Monday, June 28, 2010

The Wonder of Motors and Engines....




Have I shared with you how hot it is here? Well the last two week it has been in the high nineties with a heat index in the 100's. Not a drop of rain - till last night - thank you very much. It has been so hot you could fry an egg on my car at ten o'clock in the morning and probably at night if you wanted to. That hot, humid heat that sucks the air out of your lungs when you walk outside. Makes you gasp.

So, of course my downstairs air conditioner decided to go on the fritz late last week. And...of course every repair man is booked through the end of the month. I shuttered and closed every blind in the house, turned on all the fans, the windows without coverings were covered, and the kitchen was closed for cooking anything that couldn't be microwaved. It helped keep the temperature down to livable and you won't find us dead. Thank goodness for warranties. We only had to suffer till today.


Fortunately, the repair person the warranty company found was able to come out, unfreeze my system and give me a shot of freon. An hour later we were cool and calm again. Mercy, what did we ever do here in the south with out air conditioning? We are so spoiled. Over the weekend I thought a lot about how dependent we are on all of the motors and engines. We use them for everything that makes life easier - washing machines and dryers, refrigerators, our cars, even the garage door openers. Everything...

I am including a couple of engines in this post for you to use in your art. They are so cool. They would be good in some steampunk art. I bet they really helped to lighten the load for the people who used them. Hope you are having a cool Monday!

10 comments:

Sarah said...

I was missing coastal NC until you said how hot it is there. I can get that kinda of heat right here in TX!
Interesting images today...I like them.

Jo Reimer said...

When I first saw these engines I thought they were early train engines, but no, they were used to power all sorts of things, I think. Clue was the rope-like thingies hanging from the belly, probably the connection to whatever needed power.
I grew up in the south in that awful heat/humidity and well remember sitting in front of a swamp cooler trying to cool off. And getting out of the shower only to immediately start sweating. We never ate supper outside like we do in Oregon... too blamed hot!
I'm glad you got the AC fixed.

Robin said...

I'm sure glad you got your ac working again! I know how miserable it can be without it and I too wonder what they did down here in the South before ac....I hear a block of ice was use with a fan blowing the cold air in your direction!!

These images are soooo cool. Thanks so much for sharing Elizabeth.

Bea said...

Hmmm, hot days.........I can remember my grandmother getting a block of ice from the iceman and putting a fan behind it, the ice in a big metal tub and we sat in front of it,with our bare feet on the rim of the tub, trying to stay cool. She would lay a wet washcloth on the block of ice, then peel it off and put it on the back of my neck. WOOOOOOOOOheeee that felt good. :)Bea

Anette said...

Thanks for the images, they'll come in handy some day.

Bye, Anette

deb mattin said...

Thanks so much for sharing the great old machine images!
I can relate to the AC failure - I had an AC malfunction while 9+ months pregnant and it wasn't pretty!! Hopefully you're in the cooling breeze of refigerated air as we speak.

Elizabeth Golden said...

Oh Deb I can't think of anything worse than no AC and 9 months pregnant. You deserve an award or at least a nice dinner out for that one.

K J D said...

Great images....

I am glad you are feeling COOL now.

I've just heard the lovely sound of rain.... If only I had the energy in the heat yesterday to cut the grass!!!!

Oh well!

Have a great week

Karenx

Gaby Bee said...

These images are stunning. Thanks for sharing with us!
Have a wonderful week!
Gaby xo

aimee said...

i am so glad your air is fixed! i didnt realize you live in nc. i was there for my sons graduation. it was HOT and HUMID! while we were there we drove around with the air on, and saw some beautiful homes. we were told the weather wasnt that humid or hot until aug! we arrived just in time lol. stay cool my friend!
blessings,
aimee