The scene is set; a engineer in a modern, mostly sealed window, computer filled office is facing the news that the AC is broke and the high for tomorrow is 92 degrees. The last word from the "people in charge" is that phone calls were being made and planning was underway.
My wildest dream is that someone has taken the initiative to resolve the problem. In this dream the problem is solved. I usually have some pretty good dreams but my gut tells me that this one is not going to come true. I expect that the problem will not be solved and the "people in charge" will still be trying to figure out what to do.
We are not talking about putting a man on a moon, curing polio or building an alternative energy supply system. What needs to be done is to find a chill water supply for ~ 10,000 square feet of office space. Can this be done?
Putting "temporary chill water units" into a search engine gives
http://www.temcool.com/products/water_chillers/default.asp
So the magical device, a chill water system on wheels exists and there are companies ready and waiting to rent them to you. In my dream one will be in the parking lot behind our building when I arrive tomorrow.
What will tomorrow bring?
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
SITREP for the LLER as summer begins
With the unofficial start of summer upon us, here is the SITREP for my LLER.
SITREP - LLER - 29 May 2011 - 1730 Zulu - CONUS - An Engineer in "modern" office building
After a month with no evidence that the A/C was working in my office, and one week of brutal heat, the room hit 93 degrees with a relative humidity of > 45% on Wednesday. The official word came out just in time for the holiday weekend.
"The AC is broken, some ancient, obsolete and hard to repair part died, and it will take 4 weeks to repair it. We are meeting with people to figure out we should do"
OK, the official e-mail may have been more formally written then the version I gave above, but you get the idea. Prior to receiving the official word, I had been asking my source why the AC was not on during the month of May and all I heard is that "they are working on it."
Now that I have the official word, I feel much better.
So, what does one do when faced with the fact that it is June and there is a real good chance that your office, which has lots of glass, but only one window that opens ~ 3 inches, will have no AC for a month? If the forecast were highs in the low 70's or high 60's with humidity less than 20%, I would remain calm. If you know it will be in the 80's most of the time, and the 90's on some days, the humidity will be at least 50%, and you have to work in a room with three computers and all of their heat-producing accessories, it is time to sound the alarm and put together a plan.
If this had been my first time in a LLER, I would not panic and I would assume that the people in charge will handle the situation.
However, having endured such a situation before, I busted out my credit card and ordered a portable AC unit within hours of receiving the official word. My plan is to move the unit into my office, after hours and as covertly as possible, install it and hope that it does not trip a breaker. Using the "it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission or approval" approach, with any luck, I should be in good shape come Wednesday or Thursday.
V/R
Bobo Nance
Occupant of the LLER
SITREP - LLER - 29 May 2011 - 1730 Zulu - CONUS - An Engineer in "modern" office building
After a month with no evidence that the A/C was working in my office, and one week of brutal heat, the room hit 93 degrees with a relative humidity of > 45% on Wednesday. The official word came out just in time for the holiday weekend.
"The AC is broken, some ancient, obsolete and hard to repair part died, and it will take 4 weeks to repair it. We are meeting with people to figure out we should do"
OK, the official e-mail may have been more formally written then the version I gave above, but you get the idea. Prior to receiving the official word, I had been asking my source why the AC was not on during the month of May and all I heard is that "they are working on it."
Now that I have the official word, I feel much better.
So, what does one do when faced with the fact that it is June and there is a real good chance that your office, which has lots of glass, but only one window that opens ~ 3 inches, will have no AC for a month? If the forecast were highs in the low 70's or high 60's with humidity less than 20%, I would remain calm. If you know it will be in the 80's most of the time, and the 90's on some days, the humidity will be at least 50%, and you have to work in a room with three computers and all of their heat-producing accessories, it is time to sound the alarm and put together a plan.
If this had been my first time in a LLER, I would not panic and I would assume that the people in charge will handle the situation.
However, having endured such a situation before, I busted out my credit card and ordered a portable AC unit within hours of receiving the official word. My plan is to move the unit into my office, after hours and as covertly as possible, install it and hope that it does not trip a breaker. Using the "it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission or approval" approach, with any luck, I should be in good shape come Wednesday or Thursday.
V/R
Bobo Nance
Occupant of the LLER
Saturday, May 28, 2011
What is a Landlocked Engine Room - LLER
A landlocked engine room? That makes no sense. An engine room or the ER is a compartment on a ship that contains the equipment that makes the ship go; the engine, the turbines, the condensers,.. all of these things convert energy into the force needed to "make way" or move through the water. One of the results of this energy conversion is heat.
LandLocked Engine Room or a LLER, is the term I use to describe a modern office where the AC is not working or works poorly. These rooms may have windows, but they can usually not be opened or opened a small amount and there is often no airflow in the rooms except for the hot, humid and stale air that is recirculated by inadequate and noisy fans.
This blog will be a place where I discuss my adventures, present and past, in a LLER and other issues and interests in my life.
Nautical Reference: to make way http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/make_way
LandLocked Engine Room or a LLER, is the term I use to describe a modern office where the AC is not working or works poorly. These rooms may have windows, but they can usually not be opened or opened a small amount and there is often no airflow in the rooms except for the hot, humid and stale air that is recirculated by inadequate and noisy fans.
This blog will be a place where I discuss my adventures, present and past, in a LLER and other issues and interests in my life.
Nautical Reference: to make way http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/make_way
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