All About the Suction

Two crafty repairs this week.

The Dyson conked out on us. I thought it was the battery. I think most things failing is about the battery. I bought a replacement but that did not fix the problem. The fully charged Dyson runs for a second and shuts off. As much as I would relish/hate buying a new Dyson I went into YouTube problem solving head space and figured out the problem was all about the suction. Who would have thought?

Too much dirt, too little suction.

In the dirt collection cup is the air intake. I read that if you pick up too much fine dust or flour that cloughs up the tiny air intakes and the vacuum will not stay on. The indicator light blinks blue in an unhelpful way. The teachings say you can clean the intake part or buy a replacement part. But I did not see any instructions for cleaning, and I think you can only buy parts in the EU or the UK. Americans can't be allowed to fix things. It would crash our economy. My V7 pet model works on the low power mode but not full power so it was not the battery. Today I ran it on low and dumped out the bails of Jindo dog hair and popcorn bits. Now I am having a closer inspection of the air intake. I tried a paint brush to clean but that is not effective. My second tool is a bottle brush I use to clean the furnace. This is super effective; it scours the inside walls of the plastic Dyson motor. After tapping out the motor into the sink, I am looking at a massive pile of talcum fine grey dirt. Switching the Dyson power setting over to high it runs without a hitch. Someone tell my husband I am ready for a medal. Because I did not tell him I fixed the vacuum, you are all finding out at the same time. I am such a Geek.

Headphones, Super Glue, Goof-off, for want of a nail.

I broke my huge noise canceling gym headphones. The fingernail clipping shaped plastic bit that allows the ear pad to rotate for a snug fit snapped off. I hate it when a minor break leaves an otherwise functional item useless. A real for want of a nail situation. If the headphones had been run over it would be easier to let them go. A fix is so close yet so far. First, I tried to bind the bits together with some black tape but that was a fail. Yesterday I applied some super glue with low expectations. In my whole life I can scarcely recall an instance when super glue worked. This is one of those times. I let the glue cure for a long time and it's a winner. Hazah!

Oh, and I was today-years-old when I discovered Goof-Off can take super glue off your fingertips.

The Dawn of a new plumbing fix.

As the building manager, I am familiar with clogs. I have a toilet snake, and a sink drain snake that allow me to make short work of most clogs. It's great to solve clogs in-house by calling the plumber. The management company charges the resident if they think the clog is their fault and it might be the next day before someone can come.

Code Name Bermuda

The toilet is a mystery of functionality to most people. Like the Bermuda Triangle. It's everyone's little blue piece of the Gulf of Mexico most of the time. Until it turn stormy. There was a slow draining throne yesterday that I could not clear, so I tried a YouTube Plumber fix pouring some Dawn dishwashing soap down the overflow standpipe in the tank. I also poured a couple of 3-gallon buckets of hot water in the bowl. The water came up sudsy and fresh smelling. It did not work right away but in an hour, it was flushing correctly again. My theme song for today is "Don't stop me now" by Freddie Mercury. Freddie says Never use Drano.

What am I reading this week?

Count Zero | William Gibson

This is a bit of a deep dive for me. I just finished Mona Lisa Overdrive, a book from the same universe as Count Zero. There is a brain chip culture that allows you to plug in skill sets. For example, a Spanish Language vocabulary you can use on vacation in Mexico. People have ports behind their ears to jack into the web. In Count Zero, the industry is on the cusp of switching from silicon chips to organic chips. A shadow war between companies is the main story in this book. Also, the super-rich and well connected are no longer thought of as being human. They survive illness and death in cyberspace constructs and chemical vats buying body parts on the open market for organs they cannot regrow. It's all very dark and creepy. There are fun bits too. This was written pre cell/smart phones. One character has programmed the "house phone" not to allow most calls through that are not known contacts. It's a big deal as someone has sent a fax to work around the block. There is a whole lot of fax paper in William Gibbson stories.