Jim Katen

Let me know when you'll be around if you'd like to meet up. Since it's you, you absolutely must not miss Hippo Hardware. https://www.hippohardware.com/ You can't do Portland without checking out Powell's City of Books; four stories covering an entire city block: http://www.powells.com/ Definitely visit some food cart pods. One of the best is the Belizean Chicken place: http://www.foodcartsportland.com/2013/07/29/love-belizean/ Of course, Voodoo Donut & Wedding Chapel is a must see. Just don't try to go first thing in the morning unless you want to wait in a line that stretches around the block. https://www.voodoodoughnut.com/ Walk along the riverfront on the east side, hike in Forest Park, hang out in "Portland's Living Room," Pioneer Courthouse Square. And if you're in Pioneer Courthouse Square near noon, don't miss the Portland Weather Machine's daily weather prediction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_Machine For a very short day hike, check out the Witch's Castle, a cool ruin with a fascinating history and a connection to Danforth Balch, the first man to be hanged for murder in Oregon. It's fun to tour the Shanghai Tunnels at night: http://www.shanghaitunnels.info/ Oh, yeah, you'd probably enjoy a tour of Pittock Mansion. The building is fabulous but the tours only let you go so far and they actually lock the doors to the parts where they don't want you to go (I know this from first-hand experience), which is a very un-Portland-like thing to do: http://pittockmansion.org/ If you're interested in gardens, we have an excellent Chinese Garden, Japanese Garden, and the International Rose Test Garden. If you'll be around on a Saturday or Sunday, don't miss the Portland Saturday Market: http://www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com/ If you drive about an hour west, check out the Evergreen Air Museum, which features The Spruce Goose, among other fascinating aviation artifacts: https://www.evergreenmuseum.org/the-spruce-goose Of course, per capita, Portland has more of two things than any other city in the country: bookstores and strip clubs. (Yes, we have more strip clubs per capita than Las Vegas.) Now many of these are seedy affairs, but one shines out: The Casa Diablo Vegan Strip Club, http://www.casadiablo.com/, which prides itself on exploiting women, not animals. I have never been, but a list of Portland must-sees would not be complete without it. And, to put your mind at ease, none of the performers wears fur or feathers. I'd normally say to head out to the Gorge for some quick day hikes and fabulous views, but there are no views right now because of the intense haze from all of the forest fires in Washington & Oregon. And pot is legal here. You can't go more than a few blocks, it seems, without running into a dispensary. I recommend the gummy bears. . .

A good plumber or heating tech can connect the water heater to the air handler and it won't cause the water heater to have a shorter lifespan. However, the new water heater might or might not have adequate capacity. Oftentimes, those old Apollo systems had water heaters with beefed up burners. Do you happen to know the BTU/hr rating of the old water heater and the new one?

It's an organic stockbridge damper. . . I'd advise them to call the power company and find out if they know about it and if they're ok with it.

Right: RTU = Roof top unit. It's a ubiquitous term here in the west. Is it rarer elsewhere?

2011. As I recall, it was added because of all these "smart" gizmos that might need a neutral at the switch location.

Do you suppose crane flies have a special kink about doing it on a condenser coil?

I see how that could work. But if that's what's going on, whoever did it must be cognitively impaired. It would also violate 404.2(C) (neutrals have to run to switches)

If it's installed on every step, then the risers will all be the same height (assuming that the carriages are cut properly). What's on the line about it?

Looks like something out of Twin Peaks.

At least some laminate flooring manufacturers make those step nosings and say to install them that way in their installation instructions. I also find them very annoying.

Is that a Carlo Rossi gallon sized jug of Paisano wine? My favorite.

Possibly. This one just makes my brain hurt.

It's in a garage with several nearby switches, but nothing out of the ordinary. All of the switches seemed to work fine.

Yes. In fact it was fizzing the whole time I was trying to figure out everything else. I eventually pulled that breaker, tightened it up, and put it back just because the fizzing noise was bothersome.

OK. I'm stumped. A cable enters this panel from the lower left side and exits the panel at the upper left side. This cable's black wire runs through the panel uninterrupted. This cable's lower white wire lands on a 20-amp breaker. This cable's upper white wire lands on the neutral terminal bar. Of course, nothing is labeled. What do you suppose someone was trying to achieve here? What do you suppose he did achieve here?