Monday, November 26, 2012

Family of Fixers, Part 2

R’s parents came for a visit and as I mentioned the Amazing PR Man single-handedly dry walled the vestibule, but while all this was happening, R’s dad also fixed our microwave oven. Is that incredible, or what? Not only did he fix it, but he knows electronics (he’s an EE), and had a complete understanding of how the microwave works and all the possible problems that could arise.

I know one thing, if I were stranded on a desert island and needed a microwave fixed and some drywall done, I know who I’d like to have there with me. The microwave has been on the blink for several months, and we’ve simply adapted to life without it. I had a sense that when R’s parents visited, RR would want to take a stab at it, and I also had a sense that if he did, he would no doubt be able to fix it. The only time I think he didn’t pull off such a repair was when he looked at our TV, and the only reason he couldn’t fix it was because he didn’t have a spare circuit board with him. Mark my work, if we were at their house, he would have had that TV fixed.

Anyway, right off the bat, he questioned whether the problem with the microwave was the magnetron tube (MT), because they are designed to have a long life. We took the microwave down from the wall and with N helping with the screwdriver, proceeded to disembowel the thing. Sure enough, RR determined that the problem was not the MT, and then proceeded to fix it. Who cares if he wasn’t completely sure what he did? The point is, he did it. Just taking that step is the key.

It sort of gives you a sense of where the Amazing PR Man gets his amazing-ness. RR recommended that before we strap the thing back onto the wall, we should give it a few more tried to make sure it works. Now all we have to do is figure out where all those screws go and what all those pieces that fell out are for. No problem. My approach is if you’re unsure what it’s for, ignore it.

It should be interesting how long we go with the microwave sitting on the floor. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to kapunkapcoy for the pic.

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