Sunday, June 04, 2006

In Praise of Percussive Maintenance

Is anyone else a fan of percussive maintenance? I love it. For those unfamiliar with the concept, it's a technical term that means smacking the shit out of something that doesn't work. It isn't the most productive method for dealing with out of order machinery (assuming your goal is to make the machine work) but it remains popular with people of all works of life. I think there are two reasons people keep doing it: one, because sometimes it actually works and two, because it feels so damn good.

I've just had what I am determined will be my last fight with the laundry facilities in my apartment building. I've previously shared with you how I won't use the washing machines any more because they keep making oily stains on my clothes. As an aside, "oily stains from washing machines" is a popular search term that leads to my blog. To anyone who comes here looking for solutions, I'm not much help - my only solution is to stop using the fucking thing. Well, I was still using the dryer, right up until the bastard machine just took my money and didn't work.

It wasn't a lot of money ($2) but it pushed me over the edge. I kicked the absolute crap out of the dryer which resulted in nether the return of my money nor the dryer suddenly working. But I think I heard some of the machine's inner workings fall out. Which made me feel good. Then I ran away before any of the other residents came in and found me. Won't the next person who uses it get a surprise? There's probably a slowly spreading pool of oil on the ground now from the dryer slowly bleeding to death.

Fuck this, I'm going out to buy my own dryer.

6 comments:

Michelle said...

I've found the banging shit method to work pretty well for me. Well, it doesn't usually work, but then again nothing else ever works and banging shit occasionally works so it's still better than anything else.

Di said...

Dryers screw up when you least want them to. Always happens.

Mr Angry said...

Heh, I got distracted and didn't buy a dryer. I bought some DVDs, a PS2 and a new leather jacket instead. Poor me, I'll have to go on another shopping trip.

Deborah Eley De Bono said...

I've always called it a "techical tap" and it works for inanimate and, on occasion, animate objects.

Mr Angry said...

Mooncrazy: the big question is which do you have to "tap" harder?

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