Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
The Amazing Geophone
Wednesday
May 4, 2005
I arrived home from work this evening at 6:30 or so, and I was surprised to see the alarm system turned off. But it wasn't *too* surprising, as that was a sign that maintenance had probably returned while I was at work. Luckily they weren't my wake-up call this morning, as they were yesterday.
However, upon first glance I thought someone might still be here. Sitting on the bar/counter area that connects my kitchen with my dining room was this large black case with an odd device inside. My dining room table had been moved, and there were four holes that had been carved into the wall. A package of "lightly powdered plastic gloves" sat on the already crowded table, but with me being a hawk for detail, I noticed right away.
I thought there was a chance that maybe the worker(s) needed more supplies and would be right back... but nope, nothing. As I type this as the clock nears midnight on the east coast, nada. There was no note, no message, nothing. I don't know if it was a contractor that did this, the Quarter's maintenance, or what.
This odd device is called a geophone, now free with every major pipe leak!
Looking at the contraption sitting on my bar area, I laughed when, upon close inspection, I found that it was a device that looked like a stethoscope, only with two large metal circles on the end, not one end like a stethoscope has. I know this description is subpar, but hang with me here (that's why I included the picture). Apparently it's used to hear water dripping through walls, or at least that's the use for it this time around.
If I hid the geophone under my couch, do you think I'd catch some heat over it? "Hey, where'd the damn thing go?!?" the repair guy would be saying the next day in confusion.
I wonder how much a geophone would go for on eBay? Actually, I just checked: there's one on there offered for $9.99 with no bids made. No wonder it was left behind here. Here's what the quote on the auction said: "I dont have a clue to what you do with these. I looked up on Ebay others that have sold and they say they are for leak detecting." Maybe someone else swiped one left at their place and is trying to sell it?
In a follow-up, my friend Gary Graham e-mailed me and concurred with my comments about "Summer Girls" by LFO and about how dated that song sounds now. He also added that he hopes to move back down here to Florida, this time to the Tampa area, by hopefully the first of next year...
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