AC Survival Story

The tiny ledge holding outdoor AC units.

Long way down.

From the time we moved into our apartment here, the bedroom AC unit hasn't worked properly.  Air doesn't circulate well, so each major room has it's own wall-mounted AC unit, connected to an outdoor unit.  Our outdoor units are on a small ledge (no railing) which you get to by climbing out of the bedroom or bathroom window.

 The AC repair guy came first.  I held my breath when he jumped out the bathroom window to inspect our outdoor unit.  No harness, no safety equipment.  He just grabbed his sneakers and hopped out the window.  I'd like to say that the sneakers were for better grip, but I'm pretty sure he just didn't want to get his socks dirty.  We live on the 32nd floor, but we are on a serious incline... likely about 40 stories from that ledge to the ground.  Gulp.

The dizzying view out the window... where the guy simply hopped out on this wee ledge with no harness.

The prognosis from the AC repair guys was that a repair was out of the question.  The units are so old they simply needed to be replaced.  

Rusted out base of bedroom unit.  Clearly seen better days.

So the process began, first with assessments, then landlord approvals, installation bookings, etc.  To install the new units they first needed to build bamboo scaffolding outside the window.  This time the guy at least wore a harness, although I think he tied the tether off to the rusty frame of the old AC units, it was still a dramatic improvement in appreciation of human life.  The scaffolding was built in stages, shown in the following photos.

Bringing in materials.  Bamboo scaffolding is apparently as strong as steel.

Testing out the small frame - held in with ONE screw.

Leaning out to drill holes for screws.

Fastening bamboo to the frames.

 

Materials passed from the bathroom & bedroom windows.

Having a dart... why not?

Imagine this is all that's between you and the ground? Some bamboo sticks and little ties?

Ties for the bamboo looped through his belt.

Building side walls to the scaffold.

 

Climbing around, building walls.

The finished scaffolding.  The side wall material is to keep debris from falling and hurting those below.

Such a mess... still dusty everywhere.

After the scaffolding was built, it was time to install the new units inside and out.  This involved cutting into the ceiling to replace the hoses and electrical connections too.  What a ridiculous mess.  I now better appreciate the frustration people go through with home renos.  The dust and dirt from cutting into drywall and sanding, not to mention service men who don't take their shoes off or cover things up properly, it has been very dirty.  The added complexity of not really being able to communicate with the installation team has been pretty funny at times.  We're through most of the work now.  We still have holes in the ceiling and copious cleaning ahead... but the entire apartment is currently wonderfully cool with new and efficient AC units.

Gross that shirts are optional.  These weren't the 'freshest' men I'd smelled.  :(

I'm happy that we all survived the AC assessment and installation... (knock on wood, the scaffolding still has to be torn down).  Now Fole and I will survive the hot summer with cool sleeping conditions.

Sign Humour

I have been sick for the past week (just a gross cold), and Mike is away.  Without much current excitement in my life, I am posting a series of signs that I have taken photos of, over the past few months.  It seems quite often there's something 'lost in translation'.  Here are some which have made me giggle.

The full sign.

These first few are of signs on the escalator, which carries people from down town up the mountain to the more residential areas. Foley posted this first one to his facebook, so you may have seen it before.  It's absolutely perplexing.

Zoomed in... hmmmm.

That's right, no smoking for you, or your car... ??

"BUT I WANT TO GO THE OTHER WAY!!...
NOOOOOOOOOO!!"

The next two signs have to do with public spitting.  It is quite common here to hork a big one without a shred of shame... gross.  Apparently the government really stepped up the campaigns against spitting after SARS, hence the focus on germs.

Action shot. *gag*.  The thumbs up really gets me. 

In the city bus, this reminder not to bring bombs or poison on board sure made me think twice about what I packed in my purse.

What to do without my naked lights?

 The best ever movie ad.  I think I may go see this one, just because of the title.

My favourite part about this next one is the total lack of English with the exception of "say bye bye" and the slogan "the clear way to a confident smile".  However, when you actually look at the cartoon (also hilarious), it's not clear at all.

A random business that I must check out one of these days.  It's Canadian, and it's all about sleeping.  It calls to me.

 For those days when I feel so disgustingly skinny it's unbearable, it's nice to know that there are places to go like "Yiu Fat Seafood" restaurant.

This final ad I have no idea what it is about or what it's for, but it makes me want to throw up in my mouth.  Nasty.

'Behind the Scenes' at OCEAN PARK

I recently joined something called the AWA (American Woman's Association).  It's for women, of all nationalities, who live in Hong Kong.  They run events, host various regular activities and have an online forum for asking questions.  I hesitated joining at first, because Canadians don't like to be called 'Americans', but I got over the name and I'm glad I did.

Sleepy Giant Panda... She even pooped in her sleep.  Right in front of us.

Through the AWA, I signed up to do a 'behind the scenes tour' of Ocean Park.  Ocean Park is like Canada's Wonderland, but much, much cooler.  There are roller coasters and games, but there are also incredible animal exhibits and it's all on the South side of Hong Kong Island with beautiful views.

Our tour took us into areas of the park where normally only staff would access, like the veterinary hospital, the dolphin breeding and training pools, and private viewing areas of the big aquariums.  We also got to see the development of a penguin exhibit, which isn't even open yet.  Very cool.  My favourite part was seeing the Giant Pandas, the dolphins and the kinkajou (scary looking monkey thing).  I didn't know that dolphins like to get their bellies scratched like dogs do.  They also love to show off and get attention, like little siblings do (I can say that, cause I'm the youngest in my family).

With their exorcist flexibility, there's no itch they can't scratch.

A roller coasters with an amazing view

A new friend, Gillian, and I were planning to stay on after the tour and ride all of the roller coasters.  Sadly, the sky opened up and dumped a ridiculous amount of rain.  That with some thunder and lightning and the rides were all closed for the rest of the day.  Maybe someday we'll go back so I can experience the roller coaster that goes right out on the peninsula and looks like you're about to fly into the ocean.  Now that sounds terrifying and amazing.

I started taking photography lessons last week.  I'm proud to say that none of these photos at Ocean Park were taken in any 'automatic' setting.  I adjusted ISO speed, aperture, and sometimes shutter speed.  I kept the focus automatic cause there's no need to get crazy.  This week's lesson was on photo composition, so hopefully as I practice, my photos will become more interesting and engaging to view.

Otter at feeding time.

Looking snooty.

The giant aquarium.

Panda bear, also called 'FireFox'.  Original Panda discovered, which is why the others are called 'Giant Pandas'.

He's sleeping.  Hilarious.

Blue and Yellow Macaw.

Jelly fish... there were so many jelly fish.

The park is in two sections on either side of the hill, connected by this gondola and a train.

Monkey with funny yellow hands... look like work gloves.

Kinkajou looking for food.

The kinkajou.  Doesn't it look like something from a horror flick?

Slow moving sloth living upside down.  Did you know they even give birth upside down?

Dolphin getting a belly rub in the training pool.

Froggy-style.

Show-off.  Damn you're cute.