July 16, 2011

Dear Cyndy,

Four days after we arrived in Belmont after an absence of two and a half months, the mail has been sorted, all the bills have been paid, the air conditioner is running, it seems reliably, although afflicted with an as yet undiagnosed ailment. I've visited Home Depot where I bought the least expensive toilet seat for which, once we are on Nantucket, I will build a frame to support it over a five gallon bucket whose contents I will pour as needed, p.r.n., as the doctors say, into the septic tank, thereby circumventing Mr. Ciarmataro's prohibition against using the plumbing system. Water I will get from a garden hose attached directly to the pressure tank which is also not under the plumbing inspector's jurisdiction. I'll take photos of my contraptions as evidence that Margaret and I could stay in the house without violating Mr. Ciarmataro's prohibition. But if asked whether I also turned on the water to the shower, the toilet and the laundry tub, I'll take the 5th Amendment.

While at Home Depot, I also bought 3/4 inch PCV conduit for the purpose of rerouting the underground cable to the submersible pump in the well. At present that cable enters the basement through a 2 inch conduit in the foundation wall together with the 1 inch plastic water pipe from the well. Although the existing arrangement is absolutely safe, the electrical code requires a separate conduit. Since I expect the wiring inspector to make as much trouble as he can, I've decided not to wait for his objections but to bring the cable out of its trench through a conduit outside the foundation wall, then through the shingles and through the plate and plywood of the floor, into the basement. It's work which although unnecessary, I don't mind.  
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While at Home Depot I also bought a 16 ft. extension ladder, the same model that proved so successful in Konnarock, making it possible for me to paint the cedar shingles. It appears that the house-painting demon has taken possession of me, and while far from completed, I've made a start in painting this large house as well. How much I will be able to finish before the weather turns cold, remains to be seen.

The central air-conditioner, as you may or may not know, consists of a compressor, located in the shade behind the house, and what the engineers call an "air handler." (I object to the terminology. In my vocabulary, air is not subject to "handling".) The air handler is controlled by an electronic circuit board which receives signals from four thermostats and in turn triggers not only the air handler and the compressor, but also the dampers that determine the flow of air to the different rooms. The circuit board has seven indicator diodes, none of which was lit, or rather which lit only transiently, then went dark. The trouble- shooting paragraph in the installation guide lists 3 reasons why the diodes might not light: 1) no power, 2) transformers out of phase, 3) a short circuit in one of the thermostats or dampers. The circuit board has no fuses, but seems to be protected by a circuit breaker which interrupts when excessive current causes it to overheat. I disconnected thermostat and damper wires, but without avail. The diodes remained dark.  The air in that attic room was very hot. I was sweating profusely.  The airstream from a fan made me much more comfortable.  It occurred to me that maybe the circuit board would also feel better in a stream of cooling air. My surmise was correct. When next I threw the switch, five diodes on the circuit board glowed with abandon, the air handler started to blow, and the compressor could be heard making its monotonous mechanical music two storeys below. When I tested my hypothesis by stopping the fan, only a few minutes elapsed until the air handler stopped blowing, the compressor became silent, the indicator diodes went dark. I infer a defect in the circuit board, perhaps in the circuit breaker itself. It's only a matter of time before the fan will no longer be effective and I'll have to start looking for a new circuit board. - I doubt that you wanted so detailed an accounting; but it was only mind, and whatever happens to be on my mind is what you get.

Here's an extract from a letter that my cousin Marion sent me, perhaps more interesting than my simplistic engineering concerns:


"I forgot to write about the Japanese enterprise called "Rent-a-Friend", which I heard dicussed on the BBC last night.
 
In Japan, avoiding humiliation is essential.  People go to enormous lengths to satisfy social norms.  This often involves renting actors to impersonate people whom you are expected to have around you. 
 
For example, if you need to introduce your parents to your fiancee's family, and your parents are of low social status or have behavioral tics or an unimpressive appearance, you might decide to rent optimized parents for the occasion.  Likewise you would do well to hire 40 or 50 or 100 actors to present themselves as guests at your wedding, to show that you have many good-looking relatives and friends.
 
If you've been fired from your job, you might keep it secret and keep going each day somewhere to make others think you're still working.  For a wedding or social gathering, you might hire an actor to pretend he's your boss, full of praise for your work.
 
Japanese sociologists have discovered that there are now hundreds of thousands of individuals who are so intimidated by society's expectations and the inadequacy they feel about their own lives, that they never leave their homes for years on end.
 
They're even crazier than we are."

And my reply:

Your account of compulsive conventionality in Japan I read as a reminder that the integrity of spirit, the intellectual honesty which is the ideal of Western culture, although in many respects betrayed, should not be taken for granted but recognized as the monumental achievement of the confluence of Judaism, Christianity and Hellenic culture.

That's some of what has been on my mind. Stay well and give my best to Ned.

Jochen

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