them (get up on a ladder and wipe the blades with a soft damp cloth. Duh.) It tells you how to turn them on and off (if you have it on a switched circuit, turn the switch to the "on" position. If not, pull the little chain that hangs down from the motor housing. Use a ladder unless you're eight feet tall or can walk on the ceiling.)

But it does not tell you what the fan's supposed to do -- except use electricity when it's on and not use electricity when it's off.)

At "Fans R Us," the local big box store, the head of the ceiling fans department is away (probably in the back room, fanning himself.) And the clerk doesn't know anything about what to do with the fans. ("It circulates the air when you turn it on, and doesn't circulate the air when you turn it off." Brilliant.)

Maybe the President can tell us more about that when he leaves office. After all, who knows more than a Texas politician about hot air. And especially THIS Texas politician.






Shrapnel:

--Radio used to be real art. Now, it's paint by numbers. And a lot of the "artists" can't count.

--In a broadcast hiring situation take someone with table-waiting experience over an equally qualified candidate without. Waiting tables teaches three important skills. Taking crap from customers and bosses, observing deadlines and multitasking.

--This doesn't work the other way around. Anything you do in broadcast doesn't translate into a marketable skill at a restaurant. That's REAL work.

I'm Wes Richards. My opinions are my own, but you're welcome to them.®
©WJR 2008