Fixing my Through-The-Wall air conditioner dilemma

One of the warts of our 106-year-old house is that it does not have central air conditioning.  Over the years I have explored installing some type of cooling system but it has always been cost-prohibitive.  In the Master Bedroom, we have what is known as a Through-the-Wall air conditioner.  What some crazy or visionary previous owner did was take a small window and sealed it off to hold this unit. It is a very old, SEARS Coldspot.  How old?  When you google the model number you get Maytag refrigerators because Sears stopped making these around the time Nixon resigned.

While it still works in the “it turns on” sense, it doesn’t produce cold enough air if the temperature reaches a certain point.  That point being the temperature one would turn an AC unit on.

It’s hard to find anyone who works on these units these days because most homes have central air or at least SpacePak.  But lo and behold, I found a recommendation on my local Facebook neighborhood group for a place that does this type of service.

I called Bob and from our initial phone call, I had a gut feeling I would not be happy.  Bob kept cut me off while we were talking.   I’m willing to adhere to the “respect your elders” mantra up to a point.   I don’t believe this Missionaria Protectiva gives someone a free pass to be abusive, or even just a plain old dick.

I was trying to ascertain whether it was worth his time to look at my ancient AC unit.  He said that he can usually do something to get these older units going and I wishfully believed him.  What I should have done, and he confirmed onsight, was send him a picture of the air conditioner.  I mean I did tell him it was a SEARS Coldspot and anyone in the business should have been able to say “hey they haven’t made those in at least 20 years!”

Bob came over, looked at the unit, pulled it partially out of the sleeve and took some measurements.  He said that he could try to powerwash the coils for $500 but couldn’t guarantee that would help.  He recommended a new unit and could do the job for $940.  He’d also give me $20 off as credit to the $109 service charge for that day’s visit.  Whoopie.  He apparently didn’t hear my question about how much was labor and how much was the unit.  

So after feeling sorry for myself and my $109, I did some research.  After watching a dozen Youtube videos, along with the one thing that Bob showed me — how to remove the existing unit — I felt confident that I could buy another Through-the-Wall and install it myself.

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We found a unit on Amazon for $375.  I was hesitant to order something instead of buying something at a nearby Big Box Store in case the sizing didn’t fit but we opted to go for as inexpensive as possible because everything we save on one home repair, we get to spend…on another home repair.

Update:  We also qualified for a ComEd Energy Saving rebate so knock another $25 off the total cost!

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The 7 winter coats you need to survive Chicago Winters – Men’s Edition

When it comes to winters in the Midwest, they are something else.  Not as brutal as Antarctica, Alaska or Greenland, but definitely a class of their own.  Chicago is particularly interesting because it is possible to experience all four seasons in one day, even in the winter!

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Now the Woman’s Edition will take bit longer to put together.  Each of the types of coat I showed has at least 3 counterparts in different colors, sizes and levels of cuteness.  In the meantime, check out Kathy Mathews piece she wrote for a while back.

 

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Review: Geekbes Smart Socket WiFi Mini Plug

On a whim I purchased a 3 pack of Geekbes Smart Socket WiFi Mini Plug (Model YM-WS-1) a few weeks ago.  Ordinarily smart sockets are not a thing I  cannot live without, but it was a flash sale at Newegg so I figured a $25 investment wasn’t going to break me.

I have been looking for a solution for two problems I have:

1)  Easy way to turn on and off the lights in my garage
2)  Easy way to reboot my modem without running down to the basement

 

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The app that comes with the smart socket allows you to turn them on or off from your phone, and set a schedule.  I didn’t expect the ability to schedule your sockets.  I also wasn’t sure that the WiFi signal from my router (80 ft away) would reach these devices or provide a stable signal, but as I said for $25 it was worth taking the chance. It turns out that not only does the wifi signal reach our alley, but this app does work over cellular data as well.  [It wasn’t clear from the marketing description.]

Sometimes I need to hard reboot my modem.  running down to the basement where it is located isn’t always practical.  But with this app, I can quickly turn it on and off from my favorite chair.  It does seem paradoxical that turning off the device that controls the WiFi would still allow me to turn it back on, but it seems to do just that.  I’m guessing either the WiFi session is still alive for a few seconds or the capacitor in the switch holds enough power to stay on.  Or magic.

I did try rebooting the modem remotely when we were visiting relatives in Mississippi .  It turned the modem off, but unfortunately not back on.  I may experiment with setting the modem to reboot once a week via the schedule to see if that works or probably just leave well enough alone.

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What if Anakin Skywalker didn’t kill the Younglings after all?

A long time ago in a galaxy very far away some terrible things happened.   A dispute between the Republic and the Trade Federation sowed the seeds for the Rise of an evil Empire; a forbidden love affair between a jedi and a Queen exposed a clone army; Manipulated by a genius Sith Lord, the Galactic Senate voted the Chancellor emergency powers,  and worse yet, Jar Jar Binks was made a representative of Naboo!

Yet in spite of all of that, something has always bothered me about the story we have been told.  While I’m sure Anakin Skywalker and Emperor Palpatine did some terrible things under the guise of hard decisions to ensure the stability of the Empire, I’ve always had a hard time believing that Anakin actually killed all those younglings in the Jedi Temple.

Remember, the Rebel Account is a history (It was a long time ago, man! in a far off Galaxy) written by the victors.   You can bet they took certain creative license to put them in the best light and the Empire in the darkest.  Perhaps the Death Star wasn’t really the size of a moon and maybe they didn’t blow up Alderaan, but merely carpet boomed the heck out of it.

“And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And the events of the attack on the Jedi Temple passed out of all knowledge.”

Let me present my case with this video slideshow:

 

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Maybe one of the most mortifying moments in Episode 3 might not have been as devastating as people have been told, when looked at from a certain point of view.  And remember, Han Solo shot first.

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Time to purge the running clothes already

During the Marathon Era of my life, when I was a more avid runner, I collected a large wardrobe of running clothes for all seasons. At its height I probably had a good two weeks worth of running shirts alone. Now that I’m not logging nearly as many miles, there is no need to fill my closets and drawers with unused clothes.

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With winter and cooler weather gear you can usually wear the same tights and long sleeves more than once before needing a wash. Summer stuff obviously is a one wear and wash. The truth is, even if I were running more like the Marathon Era of my life, there were favorites that always got put to the front and the other clothes were mostly backups.

I’ve decided to keep two sets of winter wear and three sets of warmer weather wear.  If my running habits change and I actually start running more than 2-3 days a week, I can always buy another pair of running shorts.

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How to Repurpose a Crib Rail into a Gate

A few years ago, I decided to take a crack at fixing the gate between my deck and the side fence in my yard.   I didn’t understand why the previous owner had a gate there.  Now that I have children, I completely understand the need.  Alas, my attempt in 2014 sucked and I left it open until the rugrats arrived, then i just used a kiddie gate.  But the weather has not been kind to it, and it wasn’t very practical in terms of being able to access the water hose.  So I tried again.

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So far it seems to have done the trick.  The new gate is better looking and more functional than the previous kiddie gate.

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Planning a Wedding? Don’t do these things

Weddings can be very stressful, not only for the people who are getting married but also for the people who are part of the wedding party.  The Wedding Industry doesn’t help by making things redunkulously expensive.  But there are some things you can do to help mitigate the stress.

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Here’s some more good wedding advice.   If you liked this post you’ll love this  one and this one.

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Sometimes even the simplest DIY projects become complex

On a recent visit to my in-laws, my FIL gave me a spare USB Charging Electrical Outlet they had lying around.  As much as I embrace technology, I didn’t really feel like I need one of these in our house any time soon.  But since they gave it to me for free, essentially saving me $15, I figured I might as well install it in the kitchen to have a second charging area.  My wife Nightingale might appreciate being able to keep her iPad charged while cooking.

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9 things that annoyed me this week

While I wish I could lead a more easy-going, zen lifestyle, I’m just not wired that way.  I often get annoyed at the most trivial things and even if I ignore them to the best of my ability, they seem to become cumulative.  I miss a turn light  I could totally have made had it not been for the first guy staring at his phone and letting precious seconds of our too short traffic signal waste away.  I miss my train because someone couldn’t walk on the single row escalator at the El platform.  Or I do make the train but had to settle for the crowded last car filled with everyone else who had to walk behind someone who had all the time in the world to catch his train so he watched his phone instead.

Maybe the answer for me is simply blowing off steam and venting my spleen.  Here are 9 things that pissed me off just this last week:

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How I got my old school stereo system to stream music inexpensively

The previous owner of our house had installed some speakers in the ceiling of the kitchen.  The speaker wires feed into a cabinet above the fridge.  I can play local OTA radio stations (aka Celestial Stations) and CDs through it ( He left behind a non-working CD player which I have replaced with an old school stereo receiver). However, it would be cool if I could to stream music through those speakers from either my PC or Spotify.

In my perfect world I would also be able to add additional wireless speakers in other parts of the house, maybe even using the sound bars of TVs (have not bought sound bars yet) thus being able to hear whatever choice of music I want throughout the house.  There are solutions out there but they can be rather expensive and it doesn’t make sense right now to put a fancy State-of-the-Art AV receiver in a cabinet.

So after a little research, I purchased a Dayton Audio WFA02 Audio Adapter which claims to let you connect your analog system with your PC or Music Streaming Service.

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While this device didn’t have all the functionality I was looking for, at the discounted price of $40 it is worth it as a stop-gap solution for playing my music until I either upgrade to a SONOS system or get a better house.

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