Intelligent Design

[cjsmith]

We noticed yesterday that when Rob's car's windshield wipers are on high frequency, and the car is stopped, the wiper motor makes the car sway back and forth in a somewhat queasymaking manner.

This might be another good place for a rant about intelligent design. I'll spare you.

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Try TEN years! :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

You haven't rewired yours either, I take it.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Nope. The one in our house I mis-hit the most is a three-switch panel in our foyer. Closest to the front door is the front security light, the middle is the foyer light, and farthest from the front door and closest to the garage is the front porch light. I still get them wrong, particularly in the dark, although I'm not sure if there would be a better arrangement.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if there would be a better arrangement.

Yeah: sometimes you can't know until you try it out, and changes are messy and annoying. Is the security light farther toward the front than the porch light is? If so, that suggests a linear arrangement. Even better might be to put the one you use most and the one you use least on a two-fer, where you'll learn by habit which one is the popular one, and then put the third switch on its own elsewhere. But that change isn't quick to make or to unmake.

We have a triple by the stairs. If I'm standing as if I'm about to go upstairs, the switch behind me controls the light that's halfway up the stair in front of me, the middle switch controls the living room lights beside me, and the switch in front of me controls the hallway light behind me. There's an obvious fix there, although rfrench and I would go through some relearning if I ever do fix it.

The double in a corner of the kitchen has no obvious better arrangement. The switch farthest from the kitchen controls the kitchen light, and the one closest to the kitchen controls the storage room nearby. The right answer there is to take the double out and put the storage room's switch in the storage room. But that would mean replacing some paneling, a job I do not even want to contemplate. (Matching new wood with old, or replacing ALL of it... no thanks.)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Is the security light farther toward the front than the porch light is?

Yeah, so it's somewhat linear, I suppose.

But that would mean replacing some paneling...

I certainly don't look forward to the idea of moving switches to different places, especially on the first floor, given a lot of the wires come down the interior walls from between the floors. It's also why I've been too lazy to wire for a ceiling fan on the first floor. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, so it's somewhat linear, I suppose.

Except the switches aren't in that order: security, porch, foyer (moving toward the rear of the house). No wonder it bites you.

I certainly don't look forward to the idea of moving switches to different places

Me either. You'll notice I'm too lazy to fix the switches by the stairs, which only need some wires exchanged!