On Tue, 10 Dec 2013 18:00:40 -0800, wrote:

If you hadn't put it back together, you could have just connected
the red and white together there.

I see now that the red (which is 24 volt power), is "connected" to
the white (which is the indication of the call for heat).

In summary:
1. Red wire is 24VAC hot.
2. Thermostat "calls for heat" by connecting Red to White.
3. Thermostat "calls for fan" by connecting Red to Green.

So, if I manually made those connections, it would bypass the thermostat.

(I didn't know this at all, earlier today ... so I'm just repeating what
I learned today).