Sketching around the house - a wet/dry dual vacuum and a job well done

Fountain pen and watercolour

There isn't a need to go out to sketch if you can't, or when the weather or climate is not permissible. Like today, the temperature will soar to a high of 34 degC, too hot to stay outdoors. Too much of a hassle to travel in the sweltering sun. For the last couple of days it has been so hot and humid, but what's new in Singapore. It is all round summer.

Anyway, it is not difficult to find something to sketch in and around the house. Danny Gregory does it all the time, from tea cups to just things. It is not the subject or the object that matters, but the process of seeing and drawing it. Just recently I acquired a wet/dry dual vacuum, the type you see maintenance workers bring around. I bought it because one of the air-conditioning unit was leaking, or drooling due to excessive condensation of vapour on the cooling pipes, which are already double insulated. This happened when the weather got too humid and hot. It leaked for a couple of days until I decided to do my own maintenance by getting this wet vacuum. I saw how the service people did it. They stuck this vacuum hose at the a/c outlet pipe for a couple of minutes in order to remove excessive accumulated condensed water within the cooling pipe and drainage. I did the same and managed to suck out 2-3 cups of water, even when the ac was not operating. Next I cleaned out the external filters and also vacuumed the cooling fins. With the wet vacuum I could "suck" dry the filter in minutes instead of letting it air-dry.

Job's done in 20mins. The wet vacuum cost me SGD89. An operation like this would cost me around SGD70 per a/c unit if I call in the maintenance people. I should have bought the vacuum at SGD50 when there was a promotion at the mall.... sigh* I am just not an opportunist. By the way, I regarded the job well done. The a/c is not leaking anymore and it took shorter time to cool down the room. A pat on my shoulder.