Common sense is an interesting beast isn't it? It's amazing to see how and when it is used... and by whom.
Let me illustrate this with a little story.
My girlfriend has been away for the last three months. She gets back on Friday so I thought it would be polite to tidy my room a bit in anticipation of her return. Having cleared the crap off the carpet I decided it needed a good going over with the hoover.
My first inclination that all was not well came when I found that the hoover wasn't residing in my flatmate's room... the one with mild O.C.D. tendencies. My other flatmate grunted something about it being, "A bit buggered" but what does that mean?
Unabashed I set it up and promptly began work on the carped. Except... you guessed it... nothing was being sucked up. Buggered indeed.
Now at this point it would be appropriate to say that I do not have the gift of any notable technical ability or knowledge. Nor do I have a natural gift for fixing things. In fact, Jeremy Clarkson's refrain, "Can I hit it with a hammer?" appeals.
However, given how soon my girlfriend is returning I had no option but to have a go at fixing it.
Given I could hear the motor working I deduced (stay with me) that electrically, the device was fine. Furthermore, given the purpose of the machine, that the most likely source of the problem was a full bag. It was then that I hit my first stumbling block. Through the translucent bodywork I could see the CSA (crap storage area - my own term) contained material but was far from full. I therefore came to the conclusion that there must be a blockage in the piping somewhere.
Still with me? I know it's getting quite technical.
Before taking everything apart (perhaps with a hammer) I decided to try and work out approximately where the blockage was; in the main bit or in the hose. I took the hose off, switched the hoover on and pit my hand over the hole in the main body. Upon feeling suction I came to the conclusion that the blockage was most likely to be in the hose.
So far so good. Better than that in fact. The hose is only semi-rigid for a good 50% of it's length making it far easier to manipulate and dislodge any occlusions. However an exquisitely complex test had to be done first; I shone a torch in the end and had a look to see if I could see a blockage. I could.
Unfortunately, said blockage was in the rigid part of the hose and well beyond my reach or that of any implements available to me. Then came my true stroke of genius. I noted that the rigid section of hose was telescopic so, ingeniously, I slid one section over the other rendering the blockage easily reachable (with one of the other flatmate's tools). Promptly, the blockage was removed and the apparatus reassembled.
Shockingly, when switched on, the machine then proceeded to perform it's intended function; admittedly not brilliantly but it never has. Total time spent... oh around 2 minutes at most although I'm confident that if I put my mind to it, I could expand that to about half a day, three cups of tea and some dramatically sucked teeth.
I am aware that I have spent the last however long banging on about fixing the hoover. My point is this. Having talked you through my thought process I'm sure you will agree my deductive process wouldn't have troubled Sherlock Holmes excessively. In fact, it's unlikely to trouble an averagely bright seven year old excessively. How come then, the hoover has been "broken" for an indeterminate time despite the fact that there are two other bearably intelligent chaps in the house. I don't think it's entirely laziness; see previous comment about O.C.D. so what other conclusion am I left with? They're too busy? Distracted? Lacking equipment? No on all counts. Surely I can't be the only one out of the three of us who followed a relatively logical process to arrive at a conclusion upon which I acted?
Common sense; it's a bit of a lottery.
Happy hoovering!
JR
Let me illustrate this with a little story.
My girlfriend has been away for the last three months. She gets back on Friday so I thought it would be polite to tidy my room a bit in anticipation of her return. Having cleared the crap off the carpet I decided it needed a good going over with the hoover.
My first inclination that all was not well came when I found that the hoover wasn't residing in my flatmate's room... the one with mild O.C.D. tendencies. My other flatmate grunted something about it being, "A bit buggered" but what does that mean?
Unabashed I set it up and promptly began work on the carped. Except... you guessed it... nothing was being sucked up. Buggered indeed.
Now at this point it would be appropriate to say that I do not have the gift of any notable technical ability or knowledge. Nor do I have a natural gift for fixing things. In fact, Jeremy Clarkson's refrain, "Can I hit it with a hammer?" appeals.
However, given how soon my girlfriend is returning I had no option but to have a go at fixing it.
Given I could hear the motor working I deduced (stay with me) that electrically, the device was fine. Furthermore, given the purpose of the machine, that the most likely source of the problem was a full bag. It was then that I hit my first stumbling block. Through the translucent bodywork I could see the CSA (crap storage area - my own term) contained material but was far from full. I therefore came to the conclusion that there must be a blockage in the piping somewhere.
Still with me? I know it's getting quite technical.
Before taking everything apart (perhaps with a hammer) I decided to try and work out approximately where the blockage was; in the main bit or in the hose. I took the hose off, switched the hoover on and pit my hand over the hole in the main body. Upon feeling suction I came to the conclusion that the blockage was most likely to be in the hose.
So far so good. Better than that in fact. The hose is only semi-rigid for a good 50% of it's length making it far easier to manipulate and dislodge any occlusions. However an exquisitely complex test had to be done first; I shone a torch in the end and had a look to see if I could see a blockage. I could.
Unfortunately, said blockage was in the rigid part of the hose and well beyond my reach or that of any implements available to me. Then came my true stroke of genius. I noted that the rigid section of hose was telescopic so, ingeniously, I slid one section over the other rendering the blockage easily reachable (with one of the other flatmate's tools). Promptly, the blockage was removed and the apparatus reassembled.
Shockingly, when switched on, the machine then proceeded to perform it's intended function; admittedly not brilliantly but it never has. Total time spent... oh around 2 minutes at most although I'm confident that if I put my mind to it, I could expand that to about half a day, three cups of tea and some dramatically sucked teeth.
I am aware that I have spent the last however long banging on about fixing the hoover. My point is this. Having talked you through my thought process I'm sure you will agree my deductive process wouldn't have troubled Sherlock Holmes excessively. In fact, it's unlikely to trouble an averagely bright seven year old excessively. How come then, the hoover has been "broken" for an indeterminate time despite the fact that there are two other bearably intelligent chaps in the house. I don't think it's entirely laziness; see previous comment about O.C.D. so what other conclusion am I left with? They're too busy? Distracted? Lacking equipment? No on all counts. Surely I can't be the only one out of the three of us who followed a relatively logical process to arrive at a conclusion upon which I acted?
Common sense; it's a bit of a lottery.
Happy hoovering!
JR
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