Fever dreams and open circuits

It has been nearly 90 degrees outside today. Because of the heat, our air conditioners have been working overtime to keep it cool in the apartment. Unfortunately, this building we live in now was built with the pre-1970s wiring standards, much like the building we were living in - in fact, the fuse box has never been replaced with a breaker box. Basically, this means that it is harder for the wiring to handle the strenuous electrical loads demanded by today's energy glutton/consumer (for geeks like me, pre-1970s residential wiring was coded to handle a steady current flow of 15 amps, while most modern construction has wiring coded to handle a steady current flow of 20 amps).

So, with both air conditioners running and both computers running, we ended up blowing a fuse. At the old apartment, whenever the temperature went up, the breaker would trip constantly. Unfortunately, given that most of the buildings in the area are older, there doesn't seem to be a simple, inexpensive solution for dealing with old wiring. In addition, it is annoying to have to deal with a fuse box, rather than a breaker box. A circuit breaker can be easily reset, allowing for one to grumble about having to reset one's clocks but re-establishing the flow in short order (yes, I am aware that these are safety devices and I know some of you are saying that if fuses are blowing and breakers are tripping, too much power is being drawn; I agree with the premise of the argument but rebut it with the observation that any large appliance will "spike" in it's current draw before levelling off into it's normal current requirement - on very hot days, the "spike" of our air conditioners apparently lasts long enough or is high enough to trip a breaker or blow a fuse, which is not a problem on days when the temperature isn't so high). A fuse, by contrast, is the kamikaze pilot of electrical engineering: when a current load exceeds the trip rating of the fuse, the component self-destructs. This means spending money to buy new fuses - money is not something we have in abundance!

There is an electrical component known as a "mini breaker," which is a fuse-shaped circuit breaker which screws into a fuse socket, replacing the kamikaze component with push-button closed-circuit simplicity. Unfortunately, I have only seem mini breakers made to fit "Edison socket" style fuse boxes, which, of course, we don't have in our apartment. Our fuse box contains four so-called "tamper proof" sockets, and there doesn't seem to be a company which makes tamper proof mini breakers.

With fuses being blown, I opted to eschew turning on any more electrical appliances until the evening allowed for the world to cool a bit and amperage demand to lower. I ended up passing out and napping on the sofa in my room. (Did I mention that I now have a sofa - technically a loveseat - in my room? People could "hang out" in my studio...if I ever get the other messes cleaned up.) Of course, napping in the middle of the afternoon when it is scorchingly hot always leads to odd dreams...

The odd dream: I can't remember much, but I checked into a hotel where they gave me a room which also served as the in-house restaurant dining room. As I was checking in late, I didn't realise this, but "hilarity" ensued once I tried settling in. I also recall that as I was checking in, I was told that I couldn't use my credit card; "you're account has been overdrawn," I was told - a phrase which would never be associated with a credit card - those can not be overdrawn, though they can reach a "limit" or a bank-imposed ceiling of how much debt can be accrued on them at any given time (this is the only part of the dream I vividly remember). I used my debit card to pay for the room, and the man taking payment promptly used a hole-punch to, well, punch holes in my only my debit and credit cards, but my driver's license as well. Bizarre (and an action which would invalidate all three cards in the real world).

I think I need more caffeine to stay awake, yet they recommend not drinking too many caffinated beverages on excessively hot days. Damned either way.