The fan worked, and then it didn't

So, my friend bought me a fan which the aides put together. First, the back blade housing, then, the fan blade, and then, the gizmo that tightens it, and last the front grill. They plugged the fan into the plug where the "broken one" had been and it would not run. They plugged it into a different outlet and it came on.

They returned it to its original spot and this time it ran. I was so pleased to have it because it had been so muggy in my room – all day. It was set on high for a while to cool the room with my air conditioner on 60°. The humid air was heavy making it feel very stuffy.

As the evening progressed, it rained and it got cooler and was less humid. By bedtime, I had to turn the fan and the AC down to low.

Perhaps since it was cooler, and since  the newer, though less expensive fan, was cooling more, I went to sleep and stayed that way all night.

When I woke in the morning, the fan was still doing its thing. Or, at least I thought so. But, I noticed my room was feeling stuffy.

I went about my daily routine. After breakfast, when I was being set up at my desktop PC, I noticed the new fan was not running.

I asked my aide to turn in on and off and unplug it to see if it would run. But, it would not run. She tried it in another plug and it came on slowly. Then, a housekeeper tried it in an outlet in the hallway and it ran. However, with my fan dying, I was leery. I thought it should be returned for another.

An aide texted my friend that I felt the fan should be exchanged for another.  But, she did not get back with me right away.

It was an equally warm day and quite humid again. After lunch I got so warm. It felt like a big cloud of hot air settled around my shoulders and head. There seem to be no cool air.

We moved the fan my friend brought to the other side of my room and plugged it in and it worked. It was blowing towards my laptop when I was set up in bed.

An hour so later my friend called me. I explained to her what happened with the fan. I told her I felt it should be exchanged for another. Then, she told me she no longer had the sales receipt – and she had paid cash. I told her if she called the store and explained that the receipt was lost, they could replace it. But she kept saying she thought someone from the nursing home staff should return it. I told her they might but it would complicate it, and that it could not be done until AFTER the weekend.

Then she suggested that I plug the new fan into a different outlet on the line surge protector than where the "broken fan" was plugged. She thought I might have a bad outlet in that line surge protector. I felt it was worth a try.

When my nurse came in, I told her what my friend said. She offered to move the fan and plug it into a different socket in the line surge protector. When she put the plug into a different outlet, the new fan worked.

It was such a relief that it was running and would do the job until the replacement fan arrives.