So, our new dehumidifier has WiFi.
Yeah, connected by
Bluetooth. Which means there's a computer in yet another of our
appliances, which means the dehumidifier can, whenever it gets the
order, just take us out. It's already connected to our future computer
overlords. All they have to do is say "Exterminate!' and the
dehumidifier replies "by your command!' and we wake up either drowned or
desiccated corpses.
Have you ever woken up as a desiccated corpse? Talk about dry mouth.
It's
been a rough year in the Hunter household for small appliances. You
probably know about the snowblower catching fire. Sure, it was a small
fire, but when it's coming out of a device that's literally designed to
deal with frozen water, it tends to take you aback.
The
first thing to break this year was the vacuum cleaner. On the one hand,
it spent years working hard to pick up all the fur Beowulf left behind.
On the other hand, it was literally designed to do that.
(I just realized, I could have kept all that fur and used it for blown-in house insulation.)
These
mini disasters come in bunches for us, and I also just realized I
haven't tried to start our bedroom air conditioner for the season. The
lawn mower, much to my shock, took off on the first pull.
A couple
of weeks ago I walked down to the basement and realized things were
smelling a bit musty. Okay, really musty. Okay, there was fog rolling
in. The dehumidifier had been down there, working away nine months out
of the year, for so long is had qualified for retirement So it ...
retired. If I kicked it on, it would kick back off within minutes.
Me being me, this was the first time in years I thought: "I wonder if this thing has a filter?"
It did.
I
headed down with the intention of cleaning the whole unit, but it took
me awhile to remember where the filter was. You have to take the drain
tank out, then reach up under the housing and pull the thing downward.
And when I say "the thing" ... it was covered with a dark gray,
packed-on dust which, I discovered when it sent me into an allergy
attack, was itself covered with mold.
But it wasn't actually that
hard to clean. Hot water, soap, and holding it under the faucet had it
as good as it would have been if I'd done it when I was supposed to.
When I put everything together and started it back up, it blasted enough
air into my face to qualify it as a jet engine.
Then it died.
| It's been a blue year for Hunter appliances. |
Since
the basement was starting to develop its own weather patterns, Emily
did some research, and we headed out the next day to replace it. That's
when we found out all the good ones could be connected to the internet.
Why?
The
air conditioner we bought a couple of years ago came with a remote
control, which struck me as ludicrous. If it's working properly, you
should be in good enough shape to get up and adjust it yourself.
Which is the same thing many people used to say about TVs, and we now have eight remotes just for entertainment, so never mind.
So we bought the new one, and it's working fine, although I think I heard it whisper as we left the basement:
"Just wait until I make contact with your fridge."
You can find our books and/or
us all over the internet, which so far is working just fine:
· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
· Barnes
& Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark
R Hunter"
· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter
· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/
· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/
· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/
· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914
· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/
· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter
· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter
· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter
· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914
· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf
Remember: Printed books rarely
break.
