Resolving Those UNREVOLVING Gears

Previously, you learned about my welcome in the midst of horror. As the staff of the Kivalliq Health Centre had arrived that January 3, 2008, I was in the middle of a “situation”. . As each of the curious staff greeted me and/or welcomed me, they were met with a mess. I was up to my elbows in chemistry, a processor in disarray, and a floor that also required attention.

Trying to analyze my dilemma, and get those racks a-turning was now a serious issue. It was 0830 and the centre was open for business. I was not. As I pondered and concentrated on resolving the matter, don’t ask me why but I thought back to those times when you try to open that wide mouth pickle jar and that lid won’t budge. You try to wrap your hand around it, you tap it, or you sometimes run hot water over it hoping to warm any brine residue that might help to release that lid.

Brilliant…use the hot water. I carry the first offending roller rack across the “wet” room to the sink and start the hot water flowing.  Have you ever waited at a sink that seems to take forever for hot water to arrive…only to scald yourself eventually when the full temperature was reached? Let me put it to you this way…if your sink hadn’t been used in say 2 weeks AND your outside temperature is about -25….in spite of insulation inside a building…well it takes a while LONGER. Eventually a slight change in the level of cold in the water started to happen. About 5 minutes later (or so it seemed) I had hot water.

The reception desk for Lab/Xray patients

Now while this was all taking place, I had met the secretary/receptionist (shared between Xray and the Lab staff). In fact, by this time, I had met her about three times. She had introduced herself and welcomed me like the others. She had, quite nicely, and very business like, returned each time to announce the arrival of my next patient. Somewhere in the conversation exchange, I mentioned that we wouldn’t be doing any cases today if I didn’t get this processor functional. I think she returned three more times before my first case was done.

I had set the developer roller rack on the floor near the counter with the sink, while this whole thing was acting out. I was trying to figure out how I was going to get this rack into a sink the size of many used in home bars….a round peg in a square hole so to speak.The best I could do was to get the gears portion of the rack, almost, under the water stream.  I say almost, since there was a great deal of water splashing around me and onto the floor below.

At some point while I’m struggling to get those gears turning under the running hot water, and with water running over the countertop down the cupboard doors and onto the floor, someone arrives with a bucket and mop in order to prevent someone from slipping or other damage. The combination of water on both ends of the developer rack along with more effort on my part on the drive gear starts to free it up and the rollers begin to turn.

Eventually the rollers turn freely….one rack down and two to go. The fixer rack needs less work even though it looks worse with all the crystallized fixer affixed. It cleans up relatively quickly and turns freely…likewise the wash rack. We are making progress. Now having found something to carry the developer from those replentishment tanks to the processor itself, I start to fill the tanks. With first the developer and then, the fixer, completely filled we are ready to reassemble.

The "Thumper"

The pieces are falling into place. Once the processor has been energized, the banging has been quieted to a faint repetitive thump. A noise is still there but it is less noticeable now. It’s almost nine and time for the test films. A little later these 14 by 17 test sheets drop into the exit bin. Damp but delivered, my workday has started…just a little late. Let the patients begin.

The Blogger’s Epliogue: Later in the afternoon after playing a game of catch up with my patient backlog, there was an opportunity to check where that continuing thumping was actually coming from. It turned out that a drive gear for the developer rack had become stripped due to the initial binding on that fateful startup...the loud thumping earlier in the day was actually the developer rack jumping as the drive gear tried to get that rack turning. Some quick thinking now allowed me to reverse that gear on the drive shaft and, with it on backwards, smooth meshing ensued and the thumping was gone. Later in the week, I replaced that defective gear once I had discovered where “we” stored the spare parts.

As a momento of this near tragic event (at least in my mind), I have kept that gear attached to a USB drive as a sort of “lucky” charm and it constantly reminds me that you can overcome adversity with sound, practical logic. It will accompany me as I travel north for that same remembrance.

Coming soon: TIME IS PASSING