Dr-Fix-It! Notebook Archive: >
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In the front parking lot, John greeted nearest 'Holiday Decorator', "Hello, I am looking for Moore." "Cripes, it is only just starting . . . ", John thought to himself, " . . . and I am surrounded by grown men dressed in E.L.F. costumes and I say I am looking for Moore ! " The 'Holiday Decorator' transferred a Christmas pine garland to his left hand so that he could point with his right," He is over there". The 'Holiday Decorator' gestured toward a slender man with a white beard. "Thank you", John replied and walked to meet Moore. With outstretched hand, John introduced himself, "Hello, I am John. I'm the Chief Engineer of this Hotel. I have come to offer my assistance. Anything you need. Anything at all." Moore grabbed John's hand with both of his and shook three times. "Oh, So nice to meet you! Yes, I heard you were coming to help! What do you think of our progress so far?" John examined the Christmas decorations Moore was placing in the large oak tree in the corner of the front parking lot. "You certainly are using a LOT of lights . . ." Moore shrugged happily, "It isn't a problem. They are very teeny-tiny light bulbs. They only use one-and-a-quarter-watt apiece!" Trying to count light bulbs, John mumbled, "Yeah, but how many lights are in this tree?" Moore bubbled, " I am so glad you asked because I know the answer and it is absolutely delightful! There will be exactly 2200 light bulbs on each tree! I know this because I am using eleven 200 light strings on each tree! Isn't that marvelous? The trees will be SO festive!" John squinted as he quickly calculated, mumbling, "One and a quarter times twenty two is twenty seven and a half. So 2200 bulbs will use 2750 watts. 2750 watts divided by 120 volts is . . . about 23 amps. Twenty three amps. TWENTY THREE AMPS! " John tried not to look upset. He returned his gaze to Moore and asked, " How many trees are you decorating this way?" Moore clapped his hands together twice, " All together, we will have 14 trees just like this one in the front of this hotel! It will be such a stunning display!" John choked, "14 trees at 23 amps each!" His face flashed red, "AND JUST WHERE DID YOU THINK you were going to get the power for all of this?" Moore reached down and picked up an orange extension cord that was laying at his feet. He showed the cord to John. "We have this cord plugged into an exterior outlet on the wall over there. We thought we could use this extension cord. That's OK, isn't it?" The naive question melted John's arrogance. He nodded sympathetically, "Oh sure, you can always use that extension cord. Feel free, by all means!" Moore grinned again, " Oh good! The way you were acting there, I thought there was some problem!" John looked at his watch. "Oh I have an appointment soon! I must be off!" He patted Moore on the shoulder and reassured, " I'll catch up with you a little bit Moore smiled, "OK!" John ran across the parking lot back to the Administration Building. Fortunately, the General Manager's Office door was still open and Todd was still at his desk. Out of breath, John gasped," I know Moore's last name. It is 'Moore Electricity' ! Those trees will pull TWENTY THREE AMPS each!" Todd spun around in his chair, "Huh?" John continued excitedly, "There are way too many lights on those Christmas Trees out in the front parking lot! Each tree is going to pull twenty three amps of current! There will be fourteen trees. 14 times 23 is 322. Its going to take 322 amps to light this display. That's more than most houses need! I have one, ONE 15-amp lighting circuit for the whole parking lot. That leaves us about - OH - 307 amps shy of the mark." Todd listened carefully. He blinked, "How do we get more of these amps?" Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next |
