user serviceable parts!

I've ragged on Kenmore brand products here before, so it seems only fair that I praise their model 85254 air filter for its easy disassembly: all the screws are the same, there are no snap-together joints, there are no inaccessible or even hidden screws, there are a sensible number of internal components (three), and all wires go through plug blocks in sensible places. They get only two demerits, one for use of self-tapping screws into plastic (a perennial complaint) and one for the design error that made me take the thing apart in the first place, viz. the fan rotor is secured to the main drive shaft with one hex nut and no lock washer. I should, perhaps, go buy a lock washer.

(no subject)

Today, we unpacked all the books that came down from temporary storage at my parents' house. Amazingly, the bookshelves are not full, though they might be after the to-read stack clears down a bit. We also stuck a whole bunch of culls on BookMooch and, as tends to happen with that, about a third of them got snapped up immediately. So I get to mail about thirteen packages tomorrow.

In other news, we've been playing more video games, specifically Final Fantasy X, and I would like to know how the hell people figure out some of the side quests. There doesn't seem to be nearly enough (read any) in-game clue that, for instance, the reward for dodging 200 lightning bolts in a row is orders of magnitude more valuable than the reward for dodging 150, 100, or perhaps more realistically, 10 lightning bolts. In a row. Yes, that means if you get hit even once you have to start over.