Office in the suburbs. Sliding doors. Internal phone. If you don’t know who to ask for, dial 635. I dialed, and a woman in her 50s, looking like a typical secretary, came out. We greeted each other, exchanged pleasantries, and went to see what was what. She explained that the doors and phone are for guests. For employees, the door on the other side of the office is always open, and I can park the truck there. So I did. Then we went to the office where the air conditioning is. It turned out to be Daikin — they’re easy to work with. Well-made machines. Oh no, they’re taking me to another room.
Up above me, on the wall over the wardrobe, a piece of hostile steampunk technology from Hitachi is staring down at me. Water is dripping from it. It took me half an hour to figure out how to remove its cover. Not obvious, right? Then I had to collect the water from the drainage tray. After that, I lifted the unit to trace where the hose leads. Wow, a label. Made in 1996, 20 years ago. Younger than me. So, steampunk is me, and this air conditioner could be my son.
I finally got to the problem. The drainage hose just slipped off the pipe it was attached to. And it was bound to happen. It was a poor solution—stretching an elastic drainage hose onto an L-shaped fitting without any support. I thought for a long time about what to do… I left it as it was, just glued it on. If it had been a 20mm pipe, I could have come up with something more reliable. Well, if it has lasted 20 years, it should last another 20. By then, I’ll be retired and won’t have to worry about it. Just two hours of work.