Lawnmowers in the Attic

It was a lazy Sunday, one perfect for taking a nice, long nap. Of course, Sunday afternoons are also perfect for mowing the lawn, so it didn't surprise me to hear the sound of a lawnmower engine running, disturbing me from my sleep.

Until I realized that the sound was coming from my attic...

Whiskey?

Tango?

Foxtrot?

My first thought was, "How in the hell did someone manage to get a lawnmower into my attic without me knowing?"

My second thought was, "There's no grass in the attic, what the hell are they mowing?"

I grudgingly arose to try and decipher the origins of this rather odd noise. I pull the access ladder down and the noise becomes louder. The lawnmower, or whatever, is definitely runnning in the attic.

The prime suspect is the central A/C unit, which is not a good proposition in Texas in May. Then my eyes wandered to the A/C intake. "Hmmmm, when was the last time I changed the filter?"

A closer inspection confirmed that it had been "a very long while" because it was incredibly dirty. I surmised that the lawnmower sound was caused by the A/C intake vibrating as it tried to suck air through this dirty filter.

Five minutes later, after turning off the A/C and replacing the filter, the lawnmower was gone. Till the next time I don't replace the A/C filter...