Fan dies on a muggy day

It was an end of June muggy day which seemed like only a hard rain would fix. It 82° outside but the air was thick with moisture which was making it uncomfortable.

Usually I have my window AC unit going and another fan on the other side of the room blowing a cross breeze. When I first moved here, I noticed how stuffy the room was. It seems like all the outdoor heat comes right into the room.

My black fan was on medium blowing towards my bed. When the nurse came in, she said she heard a funny noise. But, an ad popped up on my laptop and it was loud in my headset . When it ended, I heard the noise and wondered what the noise was.

After the nurse left, I realized the black fan was making the noise. I thought it was strange because it had been on all day and it's on all the time – unless it's really cold in here during the wintertime.

I listened and every few minutes the fan would squeal. The squeal got louder. Then the squeal became more frequent. I wondered if I should turn it off. But, I had no backup if I had to turn it off. Of course, it was after 5 PM and I could not just ask if a staff member could go pick one up for me. Then I remembered, I could order from Amazon and get it in two days.

I put the call light on a couple of times to have the aides check the fan. One of them unplugged it and took it down, to see if it was hot or if anything appeared to be loose. It did not make a sound when the aide checked it.

But, right after supper started the fan started squealing wildly. I kept looking at it out of the corner of my eye hoping it would not burst into flames. I hoped it had some type of safety device that would shut it off.

Then, the squealing stopped. I thought maybe what caused it had just gone away. But in the back of my mind, I sort of knew better than that.

I noticed the room getting really warm. When my aide came in, she said the fan was not running. I had her turn the AC unit down to try to cool the room. But it wasn't working very well.

Quickly I called the one person I really know in this town. I asked her if she could stop somewhere and buy me a fan for less than $20, and I would reimburse her. I told her I was going to order one to replace the no longer operating one – but needed an inexpensive fan in the interim. She said she would have to think about it because she wasn't home at the time.

Later she called to say that she was bringing a 12 inch oscillating fan. My old one was a 9 inch but it was pretty powerful. My friend brought the fan and the aides put it together. I didn't know that some low-end table fans have to be assembled.

They hooked it up and though it did not blow as strongly as the "no longer working" one, it was putting out enough air to keep the room comfortable.

I figured this $16 plus tax fan would get me through this hot day and tide me over until I could get a more powerful fan to replace the old one.