these chinese HVAC repairmen, a little rough on the edges, but you can't deny how cheap their rates are. for $2200 i replaced my old furnace (canadian circa 1984) with a new high efficiency furnace. when they fired it up for the first time, i was surprised by how strong the hot air was coming from my floor vents. it even blew out a semi-circle of dust from the DIY diverting vent underneath my living room sofa. there also wasn't that distinctive gas heat smell i came to associate with my previous furnace. this was simply odorless air.

i finally managed to remove the washing machine timer from my stacked washer/dryer control panel. i could see where the two wires came off, but the problem was figuring out which was which (yellow/white). i had a 50% chance of getting it right, but getting it wrong might fry the timer. i then noticed that there were numbers on the timer leads, which corresponded to the colored wires which were also marked. from there it was a simple matter of reattaching leads 6 and 22. however, the bad news was it looked like the timer was already fried when it exploded when i first removed the control panel without disconnecting the power. there was the telltale signature of a small explosion - sooty blast radius and what looked to be melted metal. i'd already seen prices online - $120-150 for a new timer (maytag 22001180). if it's going to bring my washer back to life, it was worth it. but later in the evening when i went to go order the part, i decided to buy a used timer for just $50. if i can't resurrect the washer, then i may to call a professional or even consider buying a new stacked washer/dryer unit (pricey, $1200).

as for the dryer, i played around with the tumbling drum in the evening, got it to turn without the squealing sound, put everything back, powered everything up, and now it works fine. sure, in fixing the dryer i broke the washer, but i'll chalk this up as a learning experience. next time: turn off the power first before i start fiddling around with the appliance.

my parents came over around 2:40 after the repair guys left. learning that i didn't eat breakfast or lunch yet, we went across the street to grab some vietnamese. afterwards i went with them to the michael's in porter square (where my mother almost bought a rainbow loom) before arriving in belmont.