Replacing the heater's blower assembly and the engine water pump were among the few major repairs the car has required.
They included the mechanic and his employer, the heater's manufacturer and the friend in whose pool house Mr. Gerulaitis died.
The gas heater's open flame lit the rat's gasoline-soaked coat on fire, sending the flaming rat scrambling back toward the machine that Daniels was cleaning.
One evening, my mother and I started reminiscing about the old model, caricaturing my father's temperature sensitivities, doing cartoons of the little heater's faults, the smoke and the buzzing, and my father got mad and left the table.
Yes, the place is surrounded by unsightly chain-link fencing, the water heater's broken and an occasional breeze brings a hideous smell from a nearby sewage treatment plant, but it's quiet enough to read.
The AM05 comes with a remote a bit larger than a Bic cigarette lighter that can be used to set the heater's thermostat, cooling fan strength, and turn the oscillation feature on and off.
