Our World

Category: Chris’s Blog

  • I have started to re-post some of my HVAC/R training material

    As I have been rebuilding this site I have been trying to figure out how to handle some of the HVAC/R training material I have written in the past. I cannot post material that I wrote specifically for the school I used to work for, but there was a lot of material that I wrote for training I did on my own, a few copyrighted publications I wrote, and some training I did outside of the school I worked for. This material is fair game.

    Part of the reason I want to post it is that it does no good sitting in a box someplace. I hope that some of it may be useful for some instructors someplace.

    The first publication I have posted is one of my favorites (Click on the highlighted link below)

    Basic Electricity for the HVAC/R Technician

    The rules are simple, if you wish to use this material as a resource, you may not print it from this site, or screen print it. That is not fair. I make fractions cents from each thousand page views thanks to the advertising I allow on the site. This barely pays for the server. I am asking that you direct your students to the appropriate page on this site. In other words, the copyright on this site does not allow you to duplicate or transmit in any form other than directly from this site. Please note: there is no such thing as educational use of copyrighted works. And everything on this site is copyrighted.

  • Facebook Post: 2024-10-03 Wallet Stolen and Returned

    My wallet was turned into the Denver police department. It had defiantly been gone through. I was told it was handed over in downtown Denver, about 20 miles away from the airport.

    Still canceling all credit cards (that’s already done), some of my identification and licenses may are getting new numbers. But believe it or not the cash was still in the wallet (not that I carry more than five one dollar bills.

  • Facebook Post: 2024-09-28T10:52:28

    To all my friends going through hurricane recovery (and feel free to share with your neighbors), a few hints as you file your insurance claim on electrical or mechanical (HVAC) damage:

    1) Don’t throw it out without a written release from your adjuster. Don’t just take a verbal release. In storms such as this adjusters move around frequently and you may have 5 or 6 before your done. Always: IN WRITING. Keep the stuff you save safe from further damage. Cover it, tarp it, keep it as dry as possible.

    2) if urgent repairs need to be made, do not let the contractor remove anything from site. Keep all old parts at the location they were installed.

    3) 3rd party inspections are part of standard procedure. Do not feel you are being “picked” on or “accused of wrong doing.” A good portion of the purpose of 3rd party inspections is to get information to properly price replacement and repairs.

    4) Cooperate with inspection times. If you are the person demanding after 5pm or on a weekend, you are going to wait. Remember, your policies include language regarding inspection of damages during business hours with reasonable notice. Your insurance company can deny payment if you do not cooperate.

    5) Save all receipts for immediate repairs.

    6) and this should go without saying: Don’t try to include the washing machine that broke in 2000, the stereo that you had when you were 18., and the TV that is Analog that you have had in your attic since they did away with analog TV’s. You are just making it more difficult for all and delaying your progress.

    7) If a contractor tells you, ‘it’s just really old, but since there was a hurricane (or CAT storm) nearby we can just replace it and the insurance company will pay”, find a new contractor. There is no such law or policy.

    8. The inspectors and adjusters visiting you following the storm are on a tight schedule. Having to wait 30+ minutes to get home from the quick errand you had to run in your appointment time puts them behind. And, at the end of the day they will probably have to cancel their last appointment which hurts someone else. We cannot safely do our jobs in a storm area after dark. Too many nails, snakes, wires, to work safely. Please Please please be available during your scheduled time.

    9. Remember, price gouging is illegal. Insurance companies do not pay “hurricane rates” to contractors, and neither should you.

    These are just a few hints. And, because I have to say it: The above thoughts are my own from years of experience in disaster areas. These do not always represent the thoughts of my employer.

  • Facebook Post: 2024-09-12T14:25:58

    “In the event of a water evacuation between Salt Lake City and Denver….”

    “I can’t remember our flight number but this plane is going to Denver.

  • Facebook Post: 2024-08-04T20:25:40

    Christopher Molnar added a life event from August 4, 2024: Moved to Denver, Colorado.

  • Facebook Post: 2023-01-01

    Damn it! I feel like shit. Have felt like shit for almost the full last week. Yes, I have taken a COVID test (twice) with negative results, but still feel like shit. Cough, runny nose, no fever, sore throat due to cough.

    Dayquil is my friend. Niquil is my friend. Benadryl is my friend. We think I got into some mold early last week that I was pretty allergic to, and I forgot that my prescription for allergy meds is messed up and keeps getting lost.

    ARGGGGGGG … cough cough cough cough cough.

  • Facebook Post: 2023-01-01T08:32:40

    Good morning and Happy 2023! May this year be better for all. May the world’s leaders realize that war is not the answer to everything and perhaps spend more money on education rather than bombs. May the sociopaths running close to 50% of our country realize that you can not erase ethnic/social/etc groups of our society by censorship. May we as voters start electing young people to public office rather than a group of people that want to keep things “the way it used to be.”

    For here, at home, may all of us be in good health this next year (if I ever get rid of my current cough), may we end the year with the same pack members I started the year with (I have 3 senior dogs so this is a concern), may both Jesse and myself be able to maintain a healthy work/life balance in a time where employers are expecting much more from each individual. May we have time for hobbies, fun, and a little bit of together travel this year.

    May all of my friends (in-person and virtual) have a healthy and prosperous year.

    Happy New Years everyone!

  • Facebook Post: 2022-01-07T19:59:18

    Home!!! Glad to be home with Jesse Pannell and The Pack after a week of doing inspections in Lousiana. I really wish Amtrak still made the run between New Orleans and Tampa (or Orlando). That drive is getting LONG!

  • Day 8 – Out of the desert?

    Started off the day with inspections in Indio, CA. It was 94 degrees when I started my day, way too hot. I have decided that the desert is a nice place to visit, but I would not want to live there. It was supposed to hit 108 again there. My second inspection was a homeowner who’s HVAC system died on the 120 degree day they had back in June. 120 degrees? Way too hot.

    Leaving Indio I passed through Palm Springs, and saw their massive wind farms.

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    Then, I went on to Lake Arrowhead, CA which included 17 miles up (and then afterwards) back down a mountain with switchbacks and emergency truck ramps.

    Once off the mountains I moved onto La Verne, CA where I had to inspect an evaporative cooler on a mobile home. For those that don’t know, evaporative coolers blow outside air across a wet pad and that cools the air. Only work in extremely dry environments. Once it gets humid they do not work anymore.

    Finally my last claim of the day was in Pasadena, CA which was my “welcome to the LA area traffic jam.” Really nice insured who has been living without A/C for the last month because he was worried about turning it on because smoke from the forest fires may have damaged it. Nope, all good to go. He was happy to be feeling cool as I left it running when I left.

    Got into my hotel and poked around a bit while I was trying to find the grocery stores. Here are a few pictures of the area around me.

    And with that I will see you tomorrow from near LAX getting ready for my return home on Wednesday.

  • Day 7 – Goodbye Arizona: California Bound

    Once again up before the sun, time zones kill me, when I was younger it used to be so much easier, now I just do not adjust so well.

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    Today, being Sunday, I only had two HVACi appointments and one StrikeCheck appointment. One in Tuscon and one in Vail. Once I was done with those it was time to leave Arizona and head to California.

    Spending the night in Indio, CA, a few miles from my first appointment and then tomorrow I start working my way towards Los Angeles. I am sort of looking forward to getting back to green. The desert is a nice place to visit, but I would not want to live here. Everything is tan, no green.

    The area around the hotel is barren, there is a housing development close by, but I am not sure exactly what the industry is, maybe the two casinos that are here. I was able to find the downtown area, and was actually able to get some real food for dinner tonight (real food = healthy).

    I then wandered out to what at one time was a lake, now dry, with the exception of another gated housing development that appears to have the only real lake in the area. Look at the difference between the “with water” and the “without water” areas.

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    A couple other things I noticed as soon as I crossed over into California. First, gas prices are 4.25 per gallon for the cheap unleaded. Second, masks are the in things unlike the other states I have visited so far. I watched two people get booted out of Walmart for being the only two people in the store without masks on.

    And, as a special addition to today’s pictures I decided to get some after dark pics of Indio, CA.

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    See you tomorrow evening from Valencia, CA