Today ours needed repair and I was able to follow ( stalk ) the repair guy all through and learn about the system.

If you have a built in electrostatic filter there are filters in there that need cleaning quarterly. If you have not cleaned yours Simple Green helps to remove the build up. If you put the filters back while they are wet you will fry the air filter unit.

If you have two units in a two story open home, set your first floor ac 2′ cooler than upstairs in the summer and 2′ warmer in the winter to properly balance the units.

If you use the extra good hepa filters you are probably not getting proper air flow through the system and you are beating the system up. The home ac units are not designed to push through that much material. Use the cheap filters.

A 15 seer is a good solid unit that will likely save 30%-35% over our current 10 seer units. After that energy savings per dollar spent up to 20 seer doesn’t make much sense and the higher the seer the newer and flakier the technology.

A forced air heating and cooling system will last about 15 years with proper care. ( Don’t forget to gently clean the fins on the outside units with a garden hose once a year )

A new system ( 15 seer 3-5 ton units ) will cost about 8k to replace. You need the outside compressor, the condenser in the attic, air filter and heater. If you skip the electrostatic air filter you can probably do it for about 6k.

If you need a good ac/heating guy in North west Houston give Proline a call.

Today we went to Zayed park. Like most of Dubai it’s still under construction. Also it was about 110′F and noon when we visited hence the lack of other humans about.

After we went to the shopping mall to people watch. On the first floor of the mall are several traditional clothing stores, racks and racks of burkas and the mens’ robes, long shirts and pants. Only about half the traditional clothing is off the rack, bolts of fabric were stacked in each shop for custom clothing.

Upstairs were the stores and restaurants you see at any mall in the world. More of the upscale and less of the downscale but it easily could’ve been a US mall.

The crowd at the mall was about half women today, most in traditional wear. I can’t take photos so I’ll do my best to describe them.

The men wear all white, long pants with a long white shirt or just a long white robe. They too cover their hair with a long scarf. When they eat they take the tails of the scarf and place them on top of their heads. Keeps them out of dinner I expect. The men all wear sandels on their feet. Their robes tend to be sheer enough to make out their undershirts beneath.

The women all wear black. The burkas are like what your grandmother would call a house coat. Long sleeved, floor length with a covered opening down the front. Many are very shear, most are not. Some have rhinestones and embroidery on them, most do not. The African women only button them down to just below their chest and when they walk their colored skirts show through the opening.

The UAE women keep them closed down to the floor. Most wear slippers under the burka, but there were quite a few 4″ spike heels under them as well. Most women had long dresses beneath, a few wore jeans.

About half the women do not cover their faces. Of the remaining, half cover their nose and lower face with a scarf that hooks onto each side of the head scarf. Often they have their head scarfs covering most of their foreheads as well so there is only a narrow slit for their eyes. When eating they either remove the face covering or slightly lift it and eat underneath.

More women had their faces covered today. They have a very sheer veil they drop down over their face and face covering when they first enter the mall. It’s very much like the lace coverings we still wore to church in the 1960s but no lace, just sheer fabric.

The local women are shorter on average than US women, I’m 5’2″ and tall side here. They are also very much curvier than US women. It is unusual to see an obese person, here but the few that are are more often female than male. The men avg about 5’10″ here, most are quite thin.

Every one here seems very friendly, you can see the women’s eyes crinkle when they smile back at you.

All in all it’s a pleasant place but there’s little to do with ones self here. Flying out tomorrow 930 am local time, land at IAH around dinner time after 17 hours in the air.

Today we rented a car and drove south, east and north of Dubai. Like Houston civilization drops off very rapidly once you leave the city.

The deserts are far greener than I imagined, though I’m told the plant life drops off rapidly as you get further from the coast. The desert photos are about 50 miles in from the coast, the coast photos are about 50 miles north of downtown. In most areas the sand is white, in others there’s a reddish brown sand overlaying the white sands.

Camels are common and all the highways have fences between the desert and the road, most likely to keep the camels off the highway.

The ocean is beautiful. There are salt water marshes extending way out from the road. There’s a surprising lack of birds at the shore, or anywhere else we’ve been.

The burbs north of the city along hwy 88 are amazing but empty. There’s not only McMansionvilles, but McPalacevilles. Amazing homes all in developments that appear to be abandoned. The homes are so beautiful it’s hard to believe the people won’t come at some point.

We not only passed abandoned developments but entire small cities under construction. Everything being built at once, housing, retail, gov’t buildings. These were still actively under construction. Then at random places along the road you’d find abandoned condo towers.

Lazy day today, one more day here I plan to wander in the city some more tomorrow.